People have long dreamed of cloning. Many writers, screenwriters and artists have touched upon the topic of clones more than once in their works. Is it realistic in our time to "copy" a person and if so, what will come of it, scientists told.
Only science can answer this question. For the first time in history, the word "clone" appeared in 1963, when the biologist John Gerdon conducted experiments on cloning a frog. Already at that time, experts knew that all genetically important information of a cell is located in its nucleus. Gerdon confirmed the theory in practice, replacing the nucleus of the egg of one frog with the nucleus of the cell of the gastrointestinal tract of another. The experiment was successful - a genetically identical tadpole was obtained, similar to the individual from which the scientist took the nucleus for transplantation.
Later, the English embryologist Ian Pilmut confirmed Guerdon's theory in sheep by transferring the nucleus from the udder of one individual to the egg of another. And again the experiment ended in success. However, things didn't go as “smoothly” as planned. Due to its unusual origin, the cloned sheep lived only 6.5 years, which is half of the average life span of a curly cloven-hoofed animal. Telomeres - the tails of a chromosome that perform protective functions - became the cause of the sheep's premature death. After numerous cell divisions, they became short and could not protect the chromosomes of the cloned animal, which inherited the already short telomeres of the old sheep.
That is why, in order to start an experiment on human cloning, you must first solve the problem with telomeres, because the structures of the sheep and human chromosomes are the same. Stanford suggested using a special enzyme that affects telomere length. Another important question arises: why make clones at all. According to experts, they can be used to treat genetic diseases.
With 100% certainty, scientists declare that it is impossible to raise two absolutely identical people, because not only genes, but also the environment in which there are many random factors affect the formation of personality.