Bring Back the T-Rex

Last January 7, 2004, the egg of Philippine eagles Junior and Kahayag was hatched through artificial process at the Philippine Eagle Center (PEC) in Malagos, Davao City. The newly born eaglet is the 15th to be bred in captivity since 1992. The center is calling for the godparents who would finance the bill for its feeds and other expenses amounting to P100, 000 per year for 6 years. While waiting for the godfather and while the people at PEC are arguing over the name to be given to the new eaglet, what if the center suddenly decided to stop this process and step into the latest procedure - cloning?

What is cloning?

A clone is a genetically identical duplicate of an organism. Cloning is the biochemical procedure of replicating a group of organisms or cells from an ancestor or stock, to which they are genetically identical. Cloning extracts a fragment of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) and places in an organism for protein production and another species of identical gene is reproduced. In Scotland, scientists used a cell implant to clone Dolly, the sheep. The success of cloning a sheep encouraged the scientists into exploring more the power of cloning. At present, conservation scientists have been cloning endangered animals or those species seriously at risk of extinction.

What do you have to do to clone the endangered species?

Cloning procedures on animals are already being practiced around the globe like in USA, Australia, and China. The processes being made are through artificial insemination and IVF or in vitro fertilization. Artificial insemination is the injection of semen into the vagina or uterus other than by sexual intercourse. The semen contains the hereditary replicating material - DNA. After the implantation, the surrogate mother will rear the implanted cell for a specific period until it gives birth to a cloned species and IVF is processed. IVF is the process used for the commonly known test-tube babies.

What endangered species have been cloned so far?

For the record, the first to succeed in replicating an endangered animal is the cloning of a single cat - an African wildcat. The first cloned African wildcat, named Ditteaux, was born August 6 last year. Two new births occurred last November 15. The three kittens are clones of Jazz, the world's first successful frozen and thawed embryo transfer birth born to grow to a domestic house cat. African wildcats grow to about 12 pounds. Their fur is generally striped black and gray. Last year, the hundredth black-footed ferret animal close to extinction was produced through artificial insemination. Way back in 1995, an endangered gorilla was given birth through IVF.

Who are responsible for cloning these endangered species?

Researchers at the Audubon Institute cloned the African wildcat whose director is Biologist Betty Dresser. Dr. Dresser was with Cincinnati Zoo then in 1995 during the birth of the first test-tube gorilla. On the other hand, black-footed ferret would be extinct by now without the efforts of the researchers at Smithsonian National Zoo.

Why clone?

Anti-cloning supporters draw their arguments from ethical and moral grounds.
1. Anti-cloning supporters are skeptical of such "Frankenstein science," and are concerned with the ethical questions of cloning and playing the "role of God."
2. They believe that the DNA is unlikely to be perfectly preserved and that no living creature is a close enough relative for a surrogate birth to be successful.
3. When an animal or species becomes endangered or extinct, it is usually the end of a very long line of reversals in its fortunes.
4. The problem of habitat.
5. "New animal," which could have lost millions of pounds to create would be little more than a zoological freak.

Pro-cloning supporters defend the scientists.
1. They believe that we are witnessing the approach of what could be the greatest global extinction of biodiversity - the full variety of nature - since the end of the dinosaurs 200 million years ago.
2. They also say that technology can fix the mistakes man has made in the past.
3. Anti-cloning supporters do not only oppose the idea of cloning an endangered species but cloning in general. The other side of the dilemma gave their reasons to justify cloning in an article "Why Clone?"

• Cloning for medical purposes
• Cloning animal models of disease
• Cloning stem cells for research
• "Pharming" for drug production
• Reproducing a deceased pet
• Reviving endangered species
• Reviving extinct species
• Cloning human species

The rapid technological advancements have helped mankind in surpassing most of the deadly diseases in his history. Since the issue of cloning started, different arguments can be heard from pros and cons of cloning. Once again, technological developments are indeed, producing more beneficial consequences since we have the chance of saving the endangered species. However, as this type of cloning is the offshoot of bringing back the extinct animals to life, then this is another story. As of now, the projects of reviving extinct species have already started. An example is the Tasmanian tiger, Thylacinus cynocephalus) or the Thylacine. It was once the largest known marsupial carnivore in Australia of which the last known captive named Benjamin died in the Habart Zoo on September 7, 1936. The process being used is through PCR or polymerase chain reaction - extracting DNA fragments from properly conserved or frozen tissue source. Scientists estimated the probability of success possibly between 4 and 10% and will take 10 years to come up with a possible outcome. Reviving extinct animals may bring to life the rebirth of ferocious and smarter dinosaurs as portrayed in the movie Jurassic Park. Imagine being stuck in a heavy traffic then suddenly a robust flesh-eating T-Rex comes out from the back of a building only to eat anyone on the busy street.

Recommendations

For more information and the latest update on cloning endangered or extinct species visit these websites:

• http://extinctanimals.proboards22.com/index.cgi?
  -here you can post your arguments regarding cloning
• http://gslc.genetics.utah.edu/units/cloning/clonezone/
• http:// lists.envirolink.org/pipermail/ohio-birds/2003-November/001563.html
• http://www.dictatorwatch.org/articles/earthfuture.html

Bibliography:

Book
Webster's New World Dictionary and Thesaurus. Hungry Minds Inc. Cleveland. 2000.
Computer software
iFinger Look-Up System. Ver 1.30. 2000.
Internet
http://www.cmnh.org/dinoarch/1999Jul/msg00353.html http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0711/p12s02-stgn.html http://www.commondreams.org/views/101000-105.htm http://extinctanimals.proboards22.com/index.cgi? http://gslc.genetics.utah.edu/units/cloning/clonezone/ http://lists.envirolink.org/pipermail/ohio-birds/2003-November/001563.html http://www.dictatorwatch.org/articles/earthfuture.html http://www.cmnh.org/dinoarch/1999Jul/msg00353.html http://www.gene.ch/genet/2003/Jan/msg00080.html

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