Hey there! Welcome to Life Noggin! If you didn’t already know, Ronbus is my
best friend. He’s great, he's really good and soccer
for some reason even though he's never played, and I want more friends just like him... Exactly like him. It’s easy to clone in my world. My animator can just copy and paste, and voila,
I’ve got 20 best friends. I am gonna need way more guacamole now. But what if you wanted to clone your best
friend or even yourself? How would that even work? Cloning is the process of producing a genetically
identical copy of a living organism. It can be done on many scales, from replicating
basic DNA to a complete genetic copy of a living thing. Scientists have cloned a bunch of animals
in the last 100 years, most notably, the infamous Dolly the Sheep in 1996. Now, we’ve got cloned cows, horses, cats,
and dogs running around and just recently, two cloned monkeys joined the party. This part smells really bad guys...if we could
just clean some stuff up a bit? If we can clone primates just like monkeys,
can we do it with humans? The most successful and well-known method
of cloning full living things is Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer. Scientists take an ovum from a female of the
species they’re cloning and remove all the DNA from inside. Then, they take the nucleus of a somatic cell,
like a skin cell, from the thing they want to clone and insert it into the egg. The egg is then implanted into a surrogate,
who carries the egg until it’s born. Now that scientists have cloned a non-human
primate, we’re closer than we’ve ever been to cloning a person, but there’s still
a ways to go. The success rate for these monkeys was super
low, as it often is with cloning. The scientists started out with 127 eggs and
only ended up with 2 monkeys, meaning their success rate was only 1.6%. One of the biggest struggles with cloning
primates has to do with spindle proteins. They’re crucial in cell division and development,
and, in humans, they reside in the nucleus of an egg. So, when the nucleus is removed to make room
for the new DNA, those spindle proteins are removed too, making embryonic development
that much harder. Say we found solutions to biological issues
like this, navigated our way through the complex ethical implications, and successfully cloned
a human, would your clone be just like you? If you’re 5’ 10” with brown hair and
blue eyes, maybe your name is Steve, who knows? You’d expect your clone to look the same,
right? Isn’t that what cloning is? Well you may be surprised to learn that your
clone could look completely different! Your appearance is based on genes, yes, but
it also depends on the fetal environment you grow in and which genes are turned off or
on. Your clone could also be very unhealthy. Many cloned animals suffer from defected brains,
hearts, and livers, and immune system problems. In lots of clones, the tips of their chromosomes
shrink quicker, meaning cellular aging happens faster than normal too. So your clone could be really sick and die
prematurely. Plus, your clone could have a completely different
personality than you do! While your personality is based on some genetics,
it’s also formed through experiences and upbringing. Just because Ronbus is super friendly, motivated,
and likes puzzles, doesn’t mean your clone would. The Ronbus clone could be mean, dishonest,
and hate puppies! So unless your clone had the exact same development
and experiences you did, it really wouldn't be you. With all this being said, would you wanna
clone yourself still? Let us know in the comment section below. and that's because in order to bring these
animals back scientist need bits of their genetic material that have been salvaged,
and sadly DNA from dinosaurs hasn't survived long enough to be used here. As always, my name is Blocko, this has been
Life Noggin, don't forget to keep on thinking!
