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ENTER THE CLONES
Cloning (Photo credit: borkweb)
Ever have one of those days where you wish you could create a full-sized clone of yourself to help with all the work you have to do? What about creating clones to go off to war in place of “real” men and women so that we don’t have to lose so many to war?
Well, on Fringe, someone came up with a way to not only make clones, but rapidly age them. Of course, there were some pretty nasty side effects. And yes, Dr. Walter Bishop was involved in the initial research decades before.
In the episode, “The Same Old Story”, there is a young man, who as it turns out, is a clone who is rapidly aging and needs to kill young women, take their pituitary gland and create a formula to slow his aging. From watching the episode, we find out that he was an experiment that someone hired his “father” to create.
So the question is, is it possible to rapidly age a human clone?
First off, there are three types of cloning: Therapeutic, Reproductive and Replacement. The first is reproducing cells, the second full human cloning and the third, creation of specific parts of the body to replace in a person.
The first and third types of cloning are more readily accepted. However, the second, Reproductive, is not. With this type of cloning, one would create and entire human.
There are a myriad of problems that have yet to be conquered by scientists in the area of cloning. The Human Genome Project has a lot of great information regarding cloning, so I won’t go into all of the arguments against it.
But if someone was successful in creating a cloned human, would it be possible to rapidly age the clone to adulthood? In this episode, they state that the pituitary gland is the culprit for Progeria. The truth of the matter is, that Progeria actually is a result of a mutated gene, not the gland. So if this is the case, scientists would have to purposely mess with the gene to induce rapid aging.
As Dr. Bishop states in the show, the experiments were scrapped because they couldn’t find a way to turn off the rapid aging.
That is not the Clone we are looking for [Boing Boing] (Photo credit: Kalexanderson)
Of course, at one time, so was space travel until Jules Verne started writing about it.
Join me next week when the possibility of a shared dream state.
Related articles
- Understanding the Function of the Pituitary Gland (biology.answers.com)
- Reuters Video: Neanderthal cloning possible but ethically in question (englishblog.com)
GUEST BLOG: THOMAS L. EVANS
As you all know, I love science fiction. I would go so far as to say, that I champion this genre. Most of the books that I read are in this genre because I just can’t get enough of it. And one of the ways that I find great sci-fi novels and authors to read is by reading the reviews by one of my friends, Thomas Evans. His blog “The Archaeologist’s Guide to the Galaxy” has been a great source of entertainment and has greatly increased my reading list. I look forward to his reviews with great anticipation. And I look forward to him releasing his book series with even greater eagerness.
Sit back, relax and grab a cup of Joe and enjoy the ride.
I must say what a pleasure and honor it is to write for Yolanda’s blog. I’ve been enjoying it ever since her work first came to my attention, and look forward to each installment.
But fortunately, the answer was given to me by one of my favorite authors, Ursula K. Le Guin.
Ursula K. Le Guin (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Thus, I came up with a second answer: Science Fiction has always been dark. Mary Shelly hardly painted a happy view of human nature with Frankenstein: the Modern Prometheus. Neither did H.G. Wells’ work depict shiny happy futures. The Time Machine showed how wars would destroy society. War of the Worlds was a biting commentary on the nature of Imperialism that showed humanity brought low by an alien race treating our species in the manner that the West treated indigenous populations around the world, etc. Even the generally more optimistic Jules Verne wrote about the dark side of humanity:20,0000 Leagues Under the Sea was commentary about social oppression with a terrorist at its heart (yes… yes indeed, Captain Nemo was a terrorist carrying out piratical attacks against the great powers of the world… is that a happy story? Me thinks not).
FROM SCI-FI TO BEYOND
Last week I participated in a Writer’s Digest webinar that was hosted by Chuck Sambuchino, Writer’s Digest Guide to Literary Agents Editor, and given by Keith Ogorek, S.R. VP of Marketing at Author Solutions. The subject was in regard to being a successful self-published author. However, one of the points that Keith made, that I’d been sort of struggling with, was to make sure that you used your blog as a means of showing your expertise for your subject. Now that works fine if you’re a non-fiction writer; however, my question was what about those of us who write a specific genre?
Well, then it hit me. I can show an expertise in Science Fiction. I am passionate about people understanding sci-fi as more than just laser beams and space ships. Science Fiction has opened up the imagination of many a scientist over the past 100+ years. From submarines, the H-Bomb, laptops, cyber space and so much more, scientists have gathered
Image via Wikipedia
inspiration from such luminaries as Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, Gene Roddenberry and William Gibson (who coined the phrase “cyber space”.) Society as a whole has benefited from the writings of George Orwell, “Big Brother is watching you“, Aldous Huxley, C.S. Lewis, Arthur C. Clarke and Philip K. Dick.
As a fan of sci-fi, I was aware of a few inventions; however, as a writer, I have begun truly studying the genre. I have been pleasantly surprised each time I find that something fantastic in our culture came about as a result of the genius and wonder of the above mentioned authors and many others.
For the foreseeable future, starting next week, I’m going to take you on a journey every week to the amazing inventions, theories and culture changes that have come as a result of science fiction. I will still mix in blog posts on my upcoming book series, as well as tips for other newbie authors; however, I think you the reader, will find this new direction informative and entertaining.
Also, I would love the opportunity to feature guest blogs by other science fiction authors. There are so many of us who write sci-fi because of what the genre means to us. I relish the opportunity to read your ideas on sci-fi’s impact on our culture. So if you are a sci-fi writer and interested, please feel free to contact me via the “Contact Me” page for submission guidelines.
So, stay tuned for some really amazing, out of this world facts that will blow your mind. I am going to share the importance of science fiction in our culture. Without the vision of those who have come before, I dare say, our world would be markedly different. I hope you’ll join me on this odyssey through the gateway of imagination to the roadway of the real.
FROM IMAGINATION TO REALITY
Yesterday I started reading “Nineteen Eighty-Four” by George Orwell. In only the first chapter I’ve been able to see the amazing inspiration this novel and author have had on modern science fiction movies and our society. The images that his amazingly descriptive writing invokes are stunning. In the first few pages, I’ve seen the visuals from movies such as “V for Vendetta”, “Equilibrium” and “Aeon Flux“.
Two days ago, I watched a program on the Science Channel about the prophetic stories of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells, the Fathers of Science Fiction. These men had fantastic imaginations, were intelligent enough to pick the brains of learned men of science, and created machines of their future that they didn’t necessarily live to see come to fruition. As a matter of fact, H.G. Wells died angry at the world because we had used nuclear weapons for destruction. He had foretold with his novel “The Time Machine” the use of nuclear weapons which would decimate the world. He did his very best to show us the fears of the future. While Jules Verne showed us the potential wonders that were to come.
The sad thing is, though, Wells gave scientists the idea for creating the H-bomb. So one could postulate that, if he hadn’t written about it would it have taken scientists longer to figure it out? Would Hiroshima have been bombed? The world will never know.
Jules Verne predicted that we would go to the moon in his novel, “From the Earth to the Moon”. He even described how we’d get there. Most of what he wrote about has come to pass or is in the process of doing so. He was the first to suggest that people would venture to the bottom of the ocean to explore and live there in “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea“.
Science Fiction has been used to give voice, to the world at large, of possible things to come. If you look at many of the technological advances mentioned in the Star Trek franchise, you’ll see how far we’ve come. Kirk’s communicator became our cell phones. The computers on the desks of Captain Piccard and Data became our laptop computers. Dr. McCoy and Dr. Crusher used Hypo sprays to give people shots. These hypodermic injections actually exist. They shoot up under the skin instead of into the skin.
So what’s my point, you ask? My point is that Science Fiction has opened the doors to so many of the most amazing technological advances of our time. Imagination and curiosity have fueled our desire to ask, What If?
Brilliant men such as Verne, Wells, Huxley, Orwell, and Roddenberry have stoked the curiosities and imaginations of so many scientists over the past seventy years. They also warned of the potential for devastation and destruction. With science fiction there has been balance which shows us who we truly are and what we are capable of: good, bad and baboon-butt ugly.
