Word: cloning
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...cross that biological barrier, they ensured that others would follow. And although the Roslin researchers had to struggle for more than 10 years to achieve their breakthrough, it took political and religious leaders around the world no time at all to grasp its import: if scientists can clone sheep, they can probably clone people...
Without question, this exotic form of reproductive engineering could become an extremely useful tool. The ability to clone adult mammals, in particular, opens up myriad exciting possibilities, from propagating endangered animal species to producing replacement organs for transplant patients. Agriculture stands to benefit as well. Dairy farmers, for example, could clone their champion cows, making it possible to produce more milk from smaller herds. Sheep ranchers could do the same with their top lamb and wool producers...
...disadvantage of embryonic cloning is that you don't know what you are getting. With adult-cell cloning, you can wait to see how well an individual turns out before deciding whether to clone it. Cloning also has the potential to make genetic engineering more efficient. Once you produce an animal with a desired trait--a pig with a human immune system, perhaps--you could make as many copies as you want...
...create Dolly, the Roslin team concentrated on arresting the cell cycle--the series of choreographed steps all cells go through in the process of dividing. In Dolly's case, the cells the scientists wanted to clone came from the udder of a pregnant sheep. To stop them from dividing, researchers starved the cells of nutrients for a week. In response, the cells fell into a slumbering state that resembled deep hibernation...
Nobody at Roslin or PPL is talking about cloning humans. Even if they were, their procedure is obviously not practical--not as long as dozens of surrogates need to be impregnated for each successful birth. And that is probably a good thing, because it gives the public time to digest the news--and policymakers time to find ways to prevent abuses without blocking scientific progress. If the policymakers succeed, and if their guidelines win international acceptance, it may take a lot longer than the editorial writers and talk-show hosts think before a human clone emerges--even from the shadows...