ButterMup

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Although the content in the article I'm about to link to is actually rather lighthearted, pleasant, and benign on the surface, I decided to post this in the "Edge of the Hole" based solely on the fact that it concerns genetic cloning - a topic which I know tends to be hotly debated wherever it surfaces.
Lord knows, I'd hate for a B.O.T.H. thread to erupt into serious descussion.

Mind you, I'd be tickled pink if this didn't turn into an ethical roundtable, but it'll be what it's going to be, I suppose, and there's little stopping that. For the record, I personally have nothing at all against cloning. Actually, I think it's pretty fucking cool, and I look forward to even more interesting advancements in the future.

That said, maybe it's just the one tender spot on my otherwise hardened heart acting up again, but this particular story is simply too darn endearing to be evil (you'll want to view the inset AP video link as well, for the full effect)...

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/storie...EMPLATE=DEFAULT

AmorMiHombre

I'll write more later, but i think the saddest fact is that this crazy lady paid 50,000$ to clone a fucking cat.....She had 17 years with the original...let it go lady. I'm surprised she didn't have the OG cat frozen or stuffed.... Or helped a lot of people....

ButterMup

Hey, if I had 50,000 dollars to just piss away, I might decide to clone a cat, too.
It's definitely a hefty pricetag for what really just amounts a self-indulgence, but if that buys her peace of mind, then more power to her.
Who knows? Right before she was presented with "Cat, Revisited", she might have just donated 200 grand to an international tsunami relief fund or some shit.

Even if she didn't, folks with too many zeroes in their bank accounts tend to do crazy, spontaneous things with their money, and aren't exactly obligated to justify their expenditures by doing something altruistic to balance it out.
Compared to hackneyed, stereotypical purchases like a new car or some jewelry, I think getting a cat cloned is far and away a more interesting way to get rid of some money.

koЯnut

Okay...I'm a strong believer on people being able to do what with thier money as they please, but $50,000 for a f'n cat.

Go to the damn pet store and get a kitten for 50 bucks.

greatbrownhype

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I don't think this is wrong, but it does make me uncomfortable.
Right now I don't think there is adequate legislation around cloning and other related research. I really don't like the route GWB has taken in the States, and as for the Canadians, they've been pretty quiet about it.

I think there needs to be more responsible usage of cloning technology (at least untill we have a better understanding of it). I don't trust the private development of this technology, as seeing corporations don't usually have social responsibility on the top of their adgenda (also the lack of regulation comes into play here).

Indigenous

Jesus christ...a fucking cat! People get so damn psycho when it comes to their cats.

As for the cloning issue itself, not many people realize that the world is already populated with several dozen genetically engineered humans.

LS1-S10

lol or how much genetically engineered fruits and veggies. The only thing that bothers me is what if they screw up? I mean you can't just screw around with genetic engineering, if you change one genetic sequence...the rest of them change too. I think alot of the sci-fi movies are just plain rediculous, but if you think about what COULD happen with genetic engineering or cloning...it kinda gets a little scary when you think of the "what-ifs".

kulotsalot

i'd rather adopt a cat from a shelter. at least i lightened their load. i don't need an exact copy, i just need someone to love and care for.

EvilMonkey

you could love and care for me :D

kulotsalot

i was gonna say if you could lick yourself between your legs i will consider it but this is EOTH we are not supposed to make jokes like that.

huh? what's that? did i say that out loud? meh.

*shakes head and walks away*

EvilMonkey

come on kulotsalot, im a yoshi for jeepers sake. look at my avatar.
Yoshis have the longest tongue of all super mario creatures

*I think i've pulled - YAY!!*

Jimi

Anyone else notice a link between cats and crazy people?!?!

Cloning = wrong in every aspect of humanitarianism. Cloning parts is one thing. Cloning actual beings is another. Even as a scientist, I think the ramifications of this science outweighs the "coolness". As these geneticists work more and more with larger animals in cloning, we see more and more negative aspects.

"Scientists also warn that cloned animals suffer from more health problems than their traditionally bred peers and that cloning is still a very inexact science. It takes many gruesome failures to produce just a single clone."

greatbrownhype

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To damn cloning as you have done is a bit of a knee jerk reaction. Any new science is going to go through it's rough periods. Look at nuculear power, hell a lot off modern conviences have had rough starts, micorwave research was initially done to find a weapon, instead we got that wonderful little kitchen device.

Let's see where some of this science takes us. Being scared of something has never lead to progress.

Secondly, I don't see how cloning is wrong in a humanitarianism aspect? Are you suggesting your set of morals are the benchmark for the world?

Jimi

Nuculear power, huh? Newkyaler power is an exact physics. Cloning is not. Humanitariansim and morals are a very vague connection. When cloning animals, and maybe even humans, you're producing biological anomolies 9 times out of ten. That's torture to the anomoly. Your reaction is far more reactive, and far less educated than mine.

Cloning beings does absolutely nothing to further the advancement of humanity. In fact, it does quite the opposite. Science isn't made to "play God". Science is to understand our surroundings better. Like I said, organ cloning is one thing. Cloning a being is opening a whole new Pandora's Box.