Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Ed said:

> > If you think of it, it is not surprising. Compare two apple trees of
the same cultivar. They are the result of vegative propigation
(cloning), but they do not have branches of exactly the same size in
exactly the same place. Even without pruning, much of the shape of a
tree is the result of random events during development not genetics. The
good news is that the taste of the fruit is genetically determined so
you do get the desired apples. <<

He is quite right, it is not surprising.  Cloned apple trees do not look
exactly the same.  However, I also beg to differ with respect to his
assertion that taste is genetically determined.  The taste of a fruit is
very much a function of the soil it is grown in, the overall climate it
is grown in, the local weather conditions at the time, and when the
fruit is picked, to name but a few of the multitude of variables other
than genetics that determines the taste of a fruit....

....ask any wine maker, or even a wine afficianado.  A goodly portion of
making good wine is in starting with good grapes, and a "good year" for
wine is generally determined by the weather, but it is also very much a
matter of knowing when to pick them.

All apple trees with the same genetic makeup (e.g. every granny smith
tree) do not look exactly the same, and even all granny smith apples off
of the same tree do not taste exactly the same.

This genetic duplicate of Cash is NOT Cash (and never will be).  Since
the practice of cloning mammals is very much in its experimental stages,
nobody could possibly have clue whether and to what extent the genetic
duplicate will differ from the original.  However, we have LOADS of
evidence (because genetic duplicates have existed and been studies for
millenia) that suggests that this genetic duplicate will differ from the
original quite a bit.

However, all that said, with respect to producing more granny smith
apple trees, one granny smith tree is as good as the next.  So while
each tree is different, and will produce fruit that doesn't all taste
the same due to environmental conditions, they can all be used pretty
much in the same way to be used for grafting.

Consequently, this genetic duplicate of Cash, while he may not bear much
resemblence to Cash in his own form (he is, after all going to be a
stallion so his growth and development will, by definition be very
different from the original Cash's growth and development) or
capabilities as an endurance horse, he may be more likely to propogate
in the same way as the original.

So, while it is unlikely that Cash the stallion will look like, act
like, or perform like Cash the gelding, he may breed on the same way
that Cash the gelding would have had he not been gelded...or had his
semen been frozen before he'd been cut so Cash the Gelding could have
been bred.

However, there is no way we will ever know.  There is no way to make any
comparisons to find out...and the technology is too new to have any past
experience to compare it with.

kat
Orange County, Calif.




=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.
Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp
Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp

Ride Long and Ride Safe!!

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=