Category Archives: Cloning

Image by Getty / Futurism

Montero Lamar Hill, much better known as Old Town Road musician Lil Nas X, sure likes to look at himself in the mirror.

In fact, according to a recent tweet, the highly successful musician would love to go all the way with himself.

Im so sick of it, Lil Nas X wrote in the tweet. Im sick of pretending I dont wanna clone myself and then make love to my hot sexy body.

Its almost certainly a characteristically tongue-in-cheek quip, not meant to be taken at face value Hills Twitter account is nonstop stream of weird internet humor.

But it does raise an interesting question: would it ever be possible to clone yourself and then have sex with the duplicate version? And would it be ethical?

Human cloning is a hugely controversial field of study. Carrying embryonic stem cells past a certain point in maturity has not only been a taboo,but itremains illegal in many parts of the world.

And thats without getting into the idea of cloning a grown human, like Dolly the sheep.

As far as we know, no human has ever been cloned. But scientists are probably getting close to being able to if they wanted. In January 2018, scientists at the Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Neuroscience in Shanghai managed to clone macaques, in a worlds first.

It could be a step towards human cloning, but why would you do it? Peter Andrews, a professor in the University of Sheffields department of biomedical science toldNew Scientist at the time.

In terms of human biology, its illegal to clone a human in Britain and many other countries, and I dont think anyone would rationally want to do it, he added.

But Lil Nas X might beg to differ.

Care about supporting clean energy adoption? Find out how much money (and planet!) you could save by switching to solar power at UnderstandSolar.com. By signing up through this link, Futurism.com may receive a small commission.

See the rest here:

Lil Nas X Says He Wants to Clone Himself and Have Sex With the Copy - Futurism

Cloning is a technique scientists use to make exact genetic copies of living things. Genes, cells, tissues, and even whole animals can all be cloned.

Some clones already exist in nature. Single-celled organisms like bacteria make exact copies of themselves each time they reproduce. In humans, identical twins are similar to clones. They share almost the exact same genes. Identical twins are created when a fertilized egg splits in two.

Scientists also make clones in the lab. They often clone genes in order to study and better understand them. To clone a gene, researchers take DNA from a living creature and insert it into a carrier like bacteria or yeast. Every time that carrier reproduces, a new copy of the gene is made.

Animals are cloned in one of two ways. The first is called embryo twinning. Scientists first split an embryo in half. Those two halves are then placed in a mothers uterus. Each part of the embryo develops into a unique animal, and the two animals share the same genes. The second method is called somatic cell nuclear transfer. Somatic cells are all the cells that make up an organism, but that are not sperm or egg cells. Sperm and egg cells contain only one set of chromosomes, and when they join during fertilization, the mothers chromosomes merge with the fathers. Somatic cells, on the other hand, already contain two full sets of chromosomes. To make a clone, scientists transfer the DNA from an animals somatic cell into an egg cell that has had its nucleus and DNA removed. The egg develops into an embryo that contains the same genes as the cell donor. Then the embryo is implanted into an adult females uterus to grow.

In 1996, Scottish scientists cloned the first animal, a sheep they named Dolly. She was cloned using an udder cell taken from an adult sheep. Since then, scientists have cloned cows, cats, deer, horses, and rabbits. They still have not cloned a human, though. In part, this is because it is difficult to produce a viable clone. In each attempt, there can be genetic mistakes that prevent the clone from surviving. It took scientists 276 attempts to get Dolly right. There are also ethical concerns about cloning a human being.

Researchers can use clones in many ways. An embryo made by cloning can be turned into a stem cell factory. Stem cells are an early form of cells that can grow into many different types of cells and tissues. Scientists can turn them into nerve cells to fix a damaged spinal cord or insulin-making cells to treat diabetes.

The cloning of animals has been used in a number of different applications. Animals have been cloned to have gene mutations that help scientists study diseases that develop in the animals. Livestock like cows and pigs have been cloned to produce more milk or meat. Clones can even resurrect a beloved pet that has died. In 2001, a cat named CC was the first pet to be created through cloning. Cloning might one day bring back extinct species like the woolly mammoth or giant panda.

Go here to read the rest:

Cloning | National Geographic Society

Many people first heard of cloning when Dolly the Sheep showed up on the scene in 1997. Artificial cloning technologies have been around for much longer than Dolly, though.

There are two ways to make an exact genetic copy of an organism in a lab: artificial embryo twinning and somatic cell nuclear transfer.

Artificial embryo twinning is a relatively low-tech way to make clones. As the name suggests, this technique mimics the natural process that creates identical twins.

In nature, twins form very early in development when the embryo splits in two. Twinning happens in the first days after egg and sperm join, while the embryo is made of just a small number of unspecialized cells. Each half of the embryo continues dividing on its own, ultimately developing into separate, complete individuals. Since they developed from the same fertilized egg, the resulting individuals are genetically identical.

Artificial embryo twinning uses the same approach, but it is carried out in a Petri dish instead of inside the mother. A very early embryo is separated into individual cells, which are allowed to divide and develop for a short time in the Petri dish. The embryos are then placed into a surrogate mother, where they finish developing. Again, since all the embryos came from the same fertilized egg, they are genetically identical.

Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), also called nuclear transfer, uses a different approach than artificial embryo twinning, but it produces the same result: an exact genetic copy, or clone, of an individual. This was the method used to create Dolly the Sheep.

What does SCNT mean? Let's take it apart:

Somatic cell: A somatic cell is any cell in the body other than sperm and egg, the two types of reproductive cells. Reproductive cells are also called germ cells. In mammals, every somatic cell has two complete sets of chromosomes, whereas the germ cells have only one complete set.

Nuclear: The nucleus is a compartment that holds the cell's DNA. The DNA is divided into packages called chromosomes, and it contains all the information needed to form an organism. It's small differences in our DNA that make each of us unique.

Transfer: Moving an object from one place to another. To make Dolly, researchers isolated asomatic cell from an adult female sheep. Next they removed the nucleus and all of its DNA from an egg cell. Then theytransferred thenucleus from the somatic cell to the egg cell. After a couple of chemical tweaks, the egg cell, with its new nucleus, was behaving just like a freshly fertilized egg. It developed into an embryo, which was implanted into a surrogate mother and carried to term. (The transfer step is most often done using an electrical current to fuse the membranes of the egg and the somatic cell.)

The lamb, Dolly, was an exact genetic replica of the adult female sheep that donated the somatic cell. She was the first-ever mammal to be cloned from an adult somatic cell.

Go here to see the original:

What is Cloning - University of Utah

In this chapter, we address the following questions in our task statement:

What does cloning of animals including humans mean? What are its purposes? How does it differ from stem cell research?

To organize its response to those questions, the panel developed a series of subquestions, which appear as the section headings in the following text.

Reproductive cloning is defined as the deliberate production of genetically identical individuals. Each newly produced individual is a clone of the original. Monozygotic (identical) twins are natural clones. Clones contain identical sets of genetic material in the nucleusthe compartment that contains the chromosomesof every cell in their bodies. Thus, cells from two clones have the same DNA and the same genes in their nuclei.

All cells, including eggs, also contain some DNA in the energy-generating factories called mitochondria. These structures are in the cytoplasm, the region of a cell outside the nucleus. Mitochondria contain their own DNA and reproduce independently. True clones have identical DNA in both the nuclei and mitochondria, although the term clones is also used to refer to individuals that have identical nuclear DNA but different mitochondrial DNA.

Two methods are used to make live-born mammalian clones. Both require implantation of an embryo in a uterus and then a normal period of gestation and birth. However, reproductive human or animal cloning is not defined by the method used to derive the genetically identical embryos suitable for implantation. Techniques not yet developed or described here would nonetheless constitute cloning if they resulted in genetically identical individuals of which at least one were an embryo destined for implantation and birth.

The two methods used for reproductive cloning thus far are as follows:

Cloning using somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) [ 1]. This procedure starts with the removal of the chromosomes from an egg to create an enucleated egg. The chromosomes are replaced with a nucleus taken from a somatic (body) cell of the individual or embryo to be cloned. This cell could be obtained directly from the individual, from cells grown in culture, or from frozen tissue. The egg is then stimulated, and in some cases it starts to divide. If that happens, a series of sequential cell divisions leads to the formation of a blastocyst, or preimplantation embryo. The blastocyst is then transferred to the uterus of an animal. The successful implantation of the blastocyst in a uterus can result in its further development, culminating sometimes in the birth of an animal. This animal will be a clone of the individual that was the donor of the nucleus. Its nuclear DNA has been inherited from only one genetic parent.

The number of times that a given individual can be cloned is limited theoretically only by the number of eggs that can be obtained to accept the somatic cell nuclei and the number of females available to receive developing embryos. If the egg used in this procedure is derived from the same individual that donates the transferred somatic nucleus, the result will be an embryo that receives all its genetic materialnuclear and mitochondrialfrom a single individual. That will also be true if the egg comes from the nucleus donor's mother, because mitochondria are inherited maternally. Multiple clones might also be produced by transferring identical nuclei to eggs from a single donor. If the somatic cell nucleus and the egg come from different individuals, they will not be identical to the nuclear donor because the clones will have somewhat different mitochondrial genes [ 2; 3]

Cloning by embryo splitting. This procedure begins with in vitro fertilization (IVF): the union outside the woman's body of a sperm and an egg to generate a zygote. The zygote (from here onwards also called an embryo) divides into two and then four identical cells. At this stage, the cells can be separated and allowed to develop into separate but identical blastocysts, which can then be implanted in a uterus. The limited developmental potential of the cells means that the procedure cannot be repeated, so embryo splitting can yield only two identical mice and probably no more than four identical humans.

The DNA in embryo splitting is contributed by germ cells from two individualsthe mother who contributed the egg and the father who contributed the sperm. Thus, the embryos, like those formed naturally or by standard IVF, have two parents. Their mitochondrial DNA is identical. Because this method of cloning is identical with the natural formation of monozygotic twins and, in rare cases, even quadruplets, it is not discussed in detail in this report.

Even if clones are genetically identical with one another, they will not be identical in physical or behavioral characteristics, because DNA is not the only determinant of these characteristics. A pair of clones will experience different environments and nutritional inputs while in the uterus, and they would be expected to be subject to different inputs from their parents, society, and life experience as they grow up. If clones derived from identical nuclear donors and identical mitocondrial donors are born at different times, as is the case when an adult is the donor of the somatic cell nucleus, the environmental and nutritional differences would be expected to be more pronounced than for monozygotic (identical) twins. And even monozygotic twins are not fully identical genetically or epigenetically because mutations, stochastic developmental variations, and varied imprinting effects (parent-specific chemical marks on the DNA) make different contributions to each twin [ 3; 4].

Additional differences may occur in clones that do not have identical mitochondria. Such clones arise if one individual contributes the nucleus and another the eggor if nuclei from a single individual are transferred to eggs from multiple donors. The differences might be expected to show up in parts of the body that have high demands for energysuch as muscle, heart, eye, and brainor in body systems that use mitochondrial control over cell death to determine cell numbers [ 5; 6].

Cloning of livestock [ 1] is a means of replicating an existing favorable combination of traits, such as efficient growth and high milk production, without the genetic lottery and mixing that occur in sexual reproduction. It allows an animal with a particular genetic modification, such as the ability to produce a pharmaceutical in milk, to be replicated more rapidly than does natural mating [ 7; 8]. Moreover, a genetic modification can be made more easily in cultured cells than in an intact animal, and the modified cell nucleus can be transferred to an enucleated egg to make a clone of the required type. Mammals used in scientific experiments, such as mice, are cloned as part of research aimed at increasing our understanding of fundamental biological mechanisms.

In principle, those people who might wish to produce children through human reproductive cloning [ 9] include:

Infertile couples who wish to have a child that is genetically identical with one of them, or with another nucleus donor

Other individuals who wish to have a child that is genetically identical with them, or with another nucleus donor

Parents who have lost a child and wish to have another, genetically identical child

People who need a transplant (for example, of cord blood) to treat their own or their child's disease and who therefore wish to collect genetically identical tissue from a cloned fetus or newborn.

Possible reasons for undertaking human reproductive cloning have been analyzed according to their degree of justification. For example, in reference 10 it is proposed that human reproductive cloning aimed at establishing a genetic link to a gametically infertile parent would be more justifiable than an attempt by a sexually fertile person aimed at choosing a specific genome.

Transplantable tissue may be available without the need for the birth of a child produced by cloning. For example, embryos produced by in vitro fertilization (IVF) can be typed for transplant suitability, and in the future stem cells produced by nuclear transplantation may allow the production of transplantable tissue.

The alternatives open to infertile individuals are discussed in Chapter 4.

The recent and current work on stem cells that is briefly summarized below and discussed more fully in a recent report from the National Academies entitled Stem Cells and the Future of Regenerative Medicine [ 11] is not directly related to human reproductive cloning. However, the use of a common initial stepcalled either nuclear transplantation or somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT)has led Congress to consider bills that ban not only human reproductive cloning but also certain areas of stem cell research. Stem cells are cells that have the ability to divide repeatedly and give rise to both specialized cells and more stem cells. Some, such as some blood and brain stem cells, can be derived directly from adults [ 12- 19] and others can be obtained from preimplantation embryos. Stem cells derived from embryos are called embryonic stem cells (ES cells). The above-mentioned report from the National Academies provides a detailed account of the current state of stem cell research [ 11].

ES cells are also called pluripotent stem cells because their progeny include all cell types that can be found in a postimplantation embryo, a fetus, and a fully developed organism. They are derived from the inner cell mass of early embryos (blastocysts) [ 20- 23]. The cells in the inner cell mass of a given blastocyst are genetically identical, and each blastocyst yields only a single ES cell line. Stem cells are rarer [ 24] and more difficult to find in adults than in preimplantation embryos, and it has proved harder to grow some kinds of adult stem cells into cell lines after isolation [ 25; 26].

Production of different cells and tissues from ES cells or other stem cells is a subject of current research [ 11; 27- 31]. Production of whole organs other than bone marrow (to be used in bone marrow transplantation) from such cells has not yet been achieved, and its eventual success is uncertain.

Current interest in stem cells arises from their potential for the therapeutic transplantation of particular healthy cells, tissues, and organs into people suffering from a variety of diseases and debilitating disorders. Research with adult stem cells indicates that they may be useful for such purposes, including for tissues other than those from which the cells were derived [ 12; 14; 17; 18; 25- 27; 32- 43]. On the basis of current knowledge, it appears unlikely that adults will prove to be a sufficient source of stem cells for all kinds of tissues [ 11; 44- 47]. ES cell lines are of potential interest for transplantation because one cell line can multiply indefinitely and can generate not just one type of specialized cell, but many different types of specialized cells (brain, muscle, and so on) that might be needed for transplants [ 20; 28; 45; 48; 49]. However, much more research will be needed before the magnitude of the therapeutic potential of either adult stem cells or ES cells will be well understood.

One of the most important questions concerning the therapeutic potential of stem cells is whether the cells, tissues, and perhaps organs derived from them can be transplanted with minimal risk of transplant rejection. Ideally, adult stem cells advantageous for transplantation might be derived from patients themselves. Such cells, or tissues derived from them, would be genetically identical with the patient's own and not be rejected by the immune system. However, as previously described, the availability of sufficient adult stem cells and their potential to give rise to a full range of cell and tissue types are uncertain. Moreover, in the case of a disorder that has a genetic origin, a patient's own adult stem cells would carry the same defect and would have to be grown and genetically modified before they could be used for therapeutic transplantation.

The application of somatic cell nuclear transfer or nuclear transplantation offers an alternative route to obtaining stem cells that could be used for transplantation therapies with a minimal risk of transplant rejection. This proceduresometimes called therapeutic cloning, research cloning, or nonreproductive cloning, and referred to here as nuclear transplantation to produce stem cellswould be used to generate pluripotent ES cells that are genetically identical with the cells of a transplant recipient [ 50]. Thus, like adult stem cells, such ES cells should ameliorate the rejection seen with unmatched transplants.

Two types of adult stem cellsstem cells in the blood forming bone marrow and skin stem cellsare the only two stem cell therapies currently in use. But, as noted in the National Academies' report entitled Stem Cells and the Future of Regenerative Medicine, many questions remain before the potential of other adult stem cells can be accurately assessed [ 11]. Few studies on adult stem cells have sufficiently defined the stem cell's potential by starting from a single, isolated cell, or defined the necessary cellular environment for correct differentiation or the factors controlling the efficiency with which the cells repopulate an organ. There is a need to show that the cells derived from introduced adult stem cells are contributing directly to tissue function, and to improve the ability to maintain adult stem cells in culture without the cells differentiating. Finally, most of the studies that have garnered so much attention have used mouse rather than human adult stem cells.

ES cells are not without their own potential problems as a source of cells for transplantation. The growth of human ES cells in culture requires a feeder layer of mouse cells that may contain viruses, and when allowed to differentiate the ES cells can form a mixture of cell types at once. Human ES cells can form benign tumors when introduced into mice [ 20], although this potential seems to disappear if the cells are allowed to differentiate before introduction into a recipient [ 51]. Studies with mouse ES cells have shown promise for treating diabetes [ 30], Parkinson's disease [ 52], and spinal cord injury [ 53].

The ES cells made with nuclear transplantation would have the advantage over adult stem cells of being able to provide virtually all cell types and of being able to be maintained in culture for long periods of time. Current knowledge is, however, uncertain, and research on both adult stem cells and stem cells made with nuclear transplantation is required to understand their therapeutic potentials. (This point is stated clearly in Finding and Recommendation 2 of Stem Cells and the Future of Regenerative Medicine [ 11] which states, in part, that studies of both embryonic and adult human stem cells will be required to most efficiently advance the scientific and therapeutic potential of regenerative medicine.) It is likely that the ES cells will initially be used to generate single cell types for transplantation, such as nerve cells or muscle cells. In the future, because of their ability to give rise to many cell types, they might be used to generate tissues and, theoretically, complex organs for transplantation. But this will require the perfection of techniques for directing their specialization into each of the component cell types and then the assembly of these cells in the correct proportion and spatial organization for an organ. That might be reasonably straightforward for a simple structure, such as a pancreatic islet that produces insulin, but it is more challenging for tissues as complex as that from lung, kidney, or liver [ 54; 55].

The experimental procedures required to produce stem cells through nuclear transplantation would consist of the transfer of a somatic cell nucleus from a patient into an enucleated egg, the in vitro culture of the embryo to the blastocyst stage, and the derivation of a pluripotent ES cell line from the inner cell mass of this blastocyst. Such stem cell lines would then be used to derive specialized cells (and, if possible, tissues and organs) in laboratory culture for therapeutic transplantation. Such a procedure, if successful, can avoid a major cause of transplant rejection. However, there are several possible drawbacks to this proposal. Experiments with animal models suggest that the presence of divergent mitochondrial proteins in cells may create minor transplantation antigens [ 56; 57] that can cause rejection [ 58- 63]; this would not be a problem if the egg were donated by the mother of the transplant recipient or the recipient herself. For some autoimmune diseases, transplantation of cells cloned from the patient's own cells may be inappropriate, in that these cells can be targets for the ongoing destructive process. And, as with the use of adult stem cells, in the case of a disorder that has a genetic origin, ES cells derived by nuclear transplantation from the patient's own cells would carry the same defect and would have to be grown and genetically modified before they could be used for therapeutic transplantation. Using another source of stem cells is more likely to be feasible (although immunosuppression would be required) than the challenging task of correcting the one or more genes that are involved in the disease in adult stem cells or in a nuclear transplantation-derived stem cell line initiated with a nucleus from the patient.

In addition to nuclear transplantation, there are two other methods by which researchers might be able to derive ES cells with reduced likeli hood for rejection. A bank of ES cell lines covering many possible genetic makeups is one possibility, although the National Academies report entitled Stem Cells and the Future of Regenerative Medicine rated this as difficult to conceive [ 11]. Alternatively, embryonic stem cells might be engineered to eliminate or introduce certain cell-surface proteins, thus making the cells invisible to the recipient's immune system. As with the proposed use of many types of adult stem cells in transplantation, neither of these approaches carries anything close to a promise of success at the moment.

The preparation of embryonic stem cells by nuclear transplantation differs from reproductive cloning in that nothing is implanted in a uterus. The issue of whether ES cells alone can give rise to a complete embryo can easily be misinterpreted. The titles of some reports suggest that mouse embryos can be derived from ES cells alone [ 64- 72]. In all cases, however, the ES cells need to be surrounded by cells derived from a host embryo, in particular trophoblast and primitive endoderm. In addition to forming part of the placenta, trophoblast cells of the blastocyst provide essential patterning cues or signals to the embryo that are required to determine the orientation of its future head and rump (anterior-posterior) axis. This positional information is not genetically determined but is acquired by the trophoblast cells from events initiated soon after fertilization or egg activation. Moreover, it is critical that the positional cues be imparted to the inner cells of the blastocyst during a specific time window of development [ 73- 76]. Isolated inner cell masses of mouse blastocysts do not implant by themselves, but will do so if combined with trophoblast vesicles from another embryo [ 77]. By contrast, isolated clumps of mouse ES cells introduced into trophoblast vesicles never give rise to anything remotely resembling a postimplantation embryo, as opposed to a disorganized mass of trophoblast. In other words, the only way to get mouse ES cells to participate in normal development is to provide them with host embryonic cells, even if these cells do not remain viable throughout gestation (Richard Gardner, personal communication). It has been reported that human [ 20] and primate [ 78- 79] ES cells can give rise to trophoblast cells in culture. However, these trophoblast cells would presumably lack the positional cues normally acquired during the development of a blastocyst from an egg. In the light of the experimental results with mouse ES cells described above, it is very unlikely that clumps of human ES cells placed in a uterus would implant and develop into a fetus. It has been reported that clumps of human ES cells in culture, like clumps of mouse ES cells, give rise to disorganized aggregates known as embryoid bodies [ 80].

Besides their uses for therapeutic transplantation, ES cells obtained by nuclear transplantation could be used in laboratories for several types of studies that are important for clinical medicine and for fundamental research in human developmental biology. Such studies could not be carried out with mouse or monkey ES cells and are not likely to be feasible with ES cells prepared from normally fertilized blastocysts. For example, ES cells derived from humans with genetic diseases could be prepared through nuclear transplantation and would permit analysis of the role of the mutated genes in both cell and tissue development and in adult cells difficult to study otherwise, such as nerve cells of the brain. This work has the disadvantage that it would require the use of donor eggs. But for the study of many cell types there may be no alternative to the use of ES cells; for these cell types the derivation of primary cell lines from human tissues is not yet possible.

If the differentiation of ES cells into specialized cell types can be understood and controlled, the use of nuclear transplantation to obtain genetically defined human ES cell lines would allow the generation of genetically diverse cell lines that are not readily obtainable from embryos that have been frozen or that are in excess of clinical need in IVF clinics. The latter do not reflect the diversity of the general population and are skewed toward genomes from couples in which the female is older than the period of maximal fertility or one partner is infertile. In addition, it might be important to produce stem cells by nuclear transplantation from individuals who have diseases associated with both simple [81] and complex (multiple-gene) heritable genetic predilections. For example, some people have mutations that predispose them to Lou Gehrig's disease (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS); however, only some of these individuals become ill, presumably because of the influence of additional genes. Many common genetic predilections to diseases have similarly complex etiologies; it is likely that more such diseases will become apparent as the information generated by the Human Genome Project is applied. It would be possible, by using ES cells prepared with nuclear transplantation from patients and healthy people, to compare the development of such cells and to study the fundamental processes that modulate predilections to diseases.

Neither the work with ES cells, nor the work leading to the formation of cells and tissues for transplantation, involves the placement of blastocysts in a uterus. Thus, there is no embryonic development beyond the 64 to 200 cell stage, and no fetal development.

2-1. Reproductive cloning involves the creation of individuals that contain identical sets of nuclear genetic material (DNA). To have complete genetic identity, clones must have not only the same nuclear genes, but also the same mitochondrial genes.

2-2. Cloned mammalian animals can be made by replacing the chromosomes of an egg cell with a nucleus from the individual to be cloned, followed by stimulation of cell division and implantation of the resulting embryo.

2-3. Cloned individuals, whether born at the same or different times, will not be physically or behaviorally identical with each other at comparable ages.

2-4. Stem cells are cells that have an extensive ability to self-renew and differentiate, and they are therefore important as a potential source of cells for therapeutic transplantation. Embryonic stem cells derived through nuclear transplantation into eggs are a potential source of pluripotent (embryonic) stem cell lines that are immunologically similar to a patient's cells. Research with such cells has the goal of producing cells and tissues for therapeutic transplantation with minimal chance of rejection.

2-5. Embryonic stem cells and cell lines derived through nuclear transplantation could be valuable for uses other than organ transplantation. Such cell lines could be used to study the heritable genetic components associated with predilections to a variety of complex genetic diseases and test therapies for such diseases when they affect cells that are hard to study in isolation in adults.

2-6. The process of obtaining embryonic stem cells through nuclear transplantation does not involve the placement of an embryo in a uterus, and it cannot produce a new individual.

COMMITTEE ON STEM CELLS AND THE FUTURE OF REGENERATIVE MEDICINE, BOARD ON LIFE SCIENCES AND BOARD ON NEUROSCIENCE AND BEHAVIORAL HEALTH. Stem Cells and the Future of Regenerative Medicine. Report of the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine . 2001 Sep.

Read the original here:

Cloning: Definitions And Applications - Scientific and ...

Cloning is in high demand in the competitive world of camel beauty pageants, leaving scientists at a Dubai clinic working round the clock to produce carbon-copy beasts.

Not every animal is blessed with sought-after drooping lips and a tall, elegant neck, but technology now allows wealthy clients to replace their most beautiful camel with one just like it.

At the Reproductive Biotechnology Center, with views of the UAE citys towering skyscrapers, scientists pore over microscopes while dozens of cloned camels roam outside.

We have so much demand for cloning camels that we are not able to keep up, said the centres scientific director Nisar Wani.

Beauty pageants are not the only driver of the camel cloning industry. Many customers want to reproduce racing camels, or animals that produce large amounts of milk.

But beauty queens are the most popular order. Gulf clients will pay between 200,000 dirham (RM228,000) and 400,000 dirham (RM456,300) to duplicate a dromedary.

The camels are paraded at dusty racetracks around the region and scrutinised by judges, with occasional discoveries of Botox and cosmetic fillers adding a spice of scandal to the high-stakes contests.

Saud Al-Otaibi, who runs a camel auction in Kuwait, said customers judgement of the animals looks is key to his business.

The price of the camel is determined according to its beauty, health, and how well-known the breed is, he said.

When it comes to young animals, customers are keen on seeing the mother to determine its beauty before buying the camel, he added.

No turning back

Twelve years ago, Dubai claimed the worlds first cloned camel.

Injaz, a female whose name means achievement in Arabic, was born on April 8, 2009, after more than five years of work by Nisar and others.

From the minute Injaz was born, there was no going back.

We are now producing plenty, maybe more than 10 to 20 babies every year. This year we have 28 pregnancies (so far), last year we had 20, Nisar said with pride.

Dr Nisar, Scientific Director of the Reproductive Biotechnology Center, at the centres laboratory in Dubai.

The centre is churning out racing champions, high milk-producing animals... and winners of beauty contests called Beauty Queens, added Nisar, sitting in a lab next to the preserved body of a cloned camel in a glass container.

Known as ships of the desert, and once used for transport across the sands of the Arab peninsula, camels are symbols of traditional Gulf culture.

Now, after being replaced by gas-guzzling SUVs as the main mode of transport, they are used for racing, meat and milk.

We have cloned some she-camels that produce more than 35l of milk a day, said Nisar, compared to an average of 5l in normal camels.

Camel milk is commonly found next to regular milk at supermarkets in the Gulf, while meat products such as camel carpaccio are served in fancy restaurants.

Surrogacy technique

Cloning dogs, cows and horses is popular in many countries, although animal rights groups say the process causes undue suffering to the animals that provide the egg cells and carry embryos.

With orders flying into the cloning clinics in the United Arab Emirates, the only such facilities in the Gulf, scientists have developed new techniques to keep up with the pace.

Dr Nisar looking through a microscope while nearby is a cloned camel calf preserved in formaldehyde, at the lab.

Female camels only give birth to one calf every two years, including a gestation period of 13 months.

But breeding centres use a surrogacy technique to increase the number of offspring, whether from cloning or traditional breeding.

In this process, which we call multiple ovulation and embryo transfer, we super-stimulate the champion females and breed them with champion males, explained Nisar.

We collect the embryos from these females after seven to eight days and then we put them in surrogate mothers, which are very ordinary animals.

Alternatively, cloned camels can be created by placing DNA from cells in the desired animals ovaries into eggs taken from the surrogate mothers.

These mothers carry the babies to term, and instead of producing one baby at a time in a year, we can produce many calves from these animals.

Cloning is not just for those who want to own elite camels. Sometimes, clients simply want to reproduce a beloved animal after a sudden death.

Nisar, who started working at the clinic in 2003, said his proudest moment was the birth of Injaz and the worst time was her death.

She died this year, he said. When we came in the morning, she had ruptured her uterus. We tried to save her as much as possible. This was the saddest moment. AFP Relaxnews

Originally posted here:

Camel races and beauty pageants spur high demand for clones - The Star Online

Everyone says that college is the place to explore who you are and discover what you want to do in life. Its the place to cast your net as wide as it will go and see what catches. What isnt communicated is that the net comes at a price. The price tag can be costly and time consuming.

Thanks to de Zavala Middle School teacher Ms. Maria Hubbell and her focus on digital learning, eighth-grade students are casting their nets now and coming up with some cool career interests.

Just ask Javier Villarreal, Manuel Viera and Chris Lopez-Ramirez.

The Chef

Javier Villarreal is an aspiring chef. Hes had this dream for a while now. He remembers his mother cooking for him when he was young and is now bottling this nostalgia to become a chef. He hopes to cook meals for kids like his mother did for him. Villareal wasnt quite sure what type of kids meals he wanted to cook until Ms. Hubbells Discovery Lab Class.

While Villarreal was doing research on biotechnology, he came across the termgenetically modified organisms(GMOs). He learned about the impact of cooking with GMOs and the negative effects it has on the body.

This discovery encouraged Villarreal to focus on cooking healthy meals without GMOs for kids.

I want to cook meals that are healthy and delicious for kids, he says. The meals I cook will have alternatives to GMOs like naturally grown food that hasnt been not modified.

The Engineer

Manuel Viera is following in his fathers footsteps of becoming an engineer. His entire future has been mostly planned out.

I know where I want to go for college, he says. In fact, its already paid for.

But choosing a specialty in engineering can be overwhelming.

Thats where Hubbells Discovery Lab Class came into play. While students were conducting research, Viera stumbled upon the biotechnology topic,cloning. The more he thought about it, the more interested he became. What if good things like animals, plants and food could be replicated for mankind. Thats when he made his decision. Hes going to become an environmental engineer focused on cloning.

The Designer

Chris Lopez-Ramirez, a student in Ms. Hubbells Fashion Merchandising Class, is utilizing the Bulb Portfolio to jumpstart his career in design. The Bulb Portfolio is an online tool that allows users to create pages, upload images, store digital artifacts and much more. Now that Ms. Hubbell has introduced this portfolio to Lopez-Ramirez, he is excited to add his t-shirt designs and creative ideas to the platform. Its just the tool he needs to get his business off the ground.

Its a neat idea, Lopez-Ramirez says. The Bulb Portfolio will help me start my business.

Ms. Hubbell is extremely proud of these three students. They have used technology to define what their future looks like and have plenty of time to identify what they need in terms of university selections, industry certifications, networking connections and bachelor degree choices to get there.

View post:

Irving ISD is Forging Career Paths With Technology - Irving Weekly

ByDavid K. Johnson, Ph.D.,Kings CollegeClones are often thought of as being identical to each other not only in appearance, but also in the way the think and behave. (Image: andriano.cz/ Shutterstock)Orphan Black

Orphan Black opens with a troubled woman, Sarah, witnessing the suicide of another woman, Beth, who looks suspiciously similar like her. She steals Beths identity, only to eventually learn that Beth is not the only woman who looks like her. There are also Alison, Cosima, and Helena. Together, they realize theyre clones and set out to find the who, what, and why of their existence. In the process they meet almost 20 clones in allincluding Rachel, an executive in the company that produced them.

Orphan Black fights a common misconception about clones that is usually perpetuated by science fiction. Usually, clones are depicted as carbon copies who look, behave, and even have the same memories as the original. All the copies of Michael Keaton in Multiplicity, for example, not only all act alike (except for the one with a genetic defect), but it is almost as if they are all numerically identical to Michael Keatons character, Doug.

This is a transcript from the video series Sci-Phi: Science Fiction as Philosophy. Watch it now, on Wondrium.

Although clones would look the same, they would each be their own person, their own individual. Not only would they be numerically distinct, but their behavior and even personalities would be completely different. Why? Because the different environments to which they are exposed would shape them all differently. Even if they grew up in the same household, they would not be carbon copies of each other any more than two genetic twins are. In fact, that is all clones really areartificially produced twins.

Orphan Black demonstrates this. Sarah, Allison, Helena, and Rachels different environments make them very different people. Your genes do not determine everything about you. And this shows the folly of trying to replace an individual with their clone after they have suffered an untimely death.

Learn more about cloning and stem cells.

Another common mistake in sci-fi is thinking that clones would be non-personsdisposable entities without souls, which can be mistreated or used without moral regard. The view seems to be rooted in a sentiment expressed by Agent K in Blade Runner 2049. To be born is to have a soul. But the idea that being born is necessary for someone to have a soul is ludicrous. First of all, the idea that souls exist is widely rejected by academics. And even if the soul did exist, why would being born be a necessary condition for having one? Wouldnt having a functioning brain be the more likely candidate?

Now, we might argue that, even if clones have minds, you could create a clone of yourself for backup organs because youre allowed to use your own body, including your DNA, as you see fit. But if you voluntarily create clones of yourself, they would have their own mind and rights. You could not own your clones any more than one twin could own another. And you would have no more right to your clones bodily resources than your clone would have to yours.

The most common rationale against the existence of clones is the its not natural argument, which fallaciously equates not natural with immoral. One might also worry that people would treat clones as if they were property, as if they were soulless, even though they were not. But this is not a reason to legally restrict cloning. But the fact that society would mistreat them is evidence that society should change.

The real worry is that human cloning technology is not yet far enough along. Attempts to do it would likely end in miscarriage, stillbirths, or birth defects. And that is a good reason to legally ban attempts to plant cloned embryos into fertile women, at our present stage of development. But that is not a reason to ban the further development of such technology; one day clones could be reliably implanted and born healthy.

Learn more about isolating genes and DNA.

Here, the issue of zygote personhood becomes relevant. To develop such technology would require much trial and error, and that would mean the creation and destruction of millions of zygotes. But if zygotes are persons, that means such research would cost millions of human lives. And as Dave Weldon from the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity argues, invoking Immanuel Kant: It is unethical to view a human beingregardless of its ageas a means to an end.

But there are major problems with this argument. First, it is impossible to establish that zygotes actually are persons. The argument essentially rests on a religious assumptionand religious assumptions are not a legitimate basis for law. Second, by this logic, in vitro fertilization is immoral, because it usually involves discarding zygotes. And third, if zygotes are persons, research into cloning would not be any more detrimental to human life than natural biological reproduction.

At most, only 20 percent of zygotes created naturally result in live births. The rest either never implant in the uterus or fail to develop once implanted. If zygotes are persons, 80 percent of all persons who have ever lived were snuffed out by the natural process of sexual reproduction. And thats not counting the use of birth control pills. Some birth control pills ensure that implantation does not change the hormonal balance that causes the lining of the uterus to be shed.

If cloning research is dreadfully immoral because it disposes of zygotes, so is a lot of birth control. And while some might be comfortable with that conclusion, most cannot be without being hypocritical.

The premise of Orphan Black is that there is a sinister organization which produces clones for various purposes. The main character Sarah eventually finds out that she and some 20 others are identical clones, as she and the others set out to find the reason why they were created.

Orphan Black clearly shows that clones may look identical but the way they think and behave is quite different.

One argument against clone research is that it will cause the death of millions of zygotes, potential humans, in this view. But the fact that even in the process of natural births only 20 percent zygotes ever survive proves that this is a fallacious argument.

View post:

Here Come the Clones: "Orphan Black" and the Ethics of Cloning - The Great Courses Daily News

Image credit:

In 2020, it wasestimatedthat disinformation in the form of fake news costs around $78 billion annually. But deepfakes, mainly in social media, have matured and are fueled by the sophistication of artificial intelligence are moving into the business sector.

In 2019, Deeptrace, a cybersecurity company reported that thenumber of online deepfake videosdoubled, reaching close to 15,000 in under a year.

Several startups like Truepic, thats raised $26 millionfrom M12, Microsoft's venture arm, has taken a different approach to deepfakes. They focus on identifying not what is fake, tracking the authenticity of the content at the point it is captured.

Yancho Yanchev, a data protection specialist and solicitor in the UK, says that deep fakes using real or faked images of others can fall under the scope ofGlobal Data Protection Regulation(GDPR), theCalifornia Consumer Privacy Act(CCPA), and similar rules across the globe.

Yanchev says that this is especially true if those images are distributed for commercial or ideological purposes.

"Consider unique nature of personal data such as voice image biometrics that are being processed by machine learning algorithms and the impact a deep fake may have on the real person if misused," said Yanchev. "Fake ID verification on primary IT services - phone, email, online rental, and money transfers - even if not strictly misused is challenging to justify under GDPR or CCPA without the approval of the subject of the deep fake."

According to Experian, in a rush to digital, both consumers and businesses are significantly more reliant on the technology platforms and devices throughout their daily lives.

David Britton, vice presisdent of industry solutions, global ID and fraud at Experian, said the digital world is still an anonymous environment. "It is extremely difficult to know who is on the other end of the wire and this continues to drive the rise in fraud against both businesses and consumers directly.

"Voice cloning is part of a broader technology set designed to emulate human physical attributes and includes artificially created images, video and voice, generally known as deep fakes, said Britton. The technology is being used for legitimate purposes, but fraudsters can also use it for nefarious purposes.

Voice cloning takes snippets of a recorded text from a person and applies artificial intelligence (AI) to dissect the speech patterns from the voice samples samples. This gives the user the ability to create audio recordings or streams that werent spoken by the voice owner.

Britton says that voice cloning can be applied in several ways: from helping people who have lost their voice to communicate in their voice; to allowing content creators to use voice actors and reduce the time required of the actor on a project; or for the creation of entertainment content, like video games or films, where the creators need to quickly produce consistent voice content even if the actor is no longer available, or if they passed away before the project being released.

But he warns that fraudsters are also using this same technology to begin to create more authentic-sounding impersonations.

"This will allow them to successfully pass voice biometrics systems, or to dupe family members or acquaintances via phone, to send funds or to authorize approvals for access to sensitive systems, or to distribute funds to the fraudster," said Britton.

Britton says consumers need to be aware that fraudsters continue to leverage technology to steal data such as credentials, personal information, or money by either attacking the victim's bank or communicating with the victim directly.

"Consumers need to be vigilant to understand that these emerging threats exist, and while they aren't yet widely used today, we believe they will be increasingly popular among fraudsters," said Britton. "Consumers should pay close attention to voice messages or phone calls that sound like someone they know, who is asking for information or funds, particularly if it seems out of character for that individual."

Britton says voice cloning can also be challenging for government leaders as tools that opponents or state-sponsored attackers may use to spread misinformation.

"Fraudsters can also use the technology to create effective social engineering attacks and impersonate a known acquaintance via a phone call or voicemail message," said Britton. "It is also possible that voice cloning could be used to bypass voice-based biometric systems during digital authentication processes."

In non-criminal cases, Britton says there are emerging issues and questions about the content creator's authority to use another person's voice to create content that the voice owner never recorded.

A recent case of this was reported in June 2021 where a director used voice cloning to use the late Anthony Bourdain's voice to say a phrase he never [..] said, addes Britton. As these technologies advance, other questions emerge around the creator's rights to create content from voice actors or others that may not have given express permission or have not been compensated for using their voice.

Go here to read the rest:

The Rise Of Voice Cloning And DeepFakes In The Disinformation Wars - Forbes

People are going to have to pick sides, Kimberly says to Regina when the woman who should have stepped into the presidency per the line of succession is returned by the Israelis to the Pentagon, and Mann Hunt, the fifth episode of Y: The Last Man, expands that idea outside of the Pentagon, too. Per the reports Jennifer is receiving from around the country, rioters are spreading to statehouses, government mansions, and food banks. The power is still off. As we see in Boston, clashes between the U.S. Army and the protestors who think that the government is hiding information, and who specifically accuse Jennifer, are commonplace. Jennifer keeps saying that she wants to protect and work for all the people still alive, and shes loath to hand over power to Regina. And yes, Regina seems like an absolutely awful human being. But: Is Jennifer actually doing a good job? Could anyone in this role do a good job? Difficult to say!

Mann Hunt leaves Hero, Sam, Roxanne, and their Costco of canned goods behind to return to Jennifer, Kimberly, Christine, and the other women at the Pentagon as the B story this week, and Tian Jun Gus screenplay incrementally ratchets up the tension the series preceding four episodes have already established. Im not sure there are enough narrative details about all these peoples varying grievances (what do people think the hoax is, exactly?), but theres widespread chaos, and people want answers. Conspiracy theories are spreading about what caused the loss of those with the Y chromosome and who was responsible for it, and so maintaining the secrecy of Yoricks identity remains extremely important. Does that mean Yorick keeps his mask on the whole time? It does not! The need for lead actor Ben Schnetzer to show his face supersedes the narrative logic of keeping Yorick hid. But there are people all throughout Mann Hunt acting foolishly, so I cannot necessarily direct my ire only at Yorick.

Theres Jennifer, who allowed 355 (whom she knows as Sarah) to leave with Yorick, which seemingly was important and necessary because Yorick was already wandering hallways and revealing his existence, like an idiot, and because 355/Sarah very persuasively argued that geneticist Dr. Allison Mann would be able to help. But was the relief of seeing Yorick alive so overwhelming that Jennifer did this without at first reading up even a little on the Culper Ring? And without considering that 355/Sarah might have an agenda of her, or the Culper Rings, own? Everyone is operating here with a piece of information, not all of it, but I would expect a little more from the President and all of that positions resources. (Must be said, though, that Diane Lane does solid, subtly pained work once Jennifer thinks that Yorick could have died in the helicopter crash.)

Yoricks existence and the chopper cover-up are two secrets in which Jennifers aide Christine is involved, and the other is her own pregnancy. In a moment of fear and desperation, Christine chooses to trust Kimberly with this informationcreating perfect blackmail conditions for the First Daughter toward the Presidents aide. Why wouldnt Christine immediately tell Jennifer this? Do not tell me that premiere episode scene in which Jennifer was embarrassed by Christines bad nails somehow caused a schism between them that makes Christine unwilling to share this detail! At the very least Christine should be smart enough to know that Kimberly is going to use this information against her, and to actress Jess Salgueiros credit, she looks appropriately chastened (and uncomfortable) when Christine passes Kimberly in the hallway after the sonogram appointment.

G/O Media may get a commission

But this does not bode well, not at allespecially not when Kimberly is trying to curry favor with Regina Oliver, who rolls up to the Pentagon in a not-very-subtle gone hunting outfit. Jennifer Wigmores Regina exudes menace from the moment she arrives, from her black-American-flag baseball cap (used both by the Confederate Army and evoked by Blue Lives Matter), to her perpetual sneer whenever she has to regard Jennifer, to how she ricochets herself up out of that wheelchair. Costume designer Olga Mill does a good job dressing Kimberly, Regina, and Jennifer as three different kinds of women in the political space: Kimberly in her tight bun, cozy cardigan, and Laura Bush dress; Reginas take-no-prisoners L.L.Bean by way of Marjorie Taylor Greene; and Jennifers longer utilitarian jacket, jewel tones, and American flag pin. These are three different representations of power, and recall that graffiti that Yorick sees in Boston: Sexism didnt die with the men. Women disagreeing with each other isnt inherently sexism. But the way that Kimberly and Regina do it, and Reginas ominous as long as youre in charge to Jennifer? Vanilla Jennifer might look pretty good in comparison.

Mann Hunt spends most of its time in the terrifying hellscape that is Boston, where Yorick and 355 (Im dropping Sarah here since she doesnt use that name with Yorick) are tracking Dr. Allison Mann. What they dont expect when they get to Harvard is a war zone, with barbed wire and fences, burned-out cars and barricades, Army vehicles patrolling the streets, and soldiers speaking completely casually about using tear gas and violence on protestors. While 355 ingratiates herself with the military holding Harvard, Yorick meets the protestors, and, well, their aims seem valid. (Are they supposed to be leftists? Their political identification felt nebulous, and not nearly as clearly defined as the big neon REPUBLICANS signs flashing over Kimberly and Regina.) The protestors sense that Jennifer is lying about something (she is), and they worry that the government is incapable of handling the current situation (they might be), and they mourn their losses that day (understandable). Yorick clearly feels for them, and Steph (Vanessa Sears)who assumes that he is trans, and who offers him a place to stay and a source of testosteronemight be the only person who has been nice to him in a long time.

Because 355 and Dr. Allison Mann (Diana Bang) are both consumed with more important things than being nice. On 355s part, she seems to still be figuring out exactly what the Culper Ring wants her to do. That 72 Warren Street, Winthrop, Massachusetts, address left for her by the Culper Ring ends up being a boarded-up safehouse, where Agent 525 (Lou Jurgens) has been waiting for weeks. Both were recruited by a woman named Franwho has seemingly since abandoned themand both notice that 525 was newly assigned to the State Department and 355 was newly assigned to the Pentagon the day of the Event. Coincidence? Maybe. Were not supposed to ask questions, 525 says, but that doesnt exactly seem like 355s style. She grabbed that tracer to follow Fran, I assume, and maybe a long journey from Boston to San Francisco will be the way to find her recruiter.

Will 355 and Dr. Mann be able to keep from bickering the whole trip? Up in the air! They certainly disagree on who the crazies are, and on the level of loyalty the U.S. government requires. The sarcastic, cynical Dr. Mann doesnt seem to really care about helping Jennifer, or any American institution. Her research is what matters, and 15 years of it was lost when her lab at Harvard was destroyed. The only place to recreate some of it is in San Francisco, at a lab that has the software and tools she needs. But Dr. Mann doesnt have any kind of romanticized longing for the men who died after the Event: The idea that Ill be working to bring back men is reductive and ridiculous and beyond stupid. Instead, Dr. Mann clarifies, the loss of people (including women) and animals with the Y chromosome is a massive blow to biological diversity, and a massive blow to human civilization and society as we know it. So many other characters have treated the Event as a means of grabbing power or an opportunity for personal reinvention, but few have seemed to feel the loss as deeplyand as existentiallyas Dr. Mann.

What Mann Hunt ultimately demonstrates by its A story is that 355 and Dr. Mann are already developed in a way that the show still has not really accomplished for Yorick, who remains somewhat lacking in terms of his own agency. To be sure, some of Yoricks waywardness is intentional on behalf of the show, to signify a disconnect between how others view Yorick and how he views himselfthink of how he bristles when 355 says that being charming is your thingbut I wish Yorick would make a decision for himself already that isnt entirely dumb. Still, something to keep in mind, as Allison says very bemusedly to Yorick, is that he wont have much of a life from now on, will you? Once the group gets to San Franciscoon a journey that 355 seemingly lies about Jennifer approvingand Yorick is theoretically poked and prodded on the way to cloning, he certainly wont be in control anymore. Its kind of been a stressful few months, he says to Dr. Mann. Seems far from over.

See the article here:

The culture war, cloning, and Dr. Allison Mann enter the world of Y: The Last Man - The A.V. Club

Foundation, the Apple TV+ series that begins September 24, makes a lot of changes to Isaac Asimov's books that it adapts. Among those is the creation of a genetic dynasty that rules the Galactic Empire. Emperor Cleon the First he appears briefly in the books decides he's going to clone himself over and over, so he can forever rule the galaxy. At any one time, three Cleon clones exist, to guide one another and to groom the next era. There's the youngest Dawn, the middle ruler Day, and the eldest Dusk. Why did Foundation series creator David S. Goyer decide on this plot device?

It's a perfect example of how we approached the adaptation, Goyer said in a video conference press meet last week. In the books, the Empire has existed on 10,000 worlds for over 10,000 years. They're powerful, they're resistant to change. They're rigid and so I tried to think about what's the vision? What's the theme? What is Asimov talking about? How do I embody that in a character? One man cloning himself over and over again and imposing his ego upon an entire galaxy.'

How Apple's Foundation Series Updates Asimov's Books for the World Today

That was a plot device that then led me to all sorts of wonderful character moments. With the Cleons because they're all in some ways, the show is also a show about legacy desperate to individuate, they're all desperate to leave their mark on the galaxy, and the tragedy is that they're all living in the shadow of Cleon the First. So even though they're monsters, it allowed me to tell some stories that also possibly makes the audience empathise with them.

Lee Pace, who has made a habit of playing immortal or mad rulers he was Thranduil the Elvenking in The Hobbit trilogy, and also Ronan the Accuser in Guardians of the Galaxy essays the role of Brother Day. The Cleon clones call one another Brothers, even though they are the same person. Pace studied all sorts of real-life rulers, from the Roman emperors to the Incas to the Chinese dynasties. His favourite of all was Haile Selassie, the last emperor of Ethiopia.

I'm not really playing a man, I'm playing a series of men, who for a certain time in their life, inherit the role of the Emperor of the Galaxy, which is an absurd idea that one person could have control over the entire galaxy, have power of life and death over trillions of people, control which planets prosper, which ones suffer, Pace said. And so, when approaching a character as absurdly abstract as that, I wanted to bring diverse opinions to it.

From Foundation to Kota Factory, What to Watch in September

Cooper Carter as Dawn, Lee Pace as Day, Terrence Mann as Dusk in FoundationPhoto Credit: Helen Sloan/Apple

Doing research is one of my favourite things I get to do as an actor. I looked at obviously, the Roman emperors that inspired Isaac Asimov to write this story. But I also looked at the Chinese dynasties. I looked at Incas, the Emperors were basically gods to them. I had a really great read. [Ryszard] Kapuciski's book The Emperor, about the last emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie. I found him particularly interesting and looked at him for one of the Emperors that I play this season.

What I think is so interesting about this riddle posed about inherited power is not that office of a God they hold, Pace added. It's these individuals who are approaching it and I think very much about an actor approaching a role. Here's Day looking at Dawn, who is the youngest of the dynasty, and I'm saying, Here are the lines, this is the blocking. Here are the costumes that you will wear. And it is imperative for the safety of the galaxy that you are exactly like me that you behave exactly like me, that you are an identical copy of me, once you inherit this extraordinary power.'

And I believe he looks at Dusk, the outgoing emperor and says, You made a lot of mistakes here. And now that I've got the power, I'm going to do it right. I'm going to be stronger; I'm going to be braver. I'm going to be more just; I'm going to be distinguished among this line of clones.' And that's a contradictory idea. When the belief is, the fantasy is, they're the same person.

Cambridge Analytica Leads to Psychohistory: Foundation's Jared Harris

Some fans of Foundation the books might be perturbed by the changes, but Pace isn't too bothered. He believes they respect the book, but that the Apple TV+ series is its own thing it's not meant to be a line-by-line adaptation, after all.

I think anything that I bring to it is right, there's nothing to get right in a way with it, Pace said. It's not a book report this show. We're not trying to, page by page, say This is Foundation.' We respect it. I think it is a sign of respect to Isaac Asimov, and the door that he opened to many writers, Ursula K. Le Guin, [Frank Herbert's] Dune, and [Dan Simmons'] Hyperion. So much of the science fiction that I read. So, I am kind of casting a really broad net with this character, and it's up to David Goyer to edit me and keep me in line.

Foundation premieres September 24 on Apple TV+ worldwide.

See more here:

How Foundations New Emperor Cleon Clones Dawn, Day, and Dusk Came to Be - Gadgets 360