Cloning

This book addresses the motif of literary twinship from the Shakespearean age until today. Twins have all too often been discussed as mere footnotes to the allegedly more nuanced motif of the doppelganger, or as a kind of 'embarrassing' secret of literary history that is said to occur merely in inferior genres like farce or horror fiction. This study, by contrast, makes a case for the complexity of literary twinship across the literary spectrum, and it demonstrates that twinship articulates bodily anxieties, dynastic troubles, and genetic concerns that the classic double trope cannot ac-commodate. While the book does not deliver a complete and unabridged history of literary twin-ship (as such a history would inevitably be one marked by long gaps), it still examines twinship in a diachronic fashion and in different historical periods in order to show how the category of twinship is frequently re-negotiated as part of larger discursive shifts. Some historical periods understand twins mainly as a biological conundrum that threatens to expose the arbitrary laws of dynastic kin-ship, others as an epistemological problem that challenges any attempt to impose clear-cut definitions.
The individual case studies trace the development of the category of twinship over time, demonstrating how the twin was repeatedly (re-)invented as a cultural and pathological type when other discursive areas (including the fields of criminology and eugenics) constituted themselves, and how it served as the battleground for ideological disputes. It is in-midst of these discursive processes that I locate literary twinship, and my goal is not to demonstrate that literature 'mirrors' scientific debates of the day. Not only is it evident that literature frequently prefigured the discussions of modern twin scholarship, it has also been instrumental in facilitating these debates and in contributing to the negotiation of power shifts, for instance by setting the stage for debates regarding kinship systems in the Shakespearean age, by engaging in the Victorian reformulation of the criminal as genetically/pathologically evil, or by contributing to the dystopian quality of cloning discourse in the 20th century.

Abstract A multidisciplinary approach is being used to identify and validate virulence factors and determinants of bacteria of the Burkholderia cepacia complex (Bcc). Bcc is a group of problematic opportunistic pathogenic bacteria, particularly among cystic fibrosis patients, ...

O trabalho pretende responder se os humanos clonados artificialmente na série televisiva Orphan Black são tratados como commodities ao explorar discussões no campo da bioética que envolvem clonagem humana artificial. Para tal, serão descritos debates prévios e presentes sobre a clonagem artificial, assim como a condição em que o humano seria colocado caso a clonagem humana artificial obtenha sucesso. As visões de Jean Baudrillard e Donna Haraway serão comparadas. A metodologia empregada será a análise de episódios de Orphan Black, junto à revisão bibliográfica.

Human cloning is a big step for humankind, a great scientific achievement, but it is also risky and dangerous. Will this tremendous advancement in biomedicine and genetic engineering threaten the whole of mankind and whether in the future man will become the ordinary object of experiment. There are many doubts about cloning, and of which are most important is where it actually leads, and will we be able to stop it in time.

In this article, I complicate the ways that scientists and artists stage unique taxidermied animals. I look to what present-day taxidermy sculpture examples can teach us about human fears of extinction. Taxidermy has been repurposed in art galleries and is used to commemorate famous animals, such as ‘Dolly’, a cloned Finn Dorset sheep. I explore how taxidermy art can be used to theorize and think through anthropocentric apocalyptic time. In order to challenge artificial human notions of origins and ends, I place Dolly’s taxidermied remains in dialogue with Robert Marbury’s ‘vegan’ taxidermy sculpture of a woolly mammoth, made from discarded plush toys. Taxidermied Dolly (an animal that transcends ‘natural’ origins) and Marbury’s mammoth (a faux taxidermy piece that does not use real animal skin) blur boundaries – the real from the fake, the authentic from the gaff – and help us think through the temporal limits of human knowledge.

Este trabalho procurará analisar a representação de clones humanos na série televisiva Orphan Black com base nas obras de Donna Haraway e Jean Baudrillard, ao ponderar aproximações e distanciamentos entre as abordagens propostas pela série e os dois pensadores citados. Para tal, as ideias de clonagem humana artificial e biotecnologia retratadas em Orphan Black serão analisadas, com ênfase nos campos da bioética, transhumanismo e individualidade. A partir desses aprofundamentos, a pesquisa discutirá como Orphan Black traz informações pertinentes a respeito da biotecnologia para seu público. A metodologia empregada será a análise de episódios de Orphan Black baseada em conceitos dos Estudos Culturais Críticos propostos por Kellner (2001). A revisão bibliográfica se também se faz necessária, tendo como base as obras de Jean Baudrillard e Donna Haraway.

Розвиток цивілізації спричиняє появу нових напрямів наукових досліджень і виробництв, які мають важливе соціальне значення. А це зумовлює необхідність їхнього правового врегулювання. Право встановлює певні рамки для розвитку науково-технічного прогресу, для впровадження і застосування нових досягнень людської думки. Дедалі більшої актуальності набуває правова регламентація в галузі генно-інженерної діяльності. Развитие цивилизации вызывает появление новых направлений научных исследований и производств, которые имеют важное социальное значение. А это вызывает необходимость их правового урегулирования. Право устанавливает определенные рамки для развития научно-технического прогресса, для внедрения и применения новых достижений человеческой мысли. все большей актуальность приобретает правовая регламентация в области генно-инженерной деятельности. The development of civilization causes the emergence of new areas of research and production, which have a great social importance. This necessitates their legal settlement. The right to establish a framework for the development of scientific and technological progress, for the introduction and application of new achievements of human thought. More relevance acquires legal regulation in the field of genetic engineering.

Commemorating the 200th publication anniversary of Mary Shelley's classic novel, Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus, we recognize the enduring power of the ancient Promethean myth for prompting visceral fears of scientific monsters today. Today's Frankenfear arises from worry that laboratory scientists will trespass against the sacredness of nature, and that nature will retaliate with fiendish violence. Apprehension that scientists might be playing god surfaces with public fear over environmental degradation, climate change, genetic engineering, cloning, and global nuclear war. Is such Frankenfear realistic? Or, is it paranoia? Theologically, there is no ground for fearing that scientists are playing god. Instead of stopping research based on paranoia, courageous future-oriented scientists should proceed with caution.

Altered Carbon (Lenic & Kalogridis, 2018-) is centrally about the fantasy of eradicating death, as well as the survival and negotiation of identity in a new body. This fantasy, coupled to that of extending the human life span, has been a long-standing, persistent dream, given recurrent expression in mythological and Biblical accounts, in early epic narratives and in art. A considerable number of recent works, both literary and cinematic,  engage with the possibility of almost infinite life extension, usually by being reborn in a new body. This lengthy list of visual and fictional narratives dealing with the age old ambition of quasi-immortality bears witness to a genetic, transhumanist imaginary that is taking the goal of progressively abolishing death more seriously. Altered Carbon can be inscribed in this increasingly emphatic thematic cluster that envisages novel ways of prolonging life, offering its own solutions to the inevitability of death, including new (cloned) bodies for the extremely wealthy. The premise of erasing death is not new, of course, neither is the concept of body hopping or body swapping,  but the extent to which it is applied in Altered Carbon, where it is valid for everybody, is unprecedented. These fantasies have been updated by envisaging the possibility of avoiding or postponing death by being reincarnated into a new body or, more radically, by always having cloned versions of one's body ready to receive one's memories, kept in a "cortical stack," as is the case in Altered Carbon. These cloned versions can only be afforded by the extremely rich, which yet again introduces dystopian capitalist hierarchy and selection into this transhumanist scenario where death has been all but eliminated. While Altered Carbon

Human cloning is one of the most hotly debated scientific issues of our time. Theorists have provided conflicting opinions in agreement and disagreement with this technology, such opinions often being based on differing ethical theories.

States have also adopted diverging approaches to this technology. Due to the global ramifications of human cloning, States have sought the conclusion of a global treaty for the regulation thereof. Although this has been possible within the regional setting of Europe, the global attempt at regulation has failed and simply resulted in the adoption of a weak resolution by the UN General Assembly. Although States were in agreement about the international system of human rights as being the general theory of ethics, guiding the discussions for regulation, the divergent interpretations provided by States on the rules and concepts of this system were such as to preclude the possibility of a meaningful agreement.

In this thesis, after critically reviewing the different positions on the ethical aspects of human cloning, the necessity of basing the international system of human rights as the general ethical theory for the international regulation of this technology is justified. Then, the relevant rules of the said system are reviewed and finally, an analysis of the core concepts of the international system of human rights as they relate to the subject at hand is provided in order to introduce the most compatible approach to human cloning with the international system of human rights.

An inquiry into the bioethical or ethical component of posthumanism can be through the question of sex. Following from Manoj’s idea of a cyborg as having a “sexless” possibility, this paper presents other arguments that advance the possibility of asexuality in the posthuman. First, I begin with a discussion of Žižek’s point concerning the cessation or voiding of sexual difference. Second, I will continue such an argument through the self-replicating possibilities of cloning and full cyberspace immersion, the later as prototyped by Pokémon. And finally, there seems to be an inevitable thread that begs to link the concept of the posthuman to Nietzsche so I will explore some of the arguments that include or exclude Nietzschean ethics in this prospect.

We need no special introduction to the revolutionary enzyme – Taq polymerase – that made it possible for a field called genetic engineering to flourish and assisted many other disciplines to develop. The technique of PCR is now used extensively in many different areas of science, forensics and medicine. In this review paper, we explore the different aspects of this absolutely indispensable biotechnological tool, and review the ingenious strategies of cloning of Taq polymerase gene for better yield and lower production costs.

In the present scenario with the advancement of animal genetics to utilize the non-additive gene action two technologies i.e. molecular genetics technologies and reproductive assisted technologies have been developed to overcome the human requirement in short period of time genetically. The molecular genetics technologies that are adopted to exploit non-additive gene action are marker assisted selection technology, genetic markers, animal cloning and transgenic animals while that of reproductive assisted technologies are artificial insemination, embryo transfer, in-vitro fertilization, somatic cell nuclear transfer and multiple ovulation and embryo transfer. Modernized animal breeding technologies has being harnessed in various aspects of the livestock industry to hasten breed development for improved animal health and welfare, enhanced reproduction, and improved nutritional quality and safety of animal derived foods. Although substantial additional genetic gains can be achieved with selection on linked genetic markers, the ultimate aim will be to directly identify the main genes involved in a trait and to elucidate the function of each of these genes. To bring a genetic gain, it is well accepted that local animals must be safeguarded to maintain its purity, records must be kept to evaluate best animal and highly productive cows should not be crossbred with exotic breeds and breeding policy should be set. The genetic improvement for increased milk and meat output is inevitable. Such development interventions should operate within crossbreeding policy framework without affecting genetic diversity. INTRODUCTION With the advancement of biotechnology and molecular biology, Drinkwater and Hetzel, [1] revealed that meat and milk from farmed animals including livestock i.e. cattle, goat and buffalo along with meat and egg from poultry [2,3] are important sources of high quality protein and essential amino acids, minerals, fats and fatty acids, readily available vitamins, small quantities of carbohydrates and other bioactive components. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) 2009 [4] estimated that meat consumption has grown with increase in population. The average global per capita meat consumption is 42.1 kg/year with 82.9 kg/year in developed and 31.1 kg/year in developing countries in a recommended daily animal sourced protein per capita of 50 kg per year. Milk on the other hand is consumed in various forms: liquid, cheese, powder, and cream at a global per capita consumption of 108 kg per person per year which is way below the FAO, 2011 [5] recommended daily consumption of 200 kg. Some poor countries may not be able to sustain these levels of meat and milk requirement, leading to malnutrition. Demand for meat and milk production is also expected to double in 2050 in developing countries, where population is expected to double. Thus, increasing production and the safe processing and marketing of meat and milk, and their products are big challenges for livestock producers. Biotechnology is being harnessed in various aspects of the livestock industry [6] to hasten breed development for improved animal health and welfare, enhanced reproduction, and improved nutritional quality and safety of animal derived foods.

— Malaria is a major public health problem caused by Plasmodium falciparum, a parasite that infects red blood cells. Recently, several polyphenolic compounds have been reported capable of preventing the progression of malaria parasite. This observation may be related to NAD (P) H: quinon oxidoreductase: a flavoprotein responsible for catalyzing two-electron reduction and detoxification of quinones and their derivatives. In this study the 2123 bp of the 5 ` upstream of the first transcription start site was successfully isolated. Based on the bioinformatic program, several regulatory regions such as Antioxidant Response Element (ARE) may be responsible for the direct regulation of polyphenols on this enzyme. It was predicted at-477 from the first transcription start site. Upon isolation, this fragment was used in a cloning process into the pGL3 Basic vector and transformed to E.coli DH5α competent cells.

Apple scar skin viroid (ASSVd) infection is a major limitation to apple fruit quality and causes huge economic losses. In surveys of apple orchards in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, fruits with dappling symptoms were noticed. ASSVd was detected from these fruits and molecularly characterized. Ten clones from three isolates were sequenced, of which seven were new sequence variants of ASSVd. The clones had significant sequence variability (94–100%) with each other. Variability was more common in the pathogenic domain of the viroid genome. Four of the clones were 330 nucleotides (nt) long, and the other six had an additional nucleotide. Phylogenetic analysis showed close affinity of the present isolates with some Chinese and Korean isolates. The study reports seven new variants of ASSVd and also provides the first molecular evidence of viroid infection (ASSVd) in apple in India.