Benefits of and Materials Needed in Plant Cloning

One of the most efficient ways to propagate plants is through cloning, which is an asexual method compared to seed cultivation. For the beginner gardener, there are three methods for plant cloning - layering, cutting and grafting.

Basically, you have to produce new plants from the parent plant.

• Layering means growing new roots from parent stems before removal. Cutting involves cutting off the leaf, the leaf bud, the stem or the root and then sticking it into the medium. Grafting requires fusing two plants - the stock and the scion - to create one new plant.

Cloning Benefits

Despite the negative connotations that plant cloning has in the eyes of the uninitiated who equate it with animal and human cloning, plant cloning poses many benefits to the gardener in particular and humanity in general. Let's just say that plant cloning allows for survival of the fittest in plants albeit in a non-violent way.

• With plant cloning, you can choose the healthiest, strongest and most productive parent plants. In turn, you are more likely to produce only the healthiest, strongest and most productive clones. (Or whatever genetic characteristics you want your plants to possess) And so the cycle continues.

Another benefit with plant cloning is that you can have your almost full-grown plants in as little as a month because you have already allowed the roots to develop.

• Now, contrast that with growing from seeds that takes time to grow to become a mere seedling

And then there is also the matter of the seedlings' characteristics being left to chance. You never know if the plants you will have with seed growing will be healthy and strong even if you have done everything possible to ensure that it will be so.

Materials Necessary

Now, if you are ready for plant cloning, you need to gather the necessary materials. These include the following:

• The parent plant must exhibit the desired characteristics for the new plants, which can include healthy foliage, bright colors and sufficient productivity. Plus, the parent plant must be at least 2 months old.

Whitney Segura is the founder and owner of Mini Greenhouse Kits, a company that manufacturers and distributes garden greenhouses , hydroponics equipment, and composting accessories .

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The Dangers of Cloning - A Popular Myth?

The world of biology was relatively quiet and untainted, whereas other natural sciences such as physics and chemistry had suffered from some bad reputations. Nuclear physics is now associated with the tragedies of Chernobyl and Fukushima and chemistry has been associated with pesticides, dangerous drugs and horrible toxins. But the view on biology changed in 1996 when Dolly the Sheep was born, the first official clone of a mammal.

Suddenly the press went haywire, drawing scenarios of the doom of humanity. The scientists from Scotland were suddenly accused that they had been interfering with the essentials of life and created a monster. Was this the beginning of Frankenstein come true? Certainly not. The streets are still safe and there is no army of human clones trying to invade us as so beautifully demonstrated in Star Wars. But what is the truth about the myth of cloning? How does it affect our everyday lives and what are the biologists cooking next in their laboratories?

Dolly is dead now. She died from lung cancer in 2003 after enjoying only half the life span of a normal sheep of that breed. Since Dolly, many mammals have been cloned, including bulls and horses and none of those has hit the news as vigorously - or maybe the name Bull 86 just did not quite cut it. Why do we clone animals?

First of all, it is important to understand what is cloning. Cloning is a natural phenomenon, just as is nuclear energy. Many organisms in nature reproduce asexually, for example bacteria, some plants and some insects. By definition, two clones are organisms with exactly the same genetic make-up. If a bacteria divides for example, two clones are formed. There are approximately 40 million bacteria in one gram of soil, often from the same clone, and thus two grams of soil has potentially got more clones than Britain has people.

Cloning is a technique used routinely in laboratories and has been since the dawn of molecular biology. It is a tool absolutely necessary to study the fundamentals of life and study mechanisms in cells that ultimately help us understand many diseases. So, cloning seems to be a good word. But why do we need to clone mammals or potentially even humans, which is still illegal.

Interestingly, Dolly was not even a real clone. There are two pools of DNA in a mammalian cells, one the nucleus which is passed on from the father and the mother, and one in the mitochondria, the "power plants" of a cell, which is only passed on from the mother. The mitochondria were not replaced and thus Dolly was strictly speaking not a clone - neither is any of the other mammals that have been cloned since.

Many plants that we cultivate and finally eat are clones. With the technology available we can also use cloning to genetically modify plants in order to increase crops, yield and even taste. Again there is the question as to whether this is necessary.

Despite heated debates and many laws about stem cells, genetically modified food and cloning, once Pandora's box is open, it usually doesn't get closed again. Cloning is good and has helped our understanding of the mechanisms of the cell and helped guide the development of many drugs which help millions of people. The question is not as to whether one should use cloning, but rather what is the scientist's conscience using such techniques. We live in a society with strict moral codes laid upon us, some of them maybe debatable. As society evolves, the moral code also changes. To me, a scientist conducting experiments is responsible for his/her actions. Politics is responsible for laws that try to lead the conscience of people. It surely is our responsibility to understand the needs of society as a whole and help guide scientists to make good decisions and use the knowledge they generate wisely.

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Human Cloning - Considerations for the Future

Much has been said about human cloning, and in particular the ethical concerns that arise. From therapeutic cloning to provide us with replacement organs or research material to mitigate illnesses, to reproductive cloning to provide us with exact copies of ourselves, the whole field is awash with vociferous and semi-evangelical proponents and opponents. What, then, is the future of this intriguing field?

Recent advances, in particular the work conducted by Dr Edward Darmos, have shown us that human cloning need not be the future, and that, instead, a process called synthetic somatology, or somatic synthesis, could provide us with a future filled with artificially-grown humans, designed for specific tasks. These 'synthetic humans' can be made anywhere that we can assemble the technology, which means that we could quickly populate the galaxy with colonies of living, breathing humans, designed to survive in adverse conditions.

While it's unlikely we'll see these in our lifetime, the possibilities are immense: imagine human colonies spreading across the galaxy, taking our cultural heritage and knowledge to unknown places, and all without having to overcome some of the fundamental problems of sending live humans across such enormous distances -- problems like lifetimes, inertia, the resource costs of a life support system, and so on.

From an ethical standpoint, these synthetic humans are something new for our scientists, philosophers and religious leaders to consider. According to documentation available from Gemini Somatics (Dr Darmos's employers), these people are genetically non-identical to any human, and are generally 'randomised', much like we are through the process of procreation. They are grown from donated pluripotent stem cells, which are taken only from adult donors, and never using fetal or embryonic stem cells. Further, their personalities are also artificially built from a number of donors, much as we adapt and change through our encounters with other people. Finally, however, these synthetic humans would have no childhood, which is where the main crux of ethical dilemma occurs.

If we make these people, are we denying them the true experience of human life by skipping over their childhood? It's certainly true that this process would only be required for the first generation, and beyond that natural procreation would occur, so is the benefit of creating a whole new human society far from Earth, capable of discovering new and wondrous things to enhance the whole of humanity sufficient cause to deny a first generation their childhood?

Matthew J Ryder.

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Dinosaur Cloning

Cloning is the creation of an organism that is an accurate genetic replica of another. Ever since various dinosaur movies came in Hollywood many people have begun to wonder if the cloning of a species like dinosaur, from a prehistoric portion of DNA is possible. These ideas sound extremely sensible as biologists have succeeded to clone a sheep. But there are several important hurdles that will keep the idea of dinosaur theme parks far away from realism.

The main problem is finding a well preserved dinosaur DNA. Though such DNAs have not been found, scientists believe that there may be an egg preserved wholly in an implausibly huge piece of amber. Since it is hugely impossible that a cell carrying the complete dinosaur gene will be found, scientists have to put together many separate strands of DNA from diverse sources. This can be achieved only after knowing the comprehensive and exact cycle of any one of the dinosaur species.

Dinosaurs need a surrogate mother to be cloned and dinosaurs already being extinct, this is a difficulty. As birds are directly descended from dinosaurs few scientists have considered using ostriches and its eggs for this reason.

Scientists might eliminate the nuclear DNA from the egg of an ostrich before the egg's shell is formed and insert the dinosaur DNA. The egg's shell will get formed while the egg is still inside the bird and later might be laid and incubated by the ostrich. It is also possible to do the same with the egg of a crocodile. Dr. Mary Schweitzer is researching on organic substances found in dinosaur bones at the Museum of Rockies in Montana, but declines to confirm dinosaur DNA as she is still uncertain. The possibility of dinosaur cloning [http://www.dinosaur-information.com] could be assured only if dinosaurs weren't extinct.

Ronald Wesley is an avid fan of dinosaurs [http://www.dinosaur-information.com] and all about the pre-historic times. He reads up on them at the library and takes class for children at local schools.

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Hair Follicle Cloning - A Summary of the Recent Literature as Related to the Treatment of Hair Loss

There are many limitations to cosmetic, medical and surgical treatment methods currently in use for hair loss. Newer treatment methods will eventually emerge, which potentially have the ability to "cure" inherited patterned baldness permanently. These methods encompass the concepts of Hair Follicle Cloning and Gene Therapy.

Hair follicles are miniature hair growing organs which evolve through growth and rest cycles. In addition to hairs being grown and then shed in these phases, the follicle itself disintegrates almost entirely by the end of the regression phase, and an almost entirely new follicle is created at the beginning of the next growth phase. This presents a unique opportunity for applying advanced molecular biological and medical techniques resulting in cloning and gene therapy.

Cell Biology and Genetics

Cells are the basic unit of all living organisms. The hair follicle is a miniature organ in which there are several different types of cells working together to grow a hair. Inside of every cell there is a NUCLEUS that contains CHROMOSOMES composed of DNA, the genetic material of the cell. Genes are sections of DNA that contain the code for particular types of proteins. Proteins, in turn, determine actual characteristics such as hair color, eye color, baldness, etc.

Each cell in a multi-cellular organism contains in its chromosomes a COMPLETE DNA BLUEPRINT of all of the genes for the proteins for the entire organism. Unlocking this DNA information in mature specialized cells is an important aspect of some cloning techniques.

Cell Replication

In a rapidly growing embryo, cells replicate by splitting in half and then growing to full size again. This process is called cell MITOSIS. Each half of a cell that splits contains a complete and exact set of the organism's DNA. As the embryo grows into a more fully functional organism, its cells begin to take on more specialized characteristics and begin to divide less. As cells become more specialized, cell replication shifts to more specialized cells called STEM CELLS. As specialized cells wear out over time they must be replaced from this pool of stem cells, which can create many different types of specialized cells.

CLONING

The background of cellular biology as presented above forms the scientific basis for cloning. Cloning is defined as the creation of an EXACT GENETIC REPLICA BY ASEXUAL MEANS. The use of fetal or embryonic tissue is an integral part of this technology. Scientists CLONE a gene, a cell or an entire organism.

Cloning as defined above must be distinguished from TISSUE ENGINEERING or CELL THERAPY. Tissue engineering involves culturing cells in vitro and re-implanting them. An example of such a tissue that could potentially be cultured and implanted is Hair Follicles. Tissues such as hair follicles are not referred to as clones.

In an imperfect world however, the following terms have become interchangeable: Hair Follicle Cloning, Follicular Cell Implantation, Follicular Neo-genesis, Follicular Regeneration and Hair Multiplication. According to scientific protocol however, the first term, cloning, should be excluded from the list, as it is tissue engineering that forms the basis for the technique described herein.

Why then, is research proceeding along these lines? What is the driving force and/or rationale for tissue engineering or cloning? First, there is the promise of UNLIMITED DONOR HAIR. There have been countless times that a patient has been deemed not a suitable candidate for surgical hair restoration due to the sparseness and quality of the donor hair. This would never occur in light of unlimited donor. A second driving force would be the LACK OF A DONOR SCAR. This would please many patients and physicians alike. The CREATION OF GREATER DENSITY and a more EASILY TOLERATED PROCEDURE also make the concept of cloning attractive to clinicians.

THE CONCEPT

Theoretically, the concept of tissue engineering would involve harvesting a small sample of hair follicles from the same donor region used in hair transplantation. The follicle inducing cells in the hair follicle would be isolated and subsequently caused to multiply using a cell culture. The newly multiplied cells would then be re-implanted into the recipient area of the scalp so that new follicles are created. Because of the cell division that occurs while culturing, countless new cells are created that when implanted, result in hundreds of NEW HAIR FOLLICLES.

BACKGROUND

The basis for Follicular Cell Implantation (FCI) began in the fundamental investigation of normal hair growth. Hair growth results from a DYNAMIC INTERACTION of epidermal and dermal components. This DERMAL-EPIDERMAL INTERACTION is what determines follicular development in the fetus, as well as normal hair shaft production during anagen.
Colin Jahoda showed the validity of this interaction by taking cells of the rat whisker dermal papilla, growing these cells in culture and implanting the cultured cells into incisional skin wounds of the rat. The implanted cells induced hair growth by interacting with native epithelial cells to re-create hair follicles and produce a hair shaft. This is similar to what happens during FETAL DEVELOPMENT of the hair follicle and the normal ANAGEN PHASE of the growth cycle. Several investigators, including Jahoda, Cooley and Vogel, Unger, and the Aderans Research Institute have replicated this work in humans. The problem is that nothing has appeared in the way of detailed studies to describe the actual TECHNIQUES used in these human studies. Because of the inherent commercial value of successful research, the importance of protecting intellectual property has overshadowed the impetus to publish.

APPLICATIONS

Using TISSUE ENGINEERED cells to treat hair loss is conceptually quite simple, but many complexities and challenges obscure this application. Research efforts span over twenty years yet the results have been inconsistent at best. This points to various OBSTACLES that have yet to be overcome. A sampling of the major concerns are as follows:

(1) Autologous vs Allogenic Tissue: Must the tissue used be that from the individual who will undergo the procedure or can tissue from another individual be used to create engineered follicles? Some portions of the hair follicle seem to be immunologically "privileged", but whether allogenic tissue will work is unknown at this time.

(2) Which follicular cells must be cultured and implanted? There is controversy regarding the type of cell to be cultured and implanted. Dermal cells, epidermal cells, stem cells and germinal epithelial cells all may have the potential to form new hair follicles when cultured, but there is no consensus on this in the research literature.

(3) The ability to maintain inductive potential is an important factor in implanting tissue engineered follicles. After several passages in culture, papilla cells lose their ability to induce hair growth when re-implanted. This could potentially be a major obstacle for the development of a treatment for hair loss.

(4) The cosmetic characteristics of the resultant cloned hair will be important. Color, orientation, curl and caliber of the hair will have to be analyzed such that a "normal" looking result is achieved.

(5) There are economic and regulatory hurdles that need to be overcome before FCI is considered a treatment for hair loss. In the United States, the US Food and Drug Administration would likely regulate implanted hair cells as "Biologic Therapy". This implies a comprehensive regulatory framework and significant legal hurdles which could potentially impede or delay FCI as therapy for hair loss.

(6) Finally, there is the question of safety. There must be an investigation into whether or not FCI could result in a tendency toward tumor formation. The question of the transmission of infectious diseases, especially if allogenic tissue is utilized, will become of overriding importance in FCI therapy.

SUMMARY

FCI has the potential to overcome many of the limitations of current surgical hair restoration, especially the finite supply of donor hair. The basic concept is sound, but reports in humans show inconsistencies and problems with reproducibility. The prospect of an unlimited donor supply will continue to influence tissue engineering based research to overcome these obstacles.

Copyright Notice

All rights to this article, including copyright, is owned
by Transitions International Group. For additional information, please contact
www.iwanthair.com

Richard P. Giannotto, MD is President and Medical Director of Hair Restoration Group, PC, in McLean, Virginia. He has studied and published widely on the subject of hair loss and hair restoration, for which he is a recognized international authority. For further information, please visit http://www.iwanthair.com

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Ancient Aliens: Aliens and Monsters (S03E02 part 2/5) Full History Channel Documentary

This episode examines modern-day genetic engineering, cloning and hybridization technology, and suggests that such technology could have been used by ancient aliens in the past to manipulate mankind and the environment. Also theorized are that the legends of creatures, such as the Chimera and Hydra, and humanoids, such as the Minotaur and Medusa, may have been encounters with beings created through alien animal/human hybrid experimentation.

Best Books on Gene Cloning

Simply Cloning - Chapter 3 - Vector Restriction Digest

Big thanks to everyone who bought this course between Feb 2012 and Feb 2013. I am happy to make it free again. Simply Cloning is a video manual for making DNA constructs. Chapter 3 is a bench demonstration of vector restriction digest.

Best Books on Gene Cloning