Tuesday, 8 February 2011
GAVIN WATSON
Gavin Watson grew up in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, photographing the people he knew and the gangs they hung out with. In his latest book Skins and Punks, Watson captures two of the country's most iconic subcultures as they come to life in the dreary climate of 1980s Britain. As This is England director Shane Meadows comments in the foreword, 'What makes Gavin's photos so special is that when you look at them, there's clearly trust from the subject towards the photographer so it feels like you're in the photo rather than just observing'.
Monday, 7 February 2011
cloning in humans
There are many ways in which in which human cloning is expected to benefit mankind. Below is a list that is far from complete.
- Dr. Richard Seed, one of the leading proponents of human cloning technology, suggests that it may someday be possible to reverse the aging process because of what we learn from cloning.
- Human cloning technology could be used to reverse heart attacks. Scientists believe that they may be able to treat heart attack victims by cloning their healthy heart cells and injecting them into the areas of the heart that have been damaged. Heart disease is the number one killer in the United States and several other industrialized countries.
- There has been a breakthrough with human stem cells. Embryonic stem cells can be grown to produce organs or tissues to repair or replace damaged ones. Skin for burn victims, brain cells for the brain damaged, spinal cord cells for quadriplegics and paraplegics, hearts, lungs, livers, and kidneys could be produced. By combining this technology with human cloning technology it may be possible to produce needed tissue for suffering people that will be free of rejection by their immune systems. Conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, diabetes, heart failure, degenerative joint disease, and other problems may be made curable if human cloning and its technology are not banned.
- Infertility. With cloning, infertile couples could have children. Despite getting a fair amount of publicity in the news current treatments for infertility, in terms of percentages, are not very successful. One estimate is that current infertility treatments are less than 10 percent successful. Couples go through physically and emotionally painful procedures for a small chance of having children. Many couples run out of time and money without successfully having children. Human cloning could make it possible for many more infertile couples to have children than ever before possible.
- Plastic, reconstructive, and cosmetic surgery. Because of human cloning and its technology the days of silicone breast implants and other cosmetic procedures that may cause immune disease should soon be over. With the new technology, instead of using materials foreign to the body for such procedures, doctors will be able to manufacture bone, fat, connective tissue, or cartilage that matches the patients tissues exactly. Anyone will able to have their appearance altered to their satisfaction without the leaking of silicone gel into their bodies or the other problems that occur with present day plastic surgery. Victims of terrible accidents that deform the face should now be able to have their features repaired with new, safer, technology. Limbs for amputees may be able to be regenerated.
- Breast implants. Most people are aware of the breast implant fiasco in which hundreds of thousands of women received silicone breast implants for cosmetic reasons. Many came to believe that the implants were making them ill with diseases of their immune systems. With human cloning and its technology breast augmentation and other forms of cosmetic surgery could be done with implants that would not be any different from the person's normal tissues.
- Defective genes. The average person carries 8 defective genes inside them. These defective genes allow people to become sick when they would otherwise remain healthy. With human cloning and its technology it may be possible to ensure that we no longer suffer because of our defective genes.
Down's syndrome. Those women at high risk for Down's syndrome can avoid that risk by cloning. - Tay-Sachs disease. This is an autosomal recessive genetic disorder could be prevented by using cloning to ensure that a child does not express the gene for the disorder
Liver failure. We may be able to clone livers for liver transplants
Kidney failure. We may be able to clone kidneys for kidney transplants
Leukemia. We should be able to clone the bone marrow for children and adults suffering from leukemia. This is expected to be one of the first benefits to come from cloning technology. - Cancer. We may learn how to switch cells on and off through cloning and thus be able to cure cancer. Scientists still do not know exactly how cells differentiate into specific kinds of tissue, nor to they understand why cancerous cells lose their differentiation. Cloning, at long last, may be the key to understanding differentiation and cancer.
- Cystic fibrosis. We may be able to produce effective genetic therapy against cystic fibrosis. Ian Wilmut and colleagues are already working on this problem.
- Spinal cord injury. We may learn to grow nerves or the spinal cord back again when they are injured. Quadriplegics might be able to get out of their wheelchairs and walk again. Christopher Reeves, the man who played Superman, might be able to walk again.
- Testing for genetic disease. Cloning technology can be used to test for and perhaps cure genetic diseases.
The above list only scratches the surface of what human cloning technology can do for mankind. The suffering that can be relieved is staggering. This new technology heralds a new era of unparalleled advancement in medicine if people will release their fears and let the benefits begin. Why should another child die from leukemia when if the technology is allowed we should be able to cure it in a few years time?
From various e-mail sent to the Human Cloning Foundation, it is clear that many people would support human cloning in the following situations:
1) A couple has one child then they become infertile and cannot have more children. Cloning would enable such a couple to have a second child, perhaps a younger twin of the child they already have.
2) A child is lost soon after birth to a tragic accident. Many parents have written the HCF after losing a baby in a fire, car accident, or other unavoidable disaster. These grief stricken parents often say that they would like to have their perfect baby back. Human cloning would allow such parents to have a twin of their lost baby, but it would be like other twins, a unique individual and not a carbon copy of the child that was lost under heartbreaking circumstances.
3) A woman who through some medical emergency ended up having a hysterectomy before being married or having children. Such women have been stripped of their ability to have children. These women need a surrogate mother to have a child of their own DNA, which can be done either by human cloning or by in vitro fertilization.
4) A boy graduates from high school at age 18. He goes to a pool party to celebrate. He confuses the deep end and shallow end and dives head first into the pool, breaking his neck and becoming a quadriplegic. At age 19 he has his first urinary tract infection because of an indwelling urinary catheter and continues to suffer from them the rest of his life. At age 20 he comes down with herpes zoster of the trigeminal nerve. He suffers chronic unbearable pain. At age 21 he inherits a 10 million dollar trust fund. He never marries or has children. At age 40 after hearing about Dolly being a clone, he changes his will and has his DNA stored for future human cloning. His future mother will be awarded one million dollars to have him and raise him. His DNA clone will inherit a trust fund. He leaves five million to spinal cord research. He dies feeling that although he was robbed of normal life, his twin/clone will lead a better life.
5) Two parents have a baby boy. Unfortunately the baby has muscular dystrophy. They have another child and it's another boy with muscular dystrophy. They decide not to have any more children. Each boy has over 20 operations as doctors attempt to keep them healthy and mobile. Both boys die as teenagers. The childless parents donate their estate to curing muscular dystrophy and to having their boys cloned when medical science advances enough so that their DNA can live again, but free of muscular dystrophy.
Reference this page as: Human Cloning Foundation. "The Benefits of Human Cloning." Internet http://www.humancloning.org/benefits.htm, 1998.
Sunday, 6 February 2011
My World Event - Cloning, Dolly the Sheep
Image of Dolly and her lamb Bonnie
How Dolly was cloned
Animal cloning from an adult cell is obviously much more complex and difficult than growing a plant from a cutting. So when scientists working at the Roslin Institute in Scotland produced Dolly, the only lamb born from 277 attempts, it was a major news story around the world.
To produce Dolly, the scientists used the nucleus of an udder cell from a six-year-old Finn Dorset white sheep. The nucleus contains nearly all the cell's genes. They had to find a way to 'reprogram' the udder cells - to keep them alive but stop them growing – which they achieved by altering the growth medium (the ‘soup’ in which the cells were kept alive). Then they injected the cell into an unfertilised egg cell which had had its nucleus removed, and made the cells fuse by using electrical pulses. The unfertilised egg cell came from a Scottish Blackface ewe. When the research team had managed to fuse the nucleus from the adult white sheep cell with the egg cell from the black-faced sheep, they needed to make sure that the resulting cell would develop into an embryo. They cultured it for six or seven days to see if it divided and developed normally, before implanting it into a surrogate mother, another Scottish Blackface ewe. Dolly had a white face.
From 277 cell fusions, 29 early embryos developed and were implanted into 13 surrogate mothers. But only one pregnancy went to full term, and the 6.6kg Finn Dorset lamb 6LLS (alias Dolly) was born after 148 days.
What happened to Dolly?
Dolly, lived a pampered existence at the Roslin Institute. She mated and produced normal offspring in the normal way, showing that such cloned animals can reproduce. Born on 5 July 1996, she was euthanased on 14 February 2003, aged six and a half. Sheep can live to age 11 or 12, but Dolly suffered from arthritis in a hind leg joint and from sheep pulmonary adenomatosis, a virus-induced lung tumour to which sheep raised indoors are prone. On 2 February 2003, Australia's first cloned sheep died unexpectedly at the age of two years and 10 months. The cause of death was unknown and the carcass was quickly cremated as it was decomposing.
Dolly’s chromosomes were a little shorter than those of other sheep, but in most other ways she was the same as any other sheep of her chronological age. However, her early ageing may reflect that she was raised from the nucleus of a 6-year old sheep. Study of her cells also revealed that the very small amount of DNA outside the nucleus, in the mitochondria of the cells, is all inherited from the donor egg cell, not from the donor nucleus like the rest of her DNA. So she is not a completely identical copy. This finding could be important for sex-linked diseases such as haemophilia, and certain neuromuscular, brain and kidney conditions that are passed on through the mother's side of the family only.
Why clone sheep?
Dolly the sheep, was produced at the Roslin Institute as part of research into producing medicines in the milk of farm animals. Researchers have managed to transfer human genes that produce useful proteins into sheep and cows, so that they can produce, for instance, the blood clotting agent factor IX to treat haemophilia or alpha-1-antitrypsin to treat cystic fibrosis and other lung conditions.
The development of cloning technology has led to new ways to produce medicines and is improving our understanding of development and genetics.
Saturday, 5 February 2011
clonng timeline
Cloning:
A historical timeline
The New Millenium
1885
first cloned animals
Hans Dreisch seperated cells from two-celled sea urchin blastomers mechanically. Each cell grew independently and formed a separate, whole sea urchin clone.
1902
Hans Speman (1935 Nobel Prize in medicine) conducted the first nuclear transfer experiment by splitting a two-celled salamander embryo into seperate cells. Each cell developed into a salamander.
1903
Herbert Webber (US Dept. Agriculture) coined the word "clon".
1928
Hans Spemann performed the first nuclear transfer experiment using salamander embryos.
1952
Robert Briggs and Thomas King used nuclear transfer technology to clone frogs from adult donor cells.
1963
J.B.S. Haldane is credited to have coined the term "clone".
Tong Dizhou created the first cloned fish (asian carp)
1973
by inserting Asian carp DNA into a European crucian carp, Tong Dizhou created the first interspecies clone
1984
Steen Willadsen (British Agricultural Research Council) cloned a sheep via nuclear transfer technology.
1995
Megan & Morag:July 1995 Scottish scientists clone the sheeps Megan and Morag from differentiated embryo cells.
1996 (My World Event)
The first mammal was cloned from a cell of an adult animal. Ian Wilmut (Roslin Institute) created the sheep Dolly.
1997
Neti and Ditto: two Rhesus monkeys were cloned by nuclear transfer at Oregon Regional Primate Research Center. Neti stands for "nuclear embryo transfer infant".
Polly: the first genetically engineered cloned sheep
Gene: the first cloned cow from a fetal cell (Infigen, Inc.)
Cumulina: the first mouse cloned from adult cells (University of Hawaii Medical School)
ABS Global, Inc. cloned the first calf (Holstein)
1998
Noto & Kaga: first cloned cows from adult cells ((Ishikawa Prefectural Livestock Research Center)
Mira: first cloned goat from embryonc cells (Tufts University, Genzyme Transgenics Corporation)
1999
A Chinese scientist claimed to have cloned a human embryo to the stage where stem cells could be harvested and then cultured.
2000
Alexis, Carrel, Christa, Dotcom & Millie: the first pigs cloned from adult cells (PPL Therapeutics)
Yanyuan: the first goat cloned from adult cells (Northwest University of Agriculture, Forestry Science and technology, China)
Tetra: the first Rhesus monkey 'cloned' by embryo splitting technique
Xena: Japanese research group cloned a pig (black Chinese Meishan) from fetal skin cells
The first mouflon was cloned from adult cells (University of Teramo, Italy
2001
Noah: the first species of an endagered species (gaur) was cloned (Advanced Cell Technologies)
The first rabbits were cloned from adult cells (National Institute of Agricultural Research, France)
CopyCat (or Carbon Copy): the first cloned domestic animal
2003
The first banteng (bos javanicus) was cloned from adult cells (Advanced Cell Technologies, Trans Ova Genetics)
Idaho Gem: the first mule was cloned from a mule fetus (University of Idaho)
Prometea: first horse cloned from adult cells (Consortium for Zootechnical Improvement, Italy)
Ditteaux: the first African wildcat (Felis silvestris) was cloned from adult cells (Audubon Center for Research of Endagered Species)
Dewey: first deer cloned from adult cells (Texas A&M University, ViaGen, Inc.)
2004
Tabouli & Baba Ganoush: the first cat cloned by chromatin transfer technology (Genetic Savings & Clone)
South Korean scientists cloned 30 human embryos and developed them over several days to the blastocyst stage.
2005
Snuppy (Seoul National University puppy): the first cloned dog
2006
Iranian doctors said they have cloned a sheep. The lamb died minutes after birth. It was the first animal cloning in Iran.
First cloned ferrets (Libby and Lilly) by somatic cell nuclear transfer
2007
South Korean Scientists have cloned two females of an endangered species of wolf named Snuwolf and Snuwolffy
2008
Snuppy has become a father after the world's first sucessful breeding involving only cloned canines (Seoul National University).
2009
the first cloned camel (Injaz) was born at Dubai's Camel Reproduction Center
the first buffalo calf was born at NDRI, Karmal (India)
Iran's first cloned goat was born in Isfahan
http://www.argosbiotech.de/700/timelines/cloning2.htm
A historical timeline
The New Millenium
1885
first cloned animals
Hans Dreisch seperated cells from two-celled sea urchin blastomers mechanically. Each cell grew independently and formed a separate, whole sea urchin clone.
1902
Hans Speman (1935 Nobel Prize in medicine) conducted the first nuclear transfer experiment by splitting a two-celled salamander embryo into seperate cells. Each cell developed into a salamander.
1903
Herbert Webber (US Dept. Agriculture) coined the word "clon".
1928
Hans Spemann performed the first nuclear transfer experiment using salamander embryos.
1952
Robert Briggs and Thomas King used nuclear transfer technology to clone frogs from adult donor cells.
1963
J.B.S. Haldane is credited to have coined the term "clone".
Tong Dizhou created the first cloned fish (asian carp)
1973
by inserting Asian carp DNA into a European crucian carp, Tong Dizhou created the first interspecies clone
1984
Steen Willadsen (British Agricultural Research Council) cloned a sheep via nuclear transfer technology.
1995
Megan & Morag:July 1995 Scottish scientists clone the sheeps Megan and Morag from differentiated embryo cells.
1996 (My World Event)
The first mammal was cloned from a cell of an adult animal. Ian Wilmut (Roslin Institute) created the sheep Dolly.
1997
Neti and Ditto: two Rhesus monkeys were cloned by nuclear transfer at Oregon Regional Primate Research Center. Neti stands for "nuclear embryo transfer infant".
Polly: the first genetically engineered cloned sheep
Gene: the first cloned cow from a fetal cell (Infigen, Inc.)
Cumulina: the first mouse cloned from adult cells (University of Hawaii Medical School)
ABS Global, Inc. cloned the first calf (Holstein)
1998
Noto & Kaga: first cloned cows from adult cells ((Ishikawa Prefectural Livestock Research Center)
Mira: first cloned goat from embryonc cells (Tufts University, Genzyme Transgenics Corporation)
1999
A Chinese scientist claimed to have cloned a human embryo to the stage where stem cells could be harvested and then cultured.
2000
Alexis, Carrel, Christa, Dotcom & Millie: the first pigs cloned from adult cells (PPL Therapeutics)
Yanyuan: the first goat cloned from adult cells (Northwest University of Agriculture, Forestry Science and technology, China)
Tetra: the first Rhesus monkey 'cloned' by embryo splitting technique
Xena: Japanese research group cloned a pig (black Chinese Meishan) from fetal skin cells
The first mouflon was cloned from adult cells (University of Teramo, Italy
2001
Noah: the first species of an endagered species (gaur) was cloned (Advanced Cell Technologies)
The first rabbits were cloned from adult cells (National Institute of Agricultural Research, France)
CopyCat (or Carbon Copy): the first cloned domestic animal
2003
The first banteng (bos javanicus) was cloned from adult cells (Advanced Cell Technologies, Trans Ova Genetics)
Idaho Gem: the first mule was cloned from a mule fetus (University of Idaho)
Prometea: first horse cloned from adult cells (Consortium for Zootechnical Improvement, Italy)
Ditteaux: the first African wildcat (Felis silvestris) was cloned from adult cells (Audubon Center for Research of Endagered Species)
Dewey: first deer cloned from adult cells (Texas A&M University, ViaGen, Inc.)
2004
Tabouli & Baba Ganoush: the first cat cloned by chromatin transfer technology (Genetic Savings & Clone)
South Korean scientists cloned 30 human embryos and developed them over several days to the blastocyst stage.
2005
Snuppy (Seoul National University puppy): the first cloned dog
2006
Iranian doctors said they have cloned a sheep. The lamb died minutes after birth. It was the first animal cloning in Iran.
First cloned ferrets (Libby and Lilly) by somatic cell nuclear transfer
2007
South Korean Scientists have cloned two females of an endangered species of wolf named Snuwolf and Snuwolffy
2008
Snuppy has become a father after the world's first sucessful breeding involving only cloned canines (Seoul National University).
2009
the first cloned camel (Injaz) was born at Dubai's Camel Reproduction Center
the first buffalo calf was born at NDRI, Karmal (India)
Iran's first cloned goat was born in Isfahan
http://www.argosbiotech.de/700/timelines/cloning2.htm
Friday, 4 February 2011
cloning
What is cloning? Are there different types of cloning?
When the media report on cloning in the news, they are usually talking about only one type called reproductive cloning. There are different types of cloning however, and cloning technologies can be used for other purposes besides producing the genetic twin of another organism. A basic understanding of the different types of cloning is key to taking an informed stance on current public policy issues and making the best possible personal decisions. The following three types of cloning technologies will be discussed: (1) recombinant DNA technology or DNA cloning, (2) reproductive cloning, and (3) therapeutic cloning.
The terms "recombinant DNA technology," "DNA cloning," "molecular cloning," and "gene cloning" all refer to the same process: the transfer of a DNA fragment of interest from one organism to a self-replicating genetic element such as a bacterial plasmid. The DNA of interest can then be propagated in a foreign host cell. This technology has been around since the 1970s, and it has become a common practice in molecular biology labs today.
Reproductive cloning is a technology used to generate an animal that has the same nuclear DNA as another currently or previously existing animal. Dolly was created by reproductive cloning technology. In a process called "somatic cell nuclear transfer" (SCNT), scientists transfer genetic material from the nucleus of a donor adult cell to an egg whose nucleus, and thus its genetic material, has been removed. The reconstructed egg containing the DNA from a donor cell must be treated with chemicals or electric current in order to stimulate cell division. Once the cloned embryo reaches a suitable stage, it is transferred to the uterus of a female host where it continues to develop until birth.
Dolly or any other animal created using nuclear transfer technology is not truly an identical clone of the donor animal. Only the clone's chromosomal or nuclear DNA is the same as the donor. Some of the clone's genetic materials come from the mitochondria in the cytoplasm of the enucleated egg. Mitochondria, which are organelles that serve as power sources to the cell, contain their own short segments of DNA. Acquired mutations in mitochondrial DNA are believed to play an important role in the aging process.
Dolly's success is truly remarkable because it proved that the genetic material from a specialized adult cell, such as an udder cell programmed to express only those genes needed by udder cells, could be reprogrammed to generate an entire new organism. Before this demonstration, scientists believed that once a cell became specialized as a liver, heart, udder, bone, or any other type of cell, the change was permanent and other unneeded genes in the cell would become inactive. Some scientists believe that errors or incompleteness in the reprogramming process cause the high rates of death, deformity, and disability observed among animal clones.
Therapeutic cloning, also called "embryo cloning," is the production of human embryos for use in research. The goal of this process is not to create cloned human beings, but rather to harvest stem cells that can be used to study human development and to treat disease. Stem cells are important to biomedical researchers because they can be used to generate virtually any type of specialized cell in the human body. Stem cells are extracted from the egg after it has divided for 5 days. The egg at this stage of development is called a blastocyst. The extraction process destroys the embryo, which raises a variety of ethical concerns. Many researchers hope that one day stem cells can be used to serve as replacement cells to treat heart disease, Alzheimer's, cancer, and other diseases
Scientists have been cloning animals for many years. In 1952, the first animal, a tadpole, was cloned. Before the creation of Dolly, the first mammal cloned from the cell of an adult animal, clones were created from embryonic cells. Since Dolly, researchers have cloned a number of large and small animals including sheep, goats, cows, mice, pigs, cats, rabbits, and a gaur.
Hundreds of cloned animals exist today, but the number of different species is limited. Attempts at cloning certain species have been unsuccessful. Some species may be more resistant to somatic cell nuclear transfer than others. The process of stripping the nucleus from an egg cell and replacing it with the nucleus of a donor cell is a traumatic one, and improvements in cloning technologies may be needed before many species can be cloned successfully.
Scientists hope that one day therapeutic cloning can be used to generate tissues and organs for transplants. To do this, DNA would be extracted from the person in need of a transplant and inserted into an enucleated egg. After the egg containing the patient's DNA starts to divide, embryonic stem cells that can be transformed into any type of tissue would be harvested. The stem cells would be used to generate an organ or tissue that is a genetic match to the recipient. In theory, the cloned organ could then be transplanted into the patient without the risk of tissue rejection. If organs could be generated from cloned human embryos, the need for organ donation could be significantly reduced.
Another potential application of cloning to organ transplants is the creation of genetically modified pigs from which organs suitable for human transplants could be harvested . The transplant of organs and tissues from animals to humans is called xenotransplantation.
Reproductive cloning is expensive and highly inefficient. More than 90% of cloning attempts fail to produce viable offspring. More than 100 nuclear transfer procedures could be required to produce one viable clone. In addition to low success rates, cloned animals tend to have more compromised immune function and higher rates of infection, tumor growth, and other disorders. Japanese studies have shown that cloned mice live in poor health and die early. About a third of the cloned calves born alive have died young, and many of them were abnormally large. Many cloned animals have not lived long enough to generate good data about how clones age. Appearing healthy at a young age unfortunately is not a good indicator of long-term survival. Clones have been known to die mysteriously. For example, Australia's first cloned sheep appeared healthy and energetic on the day she died, and the results from her autopsy failed to determine a cause of death.
genomics.energy.gov
When the media report on cloning in the news, they are usually talking about only one type called reproductive cloning. There are different types of cloning however, and cloning technologies can be used for other purposes besides producing the genetic twin of another organism. A basic understanding of the different types of cloning is key to taking an informed stance on current public policy issues and making the best possible personal decisions. The following three types of cloning technologies will be discussed: (1) recombinant DNA technology or DNA cloning, (2) reproductive cloning, and (3) therapeutic cloning.
The terms "recombinant DNA technology," "DNA cloning," "molecular cloning," and "gene cloning" all refer to the same process: the transfer of a DNA fragment of interest from one organism to a self-replicating genetic element such as a bacterial plasmid. The DNA of interest can then be propagated in a foreign host cell. This technology has been around since the 1970s, and it has become a common practice in molecular biology labs today.
Reproductive cloning is a technology used to generate an animal that has the same nuclear DNA as another currently or previously existing animal. Dolly was created by reproductive cloning technology. In a process called "somatic cell nuclear transfer" (SCNT), scientists transfer genetic material from the nucleus of a donor adult cell to an egg whose nucleus, and thus its genetic material, has been removed. The reconstructed egg containing the DNA from a donor cell must be treated with chemicals or electric current in order to stimulate cell division. Once the cloned embryo reaches a suitable stage, it is transferred to the uterus of a female host where it continues to develop until birth.
Dolly or any other animal created using nuclear transfer technology is not truly an identical clone of the donor animal. Only the clone's chromosomal or nuclear DNA is the same as the donor. Some of the clone's genetic materials come from the mitochondria in the cytoplasm of the enucleated egg. Mitochondria, which are organelles that serve as power sources to the cell, contain their own short segments of DNA. Acquired mutations in mitochondrial DNA are believed to play an important role in the aging process.
Dolly's success is truly remarkable because it proved that the genetic material from a specialized adult cell, such as an udder cell programmed to express only those genes needed by udder cells, could be reprogrammed to generate an entire new organism. Before this demonstration, scientists believed that once a cell became specialized as a liver, heart, udder, bone, or any other type of cell, the change was permanent and other unneeded genes in the cell would become inactive. Some scientists believe that errors or incompleteness in the reprogramming process cause the high rates of death, deformity, and disability observed among animal clones.
Therapeutic cloning, also called "embryo cloning," is the production of human embryos for use in research. The goal of this process is not to create cloned human beings, but rather to harvest stem cells that can be used to study human development and to treat disease. Stem cells are important to biomedical researchers because they can be used to generate virtually any type of specialized cell in the human body. Stem cells are extracted from the egg after it has divided for 5 days. The egg at this stage of development is called a blastocyst. The extraction process destroys the embryo, which raises a variety of ethical concerns. Many researchers hope that one day stem cells can be used to serve as replacement cells to treat heart disease, Alzheimer's, cancer, and other diseases
Scientists have been cloning animals for many years. In 1952, the first animal, a tadpole, was cloned. Before the creation of Dolly, the first mammal cloned from the cell of an adult animal, clones were created from embryonic cells. Since Dolly, researchers have cloned a number of large and small animals including sheep, goats, cows, mice, pigs, cats, rabbits, and a gaur.
Hundreds of cloned animals exist today, but the number of different species is limited. Attempts at cloning certain species have been unsuccessful. Some species may be more resistant to somatic cell nuclear transfer than others. The process of stripping the nucleus from an egg cell and replacing it with the nucleus of a donor cell is a traumatic one, and improvements in cloning technologies may be needed before many species can be cloned successfully.
Scientists hope that one day therapeutic cloning can be used to generate tissues and organs for transplants. To do this, DNA would be extracted from the person in need of a transplant and inserted into an enucleated egg. After the egg containing the patient's DNA starts to divide, embryonic stem cells that can be transformed into any type of tissue would be harvested. The stem cells would be used to generate an organ or tissue that is a genetic match to the recipient. In theory, the cloned organ could then be transplanted into the patient without the risk of tissue rejection. If organs could be generated from cloned human embryos, the need for organ donation could be significantly reduced.
Another potential application of cloning to organ transplants is the creation of genetically modified pigs from which organs suitable for human transplants could be harvested . The transplant of organs and tissues from animals to humans is called xenotransplantation.
Reproductive cloning is expensive and highly inefficient. More than 90% of cloning attempts fail to produce viable offspring. More than 100 nuclear transfer procedures could be required to produce one viable clone. In addition to low success rates, cloned animals tend to have more compromised immune function and higher rates of infection, tumor growth, and other disorders. Japanese studies have shown that cloned mice live in poor health and die early. About a third of the cloned calves born alive have died young, and many of them were abnormally large. Many cloned animals have not lived long enough to generate good data about how clones age. Appearing healthy at a young age unfortunately is not a good indicator of long-term survival. Clones have been known to die mysteriously. For example, Australia's first cloned sheep appeared healthy and energetic on the day she died, and the results from her autopsy failed to determine a cause of death.
genomics.energy.gov
Wednesday, 2 February 2011
Fashion through the eras
Introduction to 20th-century fashion
Throughout the 20th century cross-cultural and historical influences have exerted a profound impact upon fashion design. The styles, designs and materials of other times and cultures have become more accessible to designers at first hand as improved travel and communications enable continents to be crossed with ease. With developments in photographic and printing techniques, they have also been able to glean ideas from secondary sources such as lavishly illustrated books, magazines and journals. Certainly since the 1950s European designers need only to look around them to see a rich variety of clothing from all corners of the world.
Early 20th century
Of the early years of the 20th century it is the clothes designed by Paul Poiret and Mariano Fortuny that reveal the richest evidence of historical and multicultural sources. Paul Poiret was much influenced by the art and design of the Middle East and India. In about 1910 he visited the V&A to study Indian turbans and, just weeks later, his haute couture adaptations were on sale in Paris. For his Thousand and Second Night fancy dress ball of 1911, Poiret dressed his wife in a wired lampshade tunic over harem trousers. This was to provide the inspiration for his more restrained `Sorbet' ensemble of 1912.
Fortuny was inspired by a variety of cultures and historical periods and freely combined East Asian, Coptic Egyptian, North African, Classical Greek and Renaissance sources. His finely pleated, black `Delphos' dress derives from a statue of a charioteer found in Delphi. The form of jacket worn with it was said by Fortuny to be suggested by the kimono. When laid out flat the jacket is rectangular in shape; the side seams stop short of the shoulders to create the arm holes. It is made from silk velvet, widely considered to be the most noble of Renaissance fabrics. The small naturalistic design, printed with metallic pigments, was also inspired by 16th-century Italian textiles.
During the early 1920s, couture houses embellished evening dresses with embroidered and beaded decoration in Chinese style or like that in Russian peasant tradition. In direct contrast, fashion in the 1930s saw a move towards a more feminine silhouette, with bias-cut clothes in smooth fabrics emphasizing the natural contours of the body.
The late 1930s and the Second World War
The late 1930s witnessed a move away from this body-skimming line in favour of historically inspired corsetted dresses with crinolines and bustles for evening wear. This trend can be seen in Molyneux's pale-pink ribbed-silk evening dress of 1939 which has a double-tiered full skirt held out by four bone hoops. A less extreme example of the vogue for period revivalism can be seen in Elsa Schiaparelli's black, satin-backed rayon marocain evening suit of 1938. (Marocain is a heavy crepe fabric.) This ensemble's leg-of-mutton sleeves, tight bodice with nipped-in waist, use of marocain fabric and ostrich feather-plumed hat were all features of late nineteenth-century fashion. However, the rayon fibre and the bold plastic 'Lightning' zip from ICI were progressive and characteristic Schiaparelli touches
During the Second World War clothing was subject to quantitative and design restrictions that aimed to conserve scarce resources while also retaining some element of style. These clothes, produced within the Utility scheme in Britain and under L85 regulations in America, do not reveal any marked historical or cross-cultural influences.
After the Second World War
In 1947 Christian Dior launched his New Look collection which, in direct contrast to wartime clothing, revelled in the unashamed luxury and corsetted styles of the late 19th century. His `Bar' suit from the spring of 1947 in cream silk tussore and fine black wool crepe is made to fit a tiny 45.5cm corsetted waist and exploits just under 7.5m of fabric in the skirt alone. Although a minority of women considered it anachronistic, the New Look was a resounding success among the war-weary population, for whom it evoked the stability of a previous era and embodied hopes for a better future. The promotion of an exaggeratedly feminine figure was in keeping with the prevalent view that women should give up the paid employment they had undertaken as part of the war effort and return to the home.
By 1950 revivalist styles, so evident in women's fashions, also invaded the most exclusive levels of menswear. The smart single-breasted grey wool `Edwardian' suit from 1951 - bowler hat, fitted jacket and tapered trousers worn with waisted overcoat and velvet collar - reveals this brief trend. This was to become the source for Teddy boy street styles.
From 1960 to about 1967 fashion celebrated modernity and scientific progress. However, in spite of the use of new materials and space age imagery, the short shift shape of womenswear dominant at this time can be traced back to the 1920s. The surface patterning of this period also had historical sources: the swirling forms of psychedelia had roots in turn of the century Art Nouveau designs.
1960s to 1990s
By the late 1960s optimism turned to concern as rising inflation, unemployment and environmental issues came to the fore. Designers began to look to nations of the so-called 'Third World' for inspiration and nostalgically turned to the past, especially the 1930s and '40s, for stylistic guidance. In the luxurious world of high fashion Bill Gibb became famous for his clothes embellished with applique and embroidered designs. A full-skirted 1972 dress with matching turban reflects the mood for clothing with a gentle ethnic influence. It is made of patchworked cotton fabrics designed by Susan Collier and Sarah Campbell for Liberty and has applied leather thongs and streamers.
After the hard imagery of late 1970s punk, Vivienne Westwood created her nostalgic, neo-romantic Pirate Collection. The pirate outfit, consisting of tunic top and sash, waistcoat, jacket and trousers with bicorne (two-cornered) hat and heavy boots from 1980 draws on a variety of historical and cultural sources. For example, the long slits in the arms of the jacket refer to the 16th- and 17th-century fashion for slashed fabric.
The Japanese designer, Issey Miyake, shows an interesting combination of influences in the 1990 dress `Rhythm Pleats'. The fine pleating is reminiscent of Fortuny. However, the choice of fabric (a hi-tech polyester and linen mix which is baked in an oven to set the pleats) means that the garment forms angular, sculptural shapes on the body, rather than clinging to it as the Fortuny does. The lack of concern with revealing the body and the simplicity of the basic shape - when laid out flat the dress forms a rectangle - are evidence of East Asian traditions.
1990s
In the 1990s fashion design has become increasingly diverse. Christian Lacroix's bridal gown from 1993 combines ideas from the seventeenth-century Spain of Velazquez's Las Meninas with gypsy sources. A Paul Smith suit mixes flamboyant patchwork fabrics from Afghanistan with 1950s tailoring, while a Helen Storey ensemble reveals modern street and sportswear influences mixed with ethnic-inspired embroidered decoration. It uses modern stretchy Lycra fabrics as well as leather.
http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/i/introduction-to-20th-century-fashion/
Throughout the 20th century cross-cultural and historical influences have exerted a profound impact upon fashion design. The styles, designs and materials of other times and cultures have become more accessible to designers at first hand as improved travel and communications enable continents to be crossed with ease. With developments in photographic and printing techniques, they have also been able to glean ideas from secondary sources such as lavishly illustrated books, magazines and journals. Certainly since the 1950s European designers need only to look around them to see a rich variety of clothing from all corners of the world.
Early 20th century
Of the early years of the 20th century it is the clothes designed by Paul Poiret and Mariano Fortuny that reveal the richest evidence of historical and multicultural sources. Paul Poiret was much influenced by the art and design of the Middle East and India. In about 1910 he visited the V&A to study Indian turbans and, just weeks later, his haute couture adaptations were on sale in Paris. For his Thousand and Second Night fancy dress ball of 1911, Poiret dressed his wife in a wired lampshade tunic over harem trousers. This was to provide the inspiration for his more restrained `Sorbet' ensemble of 1912.
Fortuny was inspired by a variety of cultures and historical periods and freely combined East Asian, Coptic Egyptian, North African, Classical Greek and Renaissance sources. His finely pleated, black `Delphos' dress derives from a statue of a charioteer found in Delphi. The form of jacket worn with it was said by Fortuny to be suggested by the kimono. When laid out flat the jacket is rectangular in shape; the side seams stop short of the shoulders to create the arm holes. It is made from silk velvet, widely considered to be the most noble of Renaissance fabrics. The small naturalistic design, printed with metallic pigments, was also inspired by 16th-century Italian textiles.
During the early 1920s, couture houses embellished evening dresses with embroidered and beaded decoration in Chinese style or like that in Russian peasant tradition. In direct contrast, fashion in the 1930s saw a move towards a more feminine silhouette, with bias-cut clothes in smooth fabrics emphasizing the natural contours of the body.
The late 1930s and the Second World War
The late 1930s witnessed a move away from this body-skimming line in favour of historically inspired corsetted dresses with crinolines and bustles for evening wear. This trend can be seen in Molyneux's pale-pink ribbed-silk evening dress of 1939 which has a double-tiered full skirt held out by four bone hoops. A less extreme example of the vogue for period revivalism can be seen in Elsa Schiaparelli's black, satin-backed rayon marocain evening suit of 1938. (Marocain is a heavy crepe fabric.) This ensemble's leg-of-mutton sleeves, tight bodice with nipped-in waist, use of marocain fabric and ostrich feather-plumed hat were all features of late nineteenth-century fashion. However, the rayon fibre and the bold plastic 'Lightning' zip from ICI were progressive and characteristic Schiaparelli touches
During the Second World War clothing was subject to quantitative and design restrictions that aimed to conserve scarce resources while also retaining some element of style. These clothes, produced within the Utility scheme in Britain and under L85 regulations in America, do not reveal any marked historical or cross-cultural influences.
After the Second World War
In 1947 Christian Dior launched his New Look collection which, in direct contrast to wartime clothing, revelled in the unashamed luxury and corsetted styles of the late 19th century. His `Bar' suit from the spring of 1947 in cream silk tussore and fine black wool crepe is made to fit a tiny 45.5cm corsetted waist and exploits just under 7.5m of fabric in the skirt alone. Although a minority of women considered it anachronistic, the New Look was a resounding success among the war-weary population, for whom it evoked the stability of a previous era and embodied hopes for a better future. The promotion of an exaggeratedly feminine figure was in keeping with the prevalent view that women should give up the paid employment they had undertaken as part of the war effort and return to the home.
By 1950 revivalist styles, so evident in women's fashions, also invaded the most exclusive levels of menswear. The smart single-breasted grey wool `Edwardian' suit from 1951 - bowler hat, fitted jacket and tapered trousers worn with waisted overcoat and velvet collar - reveals this brief trend. This was to become the source for Teddy boy street styles.
From 1960 to about 1967 fashion celebrated modernity and scientific progress. However, in spite of the use of new materials and space age imagery, the short shift shape of womenswear dominant at this time can be traced back to the 1920s. The surface patterning of this period also had historical sources: the swirling forms of psychedelia had roots in turn of the century Art Nouveau designs.
1960s to 1990s
By the late 1960s optimism turned to concern as rising inflation, unemployment and environmental issues came to the fore. Designers began to look to nations of the so-called 'Third World' for inspiration and nostalgically turned to the past, especially the 1930s and '40s, for stylistic guidance. In the luxurious world of high fashion Bill Gibb became famous for his clothes embellished with applique and embroidered designs. A full-skirted 1972 dress with matching turban reflects the mood for clothing with a gentle ethnic influence. It is made of patchworked cotton fabrics designed by Susan Collier and Sarah Campbell for Liberty and has applied leather thongs and streamers.
After the hard imagery of late 1970s punk, Vivienne Westwood created her nostalgic, neo-romantic Pirate Collection. The pirate outfit, consisting of tunic top and sash, waistcoat, jacket and trousers with bicorne (two-cornered) hat and heavy boots from 1980 draws on a variety of historical and cultural sources. For example, the long slits in the arms of the jacket refer to the 16th- and 17th-century fashion for slashed fabric.
The Japanese designer, Issey Miyake, shows an interesting combination of influences in the 1990 dress `Rhythm Pleats'. The fine pleating is reminiscent of Fortuny. However, the choice of fabric (a hi-tech polyester and linen mix which is baked in an oven to set the pleats) means that the garment forms angular, sculptural shapes on the body, rather than clinging to it as the Fortuny does. The lack of concern with revealing the body and the simplicity of the basic shape - when laid out flat the dress forms a rectangle - are evidence of East Asian traditions.
1990s
In the 1990s fashion design has become increasingly diverse. Christian Lacroix's bridal gown from 1993 combines ideas from the seventeenth-century Spain of Velazquez's Las Meninas with gypsy sources. A Paul Smith suit mixes flamboyant patchwork fabrics from Afghanistan with 1950s tailoring, while a Helen Storey ensemble reveals modern street and sportswear influences mixed with ethnic-inspired embroidered decoration. It uses modern stretchy Lycra fabrics as well as leather.
http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/i/introduction-to-20th-century-fashion/
Article on fashion photography history
Fashion photography history begins in 1913 when Condé Nast employed Adolphe de Meyer (Franco-British, 1868-1946) to make experimental photographs using a soft-focus lens and backlighting.
Next came Edward Steichen who started photographing fashion models in 1911. He used simple props in a Modernist way combined with classical poses. The fashion magazine Vogue had already been launched in 1892 but they used illustrations for their fashions. Steichen used artificial lighting as well as natural light to create a feeling of sensuality in his pictures and became the most highly paid photographer of the 1930s. The photograph below is simply stunning and shows the quality of work of which Steichen was capable. It is a picture of Thérèse Duncan, the adopted daughter of Isadora Duncan, on the Acropolis in Greece taken in 1921. The title of this remarkable photograph is 'Wind Fire', because of the cracking sound her garments made in the wind.
George Hoyningen-Huene (1900 - 1968) was another famous photographer from this era, travelling and working with Coco Chanel, Greta Garbo, Salvador Dali, jean Cocteau, Cecil Beaton, Marlene Dietrich and Kurt Weill. In the 1920s he was chief photographer for French Vogue and in the 1930s he worked almost exclusively for Harper's Bazaar.
Cecil Beaton and Horst Paul Horst were next on the scene. Beaton's images were influenced by his theatre designs while Horst's leaned towards the surreal, mostly using black and white or monochrome settings and creating a shadowless image through the use of spotlights.
With the advent of colour photography, fashion photography moved up from the realm of commercialism and advertising to high fashion photography which was considered art. During World War II however, the fashion photography industry in Europe suffered due to lack of materials and fashion photography was considered frivolous. French Vogue shut when Hitler invaded Paris and photographers such as Horst fled to America where fashion photography was unaffected.
With the advent of colour photography, fashion photography moved up from the realm of commercialism and advertising to high fashion photography which was considered art. During World War II however, the fashion photography industry in Europe suffered due to lack of materials and fashion photography was considered frivolous. French Vogue shut when Hitler invaded Paris and photographers such as Horst fled to America where fashion photography was unaffected.
After the War, the American photographer Lillian Bassman (born 1917) created a new aesthetic in black and white fashion photography. Her pictures were atmospheric, moody, mostly in black and white, with very high contrast and a grainy appeaerance. She worked for Harper's Bazaar from 1950 until 1965 but after that the geometric style which underpinned her compositions became unfashionable. She was rediscovered in the 1990s when a bag containing hundreds of her photographs was discovered, photographs which she had thrown out 20 years prior. Today she has been rediscovered and given the recognition she rightly deserves as a top fashion photographer.
In the 1940s and 1950s Alex Liberman , painter, sculptor, photographer and graphic designer, influenced a generation of photographers, including Diane Arbus, Bruce Davidson, Robert Frank, Robert Klein and Lisette Model. Irving Penn is another fashion photographer from this era, whose compositions were daringly simple, often isolating his subjects from all props or backgrounds to create a feeling of emotional detachment.
In the 1940s and 1950s Alex Liberman , painter, sculptor, photographer and graphic designer, influenced a generation of photographers, including Diane Arbus, Bruce Davidson, Robert Frank, Robert Klein and Lisette Model. Irving Penn is another fashion photographer from this era, whose compositions were daringly simple, often isolating his subjects from all props or backgrounds to create a feeling of emotional detachment.
60s Fashion Photography
60s fashion photography was highly experimental and photographers found themselves having greater decision-making power with editors. Vogue photographer Bob Richardson was one of the biggest names in high fashion photography at that time. His photographs were influenced mainly by film directors particularly with respect to camera angle and lighting.
If Richardson's creations were a bit too edgy for the editors, Richard Avedon's pictures were a dream come true with models shown smiling and exhibiting emotions, often in action. Avedon is perhaps most famous for his work with Twiggy, the great icon of fashion of the 1960s who was skinny and looked like a boy, a huge difference from the models of the 1940s and 1950s. She was described by Newsweek as "four straight limbs in search of a body".
The photographs of Diane Arbus are not usually associated with fashion photography but she worked for harper's Bazaar in 1962 on a series of photographs of children fashions and also for the New York Times in 1967, 1968 and 1970. The photographs are of outcast children and are very disturbing as fashion photography goes.
David Bailey is another well-known 60s fashion photographer. Bailey photographed actors musicians and royalty as well as fashion models. He captured, and helped to create, the Swinging London of the 1960s, a culture that was noted for its chic fashions. The film Blowup, 1966, was largely based on the character of Bailey played by David Hemmings. He is still working in the field of photography today. Of his work he states: "I've always tried to do pictures that don't date. I always go for simplicity".
In the 1970s, Helmut Newton rose to fame (or should I say notoriety) along with Guy Bourdin who created fashion photographs with aggresive and violence contained within them. His images for Vogue's Story of Ohh! are particularly infamous, based on the French nvoel The Story of O by Pauline Reage (Anne Desclos) in which the main character is a female fashion photographer and a masochist. Newton is perhaps the most copied fashion photographer of the 20th century.In the 1990s high fashion photography was dominated by photographers such as Collier Schorr and Glen Luchford who began to depict young men and women in gender-ambiguous photographs. David Lachapelle, Jurgen Teller and Wolfgang Tillmans are perhaps the most influential photographers of this era. High fashion photography and art photography comingled particularly in the work of Larry Sultan. Photographers such as Paolo Roversi, Peter Lindberg and Mario Testino are reinventing the genre today.
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