Category Archives: Cloning

When photographer Courtney Udvar-Hazy's wolf-dog hybrid tragically died after being struck by a car in 2018, she decided she needed to clone her.

Udvar-Hazy's dog Willow had quite a following on Instagram when she unexpectedly died. But the account, @WanderwithWillow, is still very much active, except now Udvar-Hazy posts pictures of her pup Phoenix.

Phoenix, a two-year-old wolf-dog hybrid, is Willow's clone.

Udvar-Hazy contacted the same company that famously cloned Barbra Streisand's dog Samantha in 2018, ViaGen Pets. The Texas-based company launched in 2016 and utilizes the original pet's cells to create an embryo which is then transferred to a surrogate mother.

Udvar-Hazy ended up with Phoenix as well as an additional five identical puppies that she gifted to her friends, Input Magazine reported.

Currently, ViaGen Pets is able to clone dogs for $50,000, cats for $35,000, and horses for an initial payment of $45,000. But according to the website, although the clone might have the exact same DNA profile as the original pet, it will still develop its own temperament and personality.

According to the website, the cloning process is fairly expensive due to "state of the art housing," nutritious diets, and "expert" veterinary care that the cloned puppies and kittens are provided.

While the idea behind cloning a deceased pet sounds like something out of a sci-fi novel, the technology isn't actually all that new. The first-ever cloned dog, Snuppy, was born in 2005. Using stem cells from Snuppy, scientists were able to reclone him and create four more dogs in 2017. While one dog died, the other three are all healthy.

While many people still share a concern that cloning animals could affect their health, ViaGen Pets claims that cloned animals are no more susceptible to health issues than noncloned animals.

With more and more people opening up about cloning their beloved pets, ViaGen hopes that the process will become more accessible and normalized in society. For many, cloning a pet serves as a coping mechanism to deal with their grief. But the cloning process is by no means a quick fix.

Kelly Anderson, who runs the Instagram account @adogandacat, said it took about four years for ViaGen Pets to clone her Ragdoll named Chai after she unexpectedly died while in the care of a pet sitter.

Before Chai's death, Anderson had accumulated more than 64,000 followers and now she wasn't sure how to keep the page active.

Anderson explained to Newsweek that she was up all night the day Chai died and remembered a recent conversation she had with a friend about ViaGen Pets and their cloning process. She recalled calling them as soon as they opened the next day.

Since her cat had already been frozen at the vet and the cloning process required live skin tissue, they told Anderson they could make no promises that the procedure would be successful because of the frozen tissue.

"They recommend that you do it while the cat or dog or horse is still alive because it's a noninvasive kind of procedure," she told Newsweek. "I have preached that to everyone since going through this process. Preserve cells now, the worst that happens is you're out like $1,000 or so and don't have any regret in case something unexpected does happen."

But luckily for Anderson, the team at ViaGen Pets was able to gather enough cells to clone Chai. Now, Anderson said she has Belle who looks identical to Chai and is working to build her Instagram account back up with Belle.

Newsweek reached out to Courtney Udvar-Hazy and ViaGen Pets.

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Pet Cloning Becomes More Popular As Instagrammers Begin Replicating Deceased Pets - Newsweek

Australia: It Depends Can trust cloning be used to transfer assets between trusts without duty or CGT?

18 January 2022

Cooper Grace Ward

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In this edition of 'It depends', senior associateKeeghan Silcock talks about whether you can use a trust cloningstrategy as a way to transfer assets between two trusts withoutduty or, potentially, CGT.

Hi, and welcome to another edition of It Depends. Today,I'll be talking about whether you can use trust cloningstrategy as a way to transfer assets between two trusts withoutduty or potentially CGT.

It depends. Trust cloning strategy is unique to Queensland. So,the first major it depends factor is where are the assets of thattrust located. If the asset you're looking to transfer islocated in Queensland, then trust cloning may be a strategy foryou.

So, what is trust cloning? Trust cloning, simply put, is whereyou have an existing trust that owns an asset and you want totransfer it out of that trust to a new trust. You set up the newtrust in a particular way. Importantly, so that it has the sametrustee as the first trust and the same trust interests as thefirst trust. And what that means is for a discretionary trust, youneed to have the same default beneficiaries or for a unit trust,you need to have the same unit holders. Or for an SMSF, you need tohave the same members of that SMSF and all of those trust interestsneed to be held in the same proportion as between those two trusts.If you satisfy those requirements and the transfer of the asset isdone correctly between trust one and the new cloned trust, then youcan, in Queensland, transfer an asset between those two trustswithout any duty.

However, there is no specific tax exemption that applies for CGTpurposes on the transfer of assets between the two trusts. Thismeans that the transfer of assets will attract CGT potentially,although it could be minimised or completely eliminated altogether,depending on the availability of particular concessions, such as asmall business, CGT concessions.

If you have a client who is wanting to shift assets out of atrust into a new trust in Queensland, we suggest seeking adviceabout whether trust cloning could be a strategy for them so thatthere is no duty payable on that transfer. Please feel free tocontact a member of our team who would be happy to assist withthat.

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Cooper Grace Ward is a leading Australian law firm based inBrisbane.

This publication is for information only and is not legaladvice. You should obtain advice that is specific to yourcircumstances and not rely on this publication as legal advice. Ifthere are any issues you would like us to advise you on arisingfrom this publication, please contact Cooper Grace WardLawyers.

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It is possible to protect assets in discretionary trusts from claims by third parties by a variation in the trust deed.

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This paper considers specific provisions that should be included in 'smart', tax effective, discretionary trust deeds.

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It Depends Can trust cloning be used to transfer assets between trusts without duty or CGT? - Corporate/Commercial Law - Australia - Mondaq News...

When you really think about it, and that act right there already is a bit of the hard part for many, there may be no more universally shared feeling of the human condition than existential dread. No matter the spiritual or secular backgrounds possible, everyone pushes against those moments of reflection and crisis. The best movies that have addressed existential anxiety are some of the most challenging viewing experiences that stick with audiences long after their credits roll. Go ahead and add Benjamin Clearys Swan Song to that venerated list.

Furthermore, by channeling its abundantly unique story down a futuristic path, Swan Song also embraces the realm of potential science fiction. Moored by an immensely complex performance from two-time Academy Award winner Mahershala Ali, the crux of Clearys debut feature film oscillates on a virtuous decision amplified by the reach of technology not yet viable today. The drama may be all-inclusive with its existential dread, but the choices and implications considered and then enacted are strenuous yet sublime.

In the not-too-distant future, Ali plays Cameron, an artistically-driven product designer and married father of one son named Cory. His love story with his musician wife Poppy (the luminous Naomie Harris) began with a Meet Cute over a mistaken chocolate bar on a commuter train. Even through the shortcomings of their mutual work-life balance issues, their familys future looks promising with Poppy expecting their second child.That sunny future for Cameron is derailed when seizures he begins to experience foretell a terminal diagnosis giving him mere months to live. He will not survive long enough to see the birth of his new child and cannot bring himself to tell Poppy. However, one experimental medical option presents an unnerving measure of hope.

Pioneered by Dr. Jo Scott (8-time Oscar nominee Glenn Close) and her assisting psychologist Dalton (Adam Beach of Windtalkers), Arra Labs has developed a cloning program that copies your memories and behaviors into an exact physical copy. That healthy doppelganger can then be inserted into your life to take your place while you live out your remaining days at Arra Labs mountain retreat. The goal is to extend your perceived life and spare your family immediate grief.

With a baby on the way, that last part is the goal of Cameron, and he becomes more convinced by observing and bonding with another Arra Labs client named Kate (Awkwafina, star of the thematically similar The Farewell) who has completed this same clone exchange. The labs thorough counseling program of memory transfers and cross-checks has Cameron replaying the highs and lows of his life side-by-side with his clone, all while orchestrating an enormous secret.

Cameron is considering an action that will secure his familys future. Yet, perhaps the hardest part of Camerons journey is the prospect of saying a goodbye that no one will know is an actual goodbye. Even if his days are numbered, he has to live with the notion of someone else living what should be his life. Such reflections jar his indomitable male will as a husband and father.

This laborious proposition of Swan Song guarantees to split audiences with an ethical wrestling match between honesty and empathy on whether they could do what Cameron has chosen. One has to wonder how many shielding spouses and parents would consider this radical course of action if it were available and find pity and solidarity in that grave choice. Yet, its the lie of it all that will be a certain hang-up for others, and understandably so. While this whole undertaking is a personal choice for Cameron to make, it is also a decision he may be unfairly denying from his wife and children, unbeknownst to them. What would you tell yourself to get through this and at what point do you realize that its not only about you?

Because of the crushing emotions and controversial implications in play in Swan Song, an extremely delicate lead and dualistic performance was required from Mahershala Ali, and the soon-to-be 48-year-old conquered every possible struggle. Wherever volatile selfishness or anger threatened to push this film into over-sentimental territory, Ali seized grace armored by sorrow the likes of which is rarely accomplished. Through the painful reflections and prognostications his character goes through, Ali makes the eventual justifications for Camerons unfathomable choices convincing. That is an extremely difficult and connective place to succeed.

In dipping its toes into science fiction, the production values of Swan Song match that sturdy dramatic beauty. Cinematographer Masanobu Takayanagi (Hostiles) absorbs the posh production designs of Annie Beauchamp (The Yellow Birds) to create a stark setting of contrast and cleanness trying to contain the messy human temperaments. Composer Jay Wadley (Im Thinking of Ending Things) and music supervisor Meghan Currier amplify that morose mood further with a divine and haunting combination of score and songs.

Playing on AppleTV+, Swan Song is the feature debut of writer-director Benjamin Cleary, an Oscar winner for the live action short film Stutterer in 2015. The burgeoning visionary deserves tremendous recognition for constructing and charting a compelling path through this moral minefield of a narrative. A different director would wrongfully inject spectacle for spectacles sake or construe some external villainy. Cleary avoids those mistakes with an Andrew Niccol-like vibe of thoughtful design and intelligent patience. He knows the true nucleus of this story lies between the ears and between the ribs. Clench your own heart and mind tightly in welcoming one of the best films of 2022.

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Swan Song Clenches the Morals of Your Mind and Heart - 25YearsLaterSite.com

The once-canonical death of bounty hunter Boba Fett may have been undone by The Mandalorian and elaborated on by the current spinoff series The Book of Boba Fett, but his revival has nothing on original Star Wars death-defier, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Kenobi, desert hermit and last-minute mentor to Luke Skywalker, perished three-quarters through the very first Star Wars movie, and proceeded to appear in five more anyway: as a force-ghost in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, played by Alec Guinness through gritted teeth, and then as a major character in the prequel trilogy, played by Ewan McGregor.

And still Star Wars isnt done with Obi-Wan. His next return is probably one of the most anticipated television events of 2022, as McGregor will reprise the role in a limited series for Disney Plus. He will be joined, in some as-yet-unknown capacity, by his prequel co-star Hayden Christiansen as Anakin Skywalkerthe man inside the Darth Vader apparatus. Like The Book of Boba Fett, the upcoming Kenobi series is notable in part because while it revives beloved characters from the original Star Wars trilogy, it does so utilizing casting from the prequel trilogy. Remember, because Boba Fett was revealed to be a clone of his father Jango in Episode II: Attack of the Clones, he is played by Clones actor Temuera Morrison in the new show.

As it happens, Attack of the Clones turns 20 this May, and the Obi-Wan series could well have its premiere timed to coincide with that milestone. (No official release date has been announced at the time of publication.) Even if that particular anniversary goes uncelebrated beyond a cursory tweet from the official Star Wars account, the very existence of Kenobi represents an impressive double-back for the prequels, which may have been the first major movie series to experience the newfound lightspeed of internet backlash. All three movies were huge hits when they debuted in 1999, 2002, and 2005, and all three saw their reputations take a hit in subsequent years.

Now, though, plenty of prequel touchstones are greeted with open arms by fans even if Disney frequently acts as if anything that doesnt relate directly to either the original trilogy or The Mandalorian (including their own sequel trilogy) is radioactive. Given this now years-long Mandalorian-centric campaign and the prequels general reputation among embittered Gen-X fans, some might be moved to wonder why, exactly, the prequels seem to enjoy so much ongoing nostalgia.

There are plenty of explanations feeding into each other: Most prominently, a younger audience that grew up with the prequels and regards them as more or less equal to the originals, similar to how some original-release disappointment in Return of the Jedi softened over time. Theres also a certain segment of fans that appreciates movies so clearly keyed into George Lucas personal sensibilities, especially now, during a period of increasingly impersonal and unimaginative blockbuster filmmaking. Some fans also feel that the animated TV show The Clone Wars, which ran in spurts from 2008 to 2020, redeemed prequel-era storytelling and characters. Finally, there are some reactionaries who have come to appreciate the prequels via the Dark Side, channeling their rage and frustration over the Disney sequels into acceptance of Lucas less-beloved work.

But I think there is another, simpler reason people are excited to see their old prequel buddies again 20 years later: Attack of the Clones absolutely rules.

To be clear, I think this about all three Star Wars prequels. (I also love The Last Jedi. I contain multitudes as do plenty of less vocal Star Wars fans.) But even some prequel defenders will quietly dismiss Attack of the Clones. The Phantom Menace has been praised, in retrospect, for representing Lucas pure, unfettered vision for what a then-new Star Wars movie would look and feel like, while Revenge of the Sith appreciators will rightfully describe its operatic grandeur. Meanwhile, Attack of the Clones is now widely regarded as the worst of the three, an attempted course-correction from Phantom Menace that wasnt quite correct, neither pure Lucas nor successful fan service.

And yet Im not sure wed be getting an Obi-Wan TV series starring Ewan McGregor without Attack of the Clones. (Or rather, we might be, because every single previously filmed piece of genre entertainment is now fair game for nostalgia trawling, but it might not be so hotly anticipated.) The character is a supporting player in The Phantom Menace, and Revenge of the Sith calls upon McGregors formidable dramatic skills to sell the sense of tragedy and betrayal between Obi-Wan and his odd son/brother figure Anakin. But Attack of the Clones is where McGregor seems to be having the most fun, rolling with the punches as Lucas keeps throwing new planets, creatures, and images in his path.

Kenobis adventures in Clones are largely solo, a bit of screenwriting engineering to give Anakin (Christiansen) and Padm (Natalie Portman) time to fall in love and exchange feelings about sand. Kenobis galaxy-hopping subplot also seems designed to show off the infinite possibilities of Star Wars. Investigating a bounty hunters toxic dart, Kenobi plays detective, which means visiting an intergalactic greasy spoon to chat with oversized alien Dexter Jettster, poking around the Jedi archives looking for a missing planet, bluffing his way through conversations with the mysterious cloners of Kamino, tussling with Jango Fett, and, after reuniting with Anakin and Padm, fighting Harryhausen-style monsters in arena combat.

While Obi-Wan does all of this legwork, Lucas occasionally cuts back to Yoda and Mace Windu pontificating about whether to disclose the Jedi Orders diminishing power. For all the complaints about the drudgery of the prequel trilogys plotting, Clones offers a concise depiction of a civilization in unwitting decline, as Kenobis vague peacekeeping mandate involves him getting knocked around and manipulated by any number of cogs in the machinations of Darth Sidious, while his supposed allies do little but offer a show of military might at the very end (which, as we know, will only accelerate their doom). One reason that Kenobi never gets anywhere sussing out the true motivations or plans of Jango Fett, Count Dooku, or the Geonosian engineers is because despite their involvement in a vast and dastardly plan, theyre also mostly out for their own interests: Im just a simple man trying to make my way in the universe, as Temeura Morrisons Jango says, by way of explaining how his DNA has contributed to a clone army that will facilitate a fascist takeover.

Despite depicting the galaxys march toward dictatorship, Attack of the Clones is also a blast, much like the way that pulpy noir can be fun on its way to a doomy ending. Bits of the movie even look noirish: the neon and shadows of Coruscant at night, or the rough and rainy fight Kenobi has with Fett (which contrasts beautifully with the antiseptic whiteness of the cloning facility where they meet). And anyone who enjoyed the scrap between Boba Fett and a multi-armed monster on the first episode of Book ought to take another look at the arena-monster scene in Clones that gives the Jedi (and Padme) more to do than just twirl laser-swords and fire blasters. The Attack of the Clones set pieces, so numerous and varied, make the usual space battles and trooper shoot-outs of other Star Wars pictures look rote by comparison. (Has Din Djarin ever jumped out of a building to grab onto a courier droid zooming through speeder traffic?)

Much of Clones looks cartoonier than either the original or sequel trilogy, but whatever it lacks in tactility, it compensates with a sense of genuine discovery that Star Wars only occasionally hit upon in live-action TV form. Even when the film revisits familiar territory, Lucas has a knack for mixing up his own creations: The Outlander Club on Coruscant, visited by Anakin and Obi-Wan early in the film, is basically the only Star Wars watering hole that doesnt resemble a knockoff of the beloved Mos Eisley Cantina (with the possible exception of the casino in Canto Bight, which has a far less moody, visually striking lighting scheme). The desert planet of Geonosis focuses on craggy rocks and a rusty-looking droid factory, rather than recreating Tatooine vibes.

All together, its a spectacular work of imagination, and one that McGregor holds together with a charm thats equal parts laddish and daddish. The way he softly, even smugly chuckles when Anakin mentions rescuing him from a nest of gundarks; the way he reigns in Anakins emo-compulsive oversharing while still offering tacit encouragement (she was happy to see us); the way he casually drops a Jedi mind trick to dismiss a death-sticks dealer or quietly bristles at the officious librarian at the Jedi Archives piece by piece, McGregor creates a new Obi-Wan, his remnants of Alec Guinness impersonation serving as grace notes on a character he has made his own. It all adds up to a portrait of the Jedi life as both swashbuckling and laborious, a neat trick that keeps Obi-Wans adventures fun without turning him into a smirking action hero. Attack of the Clones may be the most detailed portrayal so far of what being a Jedi Knight actually entails. And who among us hasnt done their best in a work situation that was ultimately unrewarding?

Of course, Obi-Wan isnt in every scene of Attack of the Clones. The romance between Anakin and Padm would surely be better-served by a writer-director who had any kind of patience for writing dialogue or directing actors, but with that considerable handicap, the corniness is appealing in the manner of the old-timey melodrama Lucas was supposedly going for. At the very least, these scenes carry on the spirit of old Hollywood productions that would include a separate gowns by credit. (Padm goes through around 10 outfit changes, another sign of the Lucas teams casual inventiveness.) The romance plot is just one more element of the movies power-clashing, which finds a place for adventure, mystery, romance, slapstick, and grief. Star Wars can obviously accommodate a variety of tones, and it doesnt need to try all of them at once in order to succeed.

But for all of its Yoda-with-a-lightsaber fan service, Attack of the Clones feels less slavishly indebted to the series past than certain other entries, and more open to the myriad possibilities of this weird universe. Its this spirit that the new crop of Star Wars TV shows would do well to remember. So far, The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett have collectively spent an awful lot of time on Tatooine, a location that the Obi-Wan show will presumably use as well, given that its where the character supposedly spent almost all of his time in between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. A more intimate Star Wars isnt a bad thing, and these TV shows have often been fun. But I cant quite buy the notion that they revive the spirit of Lucass original creation. These shows dont exist because Lucas kept rehashing A New Hope and Empire. They exist because he treated his prequels like a whole new sandbox.

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Star Wars: Attack of the Clones is underrated and finally essential - Polygon

Fear the Walking Dead's Lennie James and I May Destroy You star Paapa Essiedu headline the return of an acclaimed play at the Old Vic this month.

The duo will be on stage at the historic theatre for a restaging of A Number, a play about human cloning examining the parental relationship when one (Essiedu) is a clone of the other.

A Number will be opening on January 24 at the Old Vic, with a January sale offer from Love Theatre offering a special price of 15 per seat if you reserve yours right now. Click here to place your order.

A range of dates are still available if you do want to see A Number, but please note this will be a limited run only lasting from January 24 to March 19.

Albert L. OrtegaGetty Images

The Old Vic has a COVID-19 safety protocol in place where if a ticket-buyer tests positive for the virus or the show itself is postponed or cancelled, you will be offered a free ticket for another date in an exchange.

Cloud 9 and Top Girls' Caryl Churchill wrote A Number as a response to the actual cloning of Dolly the Sheep in the 1990s, and the play was first put on in September 2002 at the Royal Court Theatre.

Paapa Essiedu and Lennie James recently spoke all about this 20th anniversary staging of A Number, which marks James' return to the stage for the first time in 16 years.

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Essiedu recently shared with BBC News that it's been a dream to work with James one of his professional heroes seeing as he'd wanted to meet James when he was named one of BAFTA's Breakthrough Brits in 2018.

"They ask you, 'Who do you want to meet?' You can meet Steven Spielberg. I was like, 'I'll meet Lennie James'," he recalled.

Lennie James' series Fear the Walking Dead returns to AMC in the US on April 17. Season 7B will premiere simultaneously with the US broadcast on Monday, April 18 at 2am on AMC, exclusively to BT TV customers. The episode will be repeated later that evening at 9pm.

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Fear the Walking Dead and I May Destroy You stars unite in cloning play - digitalspy.com

Court is in recess in the hearing for custody of Bentley 23, the clone of the evil Wizard. The Torch is afire with impatience for Reed to find a way to reverse what Dr. Doom did to Johnnys powers. Reeds face is disappearing into that damn shabby-looking beard. Sue actually slaps her brother for losing his temper at Reed, and Johnny flies off, hurt, angry, and scared. Yep, its turmoil as usual for the Fantastic Four.

However, when the hearing resumes, it is with lawyer She-Hulks assurance that any legal attempt to take Franklin and Valeria away from Reed and Sue (the cliffhanger on which the end of the last issue dangled) will not have a leg to stand on. The FFs only real challenge is to prove that Bentley is better off with them and Dragon Man than with his father. This would be a much easier task if She-Hulk and the FF knew that the Wizard has tricked out Bentleys eyes with nano-fibre optics, the better for him to spy on the FF and learn Reeds super-science secrets, which is what the villain has really been after all along.

Testimony resumes with Judge Payne hearing stories about the Thing teaching Jo-Venn not to hide his identity from human kids with an image inducer, Valeria recalling a time when Reed rescued her from an antigravity experiment that got out of control, and Franklin telling of a session with mutant therapist Terry Ward, aka Trauma, in which Reed and Sue joined them and reassured Franklin through his insecurities and fears. Meanwhile, the Torch tries to extinguish himself in the ocean and provokes the wrath of the Sub-Mariner, then tries to snuff out his flame by flying out of the atmosphere and learns that his powers continue to work full-blast even in the hard vacuum of space. Is Johnnys situation truly hopeless?

At last, a surprise witness enters the court: a man announcing that he is the original, true Bentley Wittman, and that the man suing the Fantastic Four is in fact his clone! When the identity scanner backs up the new witnesss claim, the plaintiff in the lawsuit flies into a rage and flies out of the courtroom, right through the wall! Judge Payne, a superhuman who hates hearing superhuman cases, is fed up; she dismisses the suit and throws everyone out!

However, there is one twist in the case. Young Bentley has figured out what his father did to his optic nerves and reverse-engineered it to hijack all of the Wizards tech. It was Bentley 23 himself who created the surprise witness using the Wizards own cloning technology, making him such a superior clone that the identity scanner was fooled, and thus enabling the clone to secure Bentleys legal emancipation! Now it is young Bentley who takes on the mantle of the Wizard, but will it be for good or ill? Only time will tell.

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Fantastic Four #39: The Father and Clone Reunion - Comic Watch

For many people, extinction is a term that refers to the past. Its meant for dinosaurs, woolly mammoths and so many other species only found in textbooks or on display at museums.

Extinction is an abstract concept to many people. It was to me as a kid, says Oliver Ryder, director of conservation genetics at the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance.

But the planet us growing less biodiverse each year. And extinction is a very real and present crisis. In September 2021, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declared 23 species to be newly extinct. And many species arent technically considered extinct because they live in captivity, even though they no longer exist in the wild. Where conventional conservation methods have stalled, there may be another option, one thats highly contentious, to pull a species back from the brink: cloning.

Right now, conventional conservation measures are struggling to keep up with the pace of the threats that face the world. Weve crippled populations to such fragmented and small sizes, says Ben Novak, lead scientist at Revive and Restore, a nonprofit organization that works to boost biodiversity through whats known as genetic rescue of endangered and extinct animals.

Biotechnologies, like cloning and gene editing, now give us a chance to accelerate the evolution of species so they can actually cope with change and survive it.

Cloning is one type of genetic rescue, an approach used to restore genetic diversity in a population and lower the risk of extinction. Today, we can clone some mammals, fish and amphibians, and potentially even marsupials, Novak says.

Often, when a species population crashes to very low levels, it undergoes a genetic bottleneck, where only a few individuals remain to pass on genes to future generations. That reduces the overall genetic diversity of the population, increasing the likelihood of inbreeding, which in turn raises the chances of offspring carrying recessive traits, further undermining the species survivability.

Where the conventional conservation methods of captive and assisted breeding are limited to working with the genetic material currently circulating within a species, cloning can reinject lost genetic diversity into the population, says Beth Shapiro, an evolutionary molecular biologist at the University of California, Santa Cruz, who also serves on the board of directors at Revive and Restore.

Increasing genetic diversity is likely to benefit by providing genetic fodder for natural selection, she says.

Right now, cloning is the only way to produce an actual copy of an animal from a non-reproductive cell, Novak says.

In December 2020, a team of researchers led by Revive and Restore cloned the first black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes), which they named Elizabeth Ann. Today, all black-footed ferrets descend from only seven individuals, so every ferret is related in some way. Elizabeth Ann is a clone from a different population and has three times more genetic diversity than any other ferret alive. So if she breeds successfully, she will contribute new genetic diversity to the population.

Earlier in 2020, scientists from Revive and Restore also successfully cloned a Przewalskis horse (Equus ferus przewalskii), which they named Kurt.

Cloning cant happen unless tissues samples, like skin, are biobanked, which means theyre frozen for preservation and stored in a biorepository. As a species declines, it loses genetic diversity within the populations. Thats why its important for researchers to collect tissue samples whenever possible to leave options open for the future, Novak says.

For any species on the brink of extinction, what we can be doing right now is saving as many tissue samples as possible so that in the future if they go extinct or they get really rare we can reach into the past and get something back that weve lost, he says.

However, an animal can only be cloned if the technology already exists to breed it in captivity, because researchers need to know how to handle it and how it reproduces, Novak says. So cloning should never be aimed at replacing captive-breeding programs or nudging out other reproductive technologies, he says. But there will be different scenarios that favor different approaches.

With cloning, scientists take cells from tissues, like the skin, and a reproductive egg from a common ancestor. They remove the nucleus, the part that holds the genetic material, and then fuse the ancestor cell with the skin cell, so that the fused cell then only contains the genes from the animal theyre cloning. The fused cell is now an embryo that a surrogate will carry.

Proponents of cloning say such a method could work to revive the northern white rhino (Ceratotherium simum cottoni), a subspecies down to its last two individuals. Theres currently another project underway to save the northern white rhino, not with cloning but with stem cell technology. In this case, scientists revert cells from tissues samples to stem cells. Once they are stem cells, they have the potential to become any kind of cell, like reproductive egg and sperm cells.

The difference between cloning and stem cell technologies is that, with the latter, scientists arent making an identical copy of the donor. Instead, they are creating the circumstances so that cells can produce offspring through sexual reproduction, says the Wildlife Alliances Ryder.

There are only two northern white rhinos left in the world: Najin and her daughter, Fatu. In October 2021, Najin was retired as a potential egg donor due to age and illness, so now Fatu is the only donor left.

Experts like Ryder and Shapiro say theyre confident that one day they will successfully create a northern white rhino, but it will take a long time and there are a lot of challenges and unknowns along the way.

In mid-2021, the German government-funded initiative BioRescue announced that it had successfully created 12 northern white rhino embryos.

But still, the embryos need to be successfully transferred to a surrogate that is a common ancestor with the same gestational period. And in this case, that would be the southern white rhino (Ceratotherium simum simum).

However, there has never been a successful embryo transfer in a rhino to date, Ryder says.

Southern white rhinos also faced a population decline and subsequent genetic bottleneck due to poaching. The population crashed to as low as 30 individuals, limiting genetic diversity, before bouncing back to a population today of more than 10,000 individuals, but with much less diversity than before.

In fact, researchers at the Wildlife Alliance sequenced the 12 cell cultures that they have in their Frozen Zoo and found more genetic diversity in those 12 cultures than in the entire population of southern white rhinos, Ryder says.

So genetically, they have the potential to recover, he says. The technology just isnt there yet to make the jump from frozen embryo to live rhino calf.

Although some may argue that intervening in the evolution of plants and animals is unnatural, Shapiro points out that humans have been intervening for tens of thousands of years already. She says we shouldnt reject new technologies until the risks and potential are fully evaluated.

I think in biotechnology, sometimes we get lost in the can we do this? And the goal of an ethics analysis is to answer the question, should we do this biotechnology? says Samantha Wisely, a conservation geneticist at the University of Florida.

Wisely was a part of a team that recently published an ethics analysis of cloning as a form of genetic rescue and looked at black-footed ferrets as a case study.

The ethical analysis took into consideration whether the goals of the program are justified, whether cloning can be done responsibly, and whether theres support from the public and within the conservation community.

For the ferrets, cloning was really the only way, Wisely says. The remaining individuals were highly inbred and there were no new individuals to bring in and add to that genetic diversity.

Revive and Restores Novak points out that captive-breeding programs are already heavily managed. Animals dont get to choose who they mate with; theyre paired together based on whos related to who. With cloning, scientists are just expanding their options, he says.

The use of somatic cells, like skin cells, is also much less invasive than collecting reproductive cells, the analysis points out. Using somatic cells to create genetically identical animals has been used in the livestock industry in the U.S. for more than a decade.

And ultimately, whether or not cloning should be done as a means of genetic rescue should be considered on a case-by-case basis, Wisely says.

The way to save species is to save them in their habitats, Ryder says. But the fact that we have species going extinct means that its not being realized to the fullest extent.

An additional set of options offers the future the possibility that wouldnt otherwise have existed, he adds.

Over the next few years, Revive and Restore hopes to make more clones of Elizabeth Ann and Kurt as well as some new, unique Przewalskis horses, Novak says.

He says this also gives them an opening to use gene editing or genetic engineering. For instance, they can sequence the genomes of ferrets that died in the early 1900s and find genes that are potentially beneficial, like ones for disease resistance. Scientists can write those genes back into living ferrets, providing a genetic boost to the current population.

The technology is unfolding in real time. And its important to engage global stakeholders who will be affected by the adoption of these approaches, while the technology is still developing, Shapiro says.

The pace of change is too fast today for evolution by natural selection to keep up, she says.

If we want to live in a future that is both biodiverse and filled with people, then we have no choice but to continue to intervene as we always have in more deliberate, thoughtful, and careful ways.

Banner image of a cloned Przewalskis horse (Equus ferus przewalskii) named Kurt. Kurt was born on April 6, 2020. Courtesy of Revive & Restore.

Citation:

Sandler,R.L., Moses,L., & Wisely,S.M. (2021). An ethical analysis of cloning for genetic rescue: Case study of the Black-footed ferret.Biological Conservation,257, 109118. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2021.109118

Editors note: This story was supported by XPRIZE Rainforest as part of their five-year competition to enhance understanding of the rainforest ecosystem. In respect to Mongabays policy on editorial independence, XPRIZE Rainforest does not have any right to assign, review, or edit any content published with their support.

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For species on the very brink of extinction, cloning is a loaded last resort - Mongabay.com

DUBLIN, January 06, 2022--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The "Synthetic Biology Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report by Product (Enzymes, Cloning Technologies Kits), by Technology (PCR, NGS), by Application (Non-Healthcare, Healthcare), by End Use, and Segment Forecasts, 2021-2027" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global synthetic biology market size is estimated to reach USD 31.97 billion by 2027, registering a CAGR of 20.8%

Extensive applications of synthetic biology in multiple fields is a major impact rendering driver of the market. For instance, the technique is used for the development of biofuel from microorganisms in the bioenergy field.

Several market participants have produced materials and textiles with the use of synthetic biology. Bolt Threads, a material developing company that produced engineered spider silk ties, and Colorifix are developing dyes with biological systems.

In addition, the market has provided the agriculture industry with alternative fertilizer options, which are not harmful. For instance, Pivot Bio, a California-based company, has established a technique of fertilizing crops without relying on a harmful polluting chemical process.

Extending clinical applications of synthetic biology, the potential of the technique to accelerate drug development, and enhancing market competition are some key aspects driving the industry. The COVID-19 pandemic is set to drive applications and investments in this space.

For instance, in January 2021, FDA approved Phase III trials of carrimycin - a synthetic biological drug treatment for COVID-19. This drug includes anti-inflammatory, antiviral, anti-fibrosis, as well as antibacterial effects.

Synthetic Biology Market Report Highlights

Oligonucleotide/oligo pools and synthetic DNA held the dominant share in the product segment owing to the increased application scope of the product in the research field

The enzymes product segment is expected to witness the second-fastest CAGR over the forecast years owing to the growing application of enzymes in biofuel, textile industry, and molecular biology applications

Healthcare application is the largest revenue-generating as well as the fastest-growing application segment due to a rise in the application of synthetic biology in research, diagnostics, and other clinical fields

The biotechnology & pharmaceutical companies end-use segment led the market in 2020 due to heavy investments to enhance R&D activities for the production of vaccines and other drugs

PCR was the largest revenue-generating technology segment in 2020. With the accelerated development of modern life science, PCR technology has been widely applied to different biological, medical research, virus detection, and the food industry

The availability of advanced research facilities, increased investments in private companies, favorable regulations, and government assistance & funding have contributed to the dominance of the North America regional market in 2020

For Instance, in September 2020, a U.S.-based startup, Zymergen Inc., received USD 300 million in funding from Baillie Gifford & Co. to increase the R&D activities in synthetic biology

The key operating players are focusing on exploring synthetic biology to its highest potential across different emerging applications

For instance, in April 2020, Barcelona-based Luis Serrano and Maria Lluch received USD 2.35 million of seed financing from Barcelona-based Invivo Ventures to develop novel treatments for lung infections

Story continues

Key Topics Covered:

Chapter 1 Methodology and Scope

Chapter 2 Executive Summary

Chapter 3 Market Variables, Trends & Scope

3.1 Market Segmentation

3.2 Synthetic Biology Market Lineage Outlook

3.2.1 Parent Market Outlook

3.3 Penetration And Growth Prospect Mapping

3.4 Market Driver Analysis

3.4.1 Extensive Applications Of Synthetic Biology

3.4.2 Funding And Assistance From Government And Private Organization

3.4.3 Growing Research And Development Activities In Synthetic Biology

3.5 Market Restraint Analysis

3.5.1 Biosafety, Biosecurity Issue

3.5.2 Ethical Issues And Unintended Consequences

3.6 Market Opportunity Analysis

3.6.1 Development Of Vaccines And Personalized Medicines

3.6.2 Demand For Biofuel

3.7 Market Challenge Analysis

3.7.1 Lack Of Standard Regulation For Synthetic Biology Products

3.8 Business Environment Analysis

3.8.1 SWOT Analysis; By Factor (Political & Legal, Economic And Technological)

3.8.2 Porter's Five Forces Analysis

3.9 Competitive Analysis

Chapter 4 Products Business Analysis

4.1 Synthetic Biology Market: Products Movement Analysis

4.2 Oligonucleotide/Oligo Pools And Synthetic Dna

4.3 Enzymes

4.4 Cloning Technologies Kits

4.5 Xeno - Nucleic Acids

4.6 Chassis Organism

Chapter 5 Technology Business Analysis

5.1 Synthetic Biology Market: Technology Movement Analysis

5.2 Pcr

5.3 Genome Editing

5.4 Ngs

5.5 Bioprocessing Technology

Chapter 6 Application Business Analysis

6.1 Synthetic Biology Market: Application Movement Analysis

6.2 Healthcare

6.2.1 Global Synthetic Biology Market For Healthcare Synthetic Biology Market Estimates And Forecast, 2018 - 2027 (USD Million)

6.2.2 Clinical

6.2.2.1 Global Synthetic Biology Market For Clinical Synthetic Biology Market Estimates And Forecast, 2018 - 2027 (USD Million)

6.2.2.1.1 Bio/Pharmaceuticals

6.2.2.1.2 Diagnostics

6.2.3 Non - Clinical

6.3 Non - Healthcare

Chapter 7 End Use Business Analysis

7.1 Synthetic Biology Market: End Use Movement Analysis

7.2 Biotechnology & Pharmaceutical Companies

7.3 Academic & Government Research Institutes

Chapter 8 Regional Business Analysis

8.1 Synthetic Biology Market: Regional Movement Analysis

Chapter 9 Company Profiles

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/gzc6ya

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220106005512/en/

Contacts

ResearchAndMarkets.comLaura Wood, Senior Press Managerpress@researchandmarkets.com For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900

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Global Synthetic Biology (Enzymes, Cloning Technologies Kits) Market Report 2021-2027 - Opportunities in the Development of Vaccines and Personalized...

Aston Martins decision to effectively clone the Mercedes car in 2020 will definitely help the team in 2022, says Andrew Green.

Back when they were known as Racing Point, the British team opted to base the design of their 2020 challenger on the title-winner Mercedes car from the previous season.

It proved to be a somewhat successful strategy for them with their car more often than not being the third fastest on the grid and their drivers claiming one win and three podiums between them.

Green, the teams technical officer, thinks its also one that opened their eyes and thus will have definitely helped them build and develop their car for the 2022 campaign.

It definitely opened our eyes to new ways of working new concepts, new ideas, he told The Race.

And it has enabled that thinking then to follow through to some degree on the 21 car but the 2022 car definitely.

Greens team were heavily criticised for what became widely known as their pink Mercedes with a number of teams viewing the copying as a form of cheating and protesting the design.

He remains adamant they did nothing wrong though and that trying to replicate another design was far from the easy option for them, requiring a huge amount of work and skill.

Anger from rivals stemmed from the successful way in which they carried out such work, he says.

What we did was look at the car and went about working out why that car was significantly quicker than everybody else, he added.

We did our own learning. Theres no shortcut to doing it. Its not a copy, its developing a solution where youve got a rough idea of what you think the answer is, but youve still got to get there and it takes a lot of development and a lot of work to understand.

In some ways, its even harder because sometimes the directions pull you away from what you believe to be the right answer. I think the team did a great job in understanding the philosophy behind it.

If you look up and down the grid, a lot of other teams have taken the same philosophy. They did what we did last year and theyve taken the philosophy of the fastest car and developed it as their own.

Its not a new concept, its just that everybody latched on to it because I think we did quite a good job and other teams were a little bit upset that wed done quite a good job.

Link:

Mercedes cloning will 'definitely' help Aston Martin in 2022 - PlanetF1

Many drivers have been stung by fines wrongly attributed to their cars since the introduction of clean air zones and the expansion of Londons Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ). With the number of fines increasing for drivers who have not entered the car tax zones, it has been suggested that more rogue motorists are using fake plates to cheat city centre enforcement cameras.

Bath, Birmingham and Portsmouth all launched their clean air zones last year, with some more polluting vehicles being charged a daily fee for driving in the zone.

A number of other cities are also set to launch a clean air zone this year, including Greater Manchester, Oxford, Newcastle and Edinburgh.

Some clean air zones charge older cars between 7 and 10 per day to drive inside the emissions area, whilst larger vehicles like HGVs and buses can be charged between 50 and 100.

There are fears that as more clean air zones are introduced, more fake number plates could be seen.

READ MORE:Car tax band: How to work out your car's tax band ahead of changes

In 2019, the number of drivers complaining to the DVLA about correspondence, fines or penalties wrongly linked to their vehicles has more than doubled.

The DVLA had 9,384 complaints about correspondence, fines or penalties wrongly linked to vehicles in 2019, up from 4,021 in 2018.

In 2020 the figure fell to 7,400, thought to be due to traffic levels in the pandemic.

Between January 1 and July 31 last year, the latest period figures are available for, it was 4,110.

DON'T MISSBanning car ownership would do more harm than good[INSIGHT]Drivers urged to check new European driving law changes for 2022[URGENT]Hydrogen vehicles 'need to be used' for UK's push for net zero[ANALYSIS]

Jack Cousens, head of policy at the AA, said: With cities across the country introducing clean air zones, plate cloning could increase as fraudsters hope to cheat the charges.

A policy from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) stipulates that if a driver is stopped more than once with a plate which doesnt meet regulations, the registration should be rescinded.

In this case, the driver would be issued with a new, random number plate.

This is done so all number plates meet the UKs regulations and can be more easily identified by automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras.

A quick Google search can lead drivers to find fake number plates, which could potentially be used to navigate around the charges.

There have been a number of instances where drivers have been wrongly fined for supposedly driving inside a clean air zone.

Richard Gregory-Gibbons, from Staffordshire, says a driver with the exact same car and same licence plate is frequently travelling through Birminghams CAZ zone and claims his registration plate was cloned.

This case of mistaken identity has left him inundated with penalty charge notices (PCN).

In August, he had received almost 30 letters and needed to appeal each fine individually via the councils website.

He received six letters in just one day three of which were for bus lane fines and one warning letter from the clean air zone.

Another driver, Ruth Costello from West Sussex, said she had been receiving the 120 penalty charge notices (PCNs) since the launch of Birminghams CAZ in June.

The motorist, who lives 160 miles away from Birmingham, received 19 fines totalling 2,280, despite having never driven in the city.

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Drivers warned of surge in illegal number plate cloning as older cars look to avoid fines - Express