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[RC] cloning - terreAs far as what cloning means to the breed, it will almost certainly improve the breed's gene pool since the high cost of cloning means only the best of the breed will be cloned. Thus, horses with desirable qualities, such as high endurance, will increasingly be bred thanks to cloning which will improve the gene pool for the entire breed. This theory is called "eugenics", and has been around for ages--at least in the pages of science fiction novels. It was actually one of Adolph Hitler's pet 'visions'...of course, his idea of "desirable qualities" were all Aryan. He pre-dating cloning; his plan was to accomplish it with selective breeding...starting with 'culling' the undesirables--non-Aryan races, the mentally handicapped, etc. A whole other bleak page in history... As far as our current discussion goes there are big problems with the theory of eugenics which can be (more or less) summed up with this postulate: "If a committee of apes got together to plan a "super ape", would they end up with a human? Would they move away from strength and agility, sharper teeth and faster speed as a quadraped? and select for more general adaptative ability (ie "intelligence")?" Bottom line--you can't "improve" the breed via cloning--you can only "preserve" what currently exists. And what you end up with depends on what you choose to preserve. (Of course, whether or not human intelligence is actually a good idea, long term, is a whole other question! Personally, I don't think we're going to survive 1/10th as long as the dinosaurs did. And the rest of the planet won't miss us when we're gone. Well, maybe the dogs.) terre =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 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!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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