Category Archives: Cloning

Weather forecasts for scorching hot, dry weather into future weeks, plus the knowledge that you have to get a 79-year-old tooth yanked, tends to put a damper on a week before it gets started.

Well, thats what happened to me. The weatherperson was correct on her forecasts, and Ive had the impending tooth yanking hanging over my head like the sword of Damocles for the past three weeks.

As of this writing, I can say the weather is still hot and humid, but the defective, decrepit molar is gone replaced by an irritating gap in my teeth thats hard to keep my tongue out of.

But, Im glad the deed is done and Im on the mend. Oh, when my dentist, ol Doc Polk N. Prodd asked me if I wanted to take the extracted tooth home with me, I said, Sure. Some smart person in 1,000 years will want to extract some tooth DNA from it and clone me.

So, Doc put the tooth into a cute little tooth-shaped plastic container and its now residing in a dresser drawer alongside a tooth a friend pulled three years ago.

***

For some rural folks, getting their hay put up for the winter is a major deal. But, not for me. The only reason I have hay put up at all is for my chicken flock to scratch in and eat grain during the winter and then put all the loose hay into my compost piles.

I need all of three big round bales to get me through the winter. So, I start the process in the fall by planting plots of wheat or rye and a legume mix. Then, in the spring, I plant oats in some plots.

My good neighbor, ol Rap Pittup, is good about putting up my hay in big round bales on the shares. I take my three bales from my grain plots and Rap gets the rest of my native grass hay for his trouble.

This years hay crop consisted of 11 big round bales three for me and eight for Rap. Its a good arrangement for both of us.

***

Rural sheriffs and their deputies, if they stay on the job long enuf, eventually take vehicle accident statements from drivers whose grasp of the English language comes up far short of competence.

Not long ago, I stumbled onto the following actual written auto/truck accident statements taken from insurance forms where car drivers tried to summarize accident details in as few words as possible. These statements are reportedly true, of which I have some doubts. But, they are humorous all the same. Here they are:

I drove into the wrong house. Collided with a tree I dont have.

The other car collided with mine without giving warning of its intent.

In my attempt to kill a fly, I drove into a telephone pole.

I had been shopping for plants all day and was on my way home. When I reached an intersection, a hedge sprang up, obscuring my vision and I did not see the other car.

I had been driving for 40 years when I fell asleep at the wheel and had an accident.

I was on my way to the doctor with rear end trouble when my universal joint gave way causing me to have an accident.

My car was legally parked as it backed into the other vehicle.

As I approached the intersection, a sign suddenly appeared in a place where no sign had ever appeared before, making me unable to avoid the accident.

I told the police I was not injured, but upon removing my hair, I found that I had a fractured skull.

I saw a slow, sad-faced old gentleman as he bounced off the hood of my car.

Cause of the accident was a little guy in a small car with a big mouth.

I was thrown from my car as it left the road, and was later found in a ditch by some stray cows.

A pedestrian hit me and went under my car.

I thought my window was down, but I found out it was up when I put my head through it.

The guy was all over the road. I had to swerve a number of times before I hit him.

The pedestrian had no idea which way to run, so I ran over him.

An invisible car came out of nowhere, struck my car and vanished.

A truck backed through my windshield into my wifes face.

I pulled away from the side of the road, glanced at my mother-in-law, and headed over the embankment.

***

The statements above are not words of wisdom. But, for this week, here are a few words that are: No job is so simple that it cant be done wrong!

***

Dont melt. Stay cool and have a good un.

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Tooth DNA and possible cloning | TheFencePost.com - The Fence Post

When it comes to the sequel Star Wars movies, many fans have had thoughts, opinions and theories over the years. However, one of the most discussed topics introduced in JJ Abrams 2016 science fiction movie The Force Awakens was the Star Wars character Supreme Leader Snoke.

Although we know now, thanks to the events of the Rise of Skywalker, that Snoke was actually a clone created by Darth Sidious (aka Emperor Palpatine), many sci-fi buffs couldnt help but notice how similar he seemed to Grand Moff Tarkin from George Lucass original trilogy. Well, it turns out that despite Rise of Skywalkers cloning explanation, the comparisons between the two villains are bang on the money.

In an interview with Force Material, designer and sculptor Ivan Manzella shared how Snoke was based on the appearance of horror movie legend Peter Cushing.For those who may not know, Peter Cushing played the role of Tarkin in the 1977 action movie who was one of the films two central villains, with the other being Darth Vader.

JJ [Abrams] mentioned a Hammer House of Horror doll. So I based him on Peter Cushing, Manzella explained.

When I did the maquette, there are elements in the cheekbone and profile. It wasnt meant to be Cushing, but he was my Hammer reference.

Although Snoke didnt turn out to be Tarkin himself, fans will be pleased to know that they were somewhat right in all their observations. Albeit if it is just from an appearance standpoint instead of their expected Tarkin clone confirmation.

You can now watch all of the Star Wars movies on Disney Plus.

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Supreme Leader Snoke from Star Wars was based on Peter Cushing - The Digital Fix

ST PATRICKS ATHLETIC assistant manager Jon Daly joked that the ideal scenario for the Saints is cloning Chris Forrester so he can pass to himself.

But he hopes that getting him in a more advanced role will have Mura seeing double again on Thursday.

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The Saints fly to Slovenia on a charter tomorrow ahead of Thursdays Europa Conference League second leg after a 1-1 draw last week.

That draw was earned thanks to a stunning Forrester goal, as he put in another midfield masterclass that had Saints fans drooling.

It was just his second goal of the season and Forrester claimed last week that he should have more.

But Daly insisted that his lack of goals is down to having to ask him to sacrifice himself more for the team.

Daly said: Hes been harsh on himself in terms of what hes asked to do and how he does it. Hes played deeper to try get on the ball.

But when he does that you need a Chris Forrester higher up to give to.

Wed do well if we could clone him, getting him on the ball to pass to himself!

Were trying to identify players that can get on the ball and find him in pockets up the pitch.

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Our objective as a staff is to get him on the ball as close to their goal as we possibly can because we know he has that bit of magic to go and produce.

He plays with a freedom and its important you allow him play with that freedom.

Thats where the manager has been really good with him.

Hes had to do certain things for the team defensively within the structure but over the match youre looking for him to get on the ball.

He sees things that you dont see so you have to allow him to express himself. Hes a joy to watch. Sometimes he does things that have your heart in your mouth but you trust him to be in control of the situation.

Daly, who spent his entire playing career in England and Scotland, admitted he never knew how good Forrester was until he worked with him.

The former Rangers ace added: I heard of him from his time at Peterborough and at Aberdeen.

I probably didnt anticipate him being as good as he is.

I knew he had quality but hes a very, very good player. He does things in training and matches you just dont expect. Im sure as a fan hes the type of player you want to see getting on the ball.

Were lucky to have him.

But Daly acknowledged that Forresters performance last week will likely mean that Mura will make special plans for him.

He added: I would imagine they will definitely do their homework having seen him and they will identify him now.

Thats where you need other players in the team to step up.And the Saints assistant boss believes they have an entire team to worry Mura in Slovenia.

Daly continued: Weve got enough quality in the changing room, its not just about Forrester.

If they decide to man mark him out of the game, we know we can work in other areas.

Continue reading here:

St. Pats assistant Jon Daly says Saints need another Chris Forrester and jokes hed love to clone the mid... - The Irish Sun

On the surface, Dorami was just an average mouse. She grew to a healthy weight, had pups of her own, and died naturally near her second birthdayroughly 70 years in human age, and completely unexceptional for a lab mouse.

Except for one thing: Dorami was cloned from freeze-dried cells. And not just any cellshe was cloned from somatic cells (the cells that make up our bodies) rather than sperm or eggs.

Dorami is the latest foray into a decades-long push to use cloning as a way to preserve biodiversity. The triumph of Dolly the sheep made it clear that its possible to revive animals using reproductive cells. The dream of restoring extinct animals, or biobanking current ones, has captured the imagination of scientists ever since. One powerful way to preserve a species DNA is to store sperm in liquid nitrogen. At roughly -320 degrees Fahrenheit, the cells can be frozen in time for years.

But theres one hiccup. Collecting reproductive cells from animals on the brink of extinction isto put it mildlyextremely difficult. In contrast, scratching off a few skin cells or shaving some fur is relatively simple. These cells contain the animals complete DNA, but theyre fragile.

The new study, led by Dr. Teruhiko Wakayama at the University of Yamanashi in Japan, made the leap from sperm to skin. Developing a highly technical recipe that would make any fine-dining chef proud, the team successfully cloned 75 healthy mice from freeze-dried somatic cells collected from both male and female donors. Many offspring, including Dorami, went on to have pups of their own.

With a success rate of roughly five percent at mostand as low as 0.2 percentthe technique is far from efficient. But the strategy carves a path towards the bigger picture: our ability to store and potentially revive genetic variations of near-extinct species.

To Dr. Ben Novak, lead scientist at Revive & Restore, the study is a welcome advance despite its imperfections. From a conservation standpoint, innovating new ways to biobank reproductively viable tissue types is a big needso its really exciting to see this kind of breakthrough, he said.

Cells are finicky creatures. Imagine a watery blob with tiny molecular factories tethered to its balloon-like walls. Freezing a cell without protection can cause the watery components to form sharp ice crystals, which damage the cells inner components and puncture the cell wall. When heated back up to normal temperatures, like a leaking pincushion, the cell doesnt have a chance for survival.

Scientists eventually figured out a winning recipe for preserving cells: the key is adding a chemical antifreeze and storing the cells in heavy metal tanks of liquid nitrogen. The cells are suspended in tiny vials inside boxes that slide into a tower-like metal cage. Depending on the cell type, they can be preserved for years. The problem? The setup is expensive, hard to maintain, and prone to power failures. Any disruptions could cause catastrophic loss in all the samples. For biodiversity, its not always feasible to have such a sophisticated setup near the animal.

Theres got to be a better way.

Years ago, Wakayama went on a crusade to push the limits of cell storage. He focused on one specific method: freeze-drying. Mostly known to backpackers and astronauts as a way to preserve nutrients in food, freeze-drying cells turned out to be relatively simple. At the turn of the century, Wakayama and his team showed its possible to freeze-dry sperm for reproduction. The recipe was so robust it kept sperm alive for years aboard the International Space Station, while being bombarded with ambient levels of radiation. It also led to live offspring after being chucked into a desk drawer for a year without climate control.

Somatic cells are a different matter. Unlike sperm, the cells that make up our bodies are far more prone to water molecules hugging our DNA structure, with a more fragile nucleus. When frozen, it means that the cells can experience far more damage, making them unusable for cloning.

To date, the only cells that have produced offspring after freeze drying are mature spermatozoa [sperm], the team wrote.

The new work went for the impossible: can we clone an animal from freeze-dried somatic cells?

In the first round of experiments, the team isolated cells from female mice that usually support the egg cell. They tossed the cells in two protective chemicals and freeze-dried the samples in liquid nitrogen. It wasnt pretty: the protective membrane of all the cells broke, with signs of shatteredbut relatively intactDNA.

Plowing ahead, the team then rehydrated the frozen sample after up to eight months in storage. From the lifeless powder they isolated the nuclei, the seed-like structure housing DNA, and transplanted it into an egg cell that had its genetic material sucked out. Its like replacing the text of one book with anothercompletely changing its biological meaning.

It got more complicated. These initial edited egg cells couldnt reproduce, likely due to DNA and epigenetic damage. As a workaround, the team used the cells to form multiple embryonic cell lines. These are resilient workers, especially efficient at correcting DNA damage.

Once thriving, the team then sucked out their genetic material and injected it into eggs from mice with black fur. The resulting embryos were left to develop in mice with white furthe surrogate mother. All resulting pups took on the shiny black fur of their DNA donors, with perfectly normal weights and fertility.

After maturation, we randomly selected nine female and three male cloned mice for mating with normal lab mice, the team explained. In roughly three months, all of the cloned female mice gave birth to the next generationwith four paws, whiskers, and mousey-habits intact. Repeating the experiment with skin cells from the tip of the tail, the team cloned another dozen or so mice.

The recipe didnt exactly go as planned. In one strange trial, the team used cells from male mice to clone the next generation, and all of the offspring became females. Digging deeper, they found that somehow the Y chromosomedesignating a biological malegot lost during the process, leading to an all-female island of Themyscira. To the authors, its a kink in the process, but not a blowout for practical use. These results suggest that even if Y chromosome loss does occur, this technique can still be used to the available genetic resources in extreme circumstances, such as almost extinct species, they said.

The technique is far from perfect. Its tedious, has low success rates, and still requires freezer storage temperatures that make it prone to energy grid failures.

To Dr. Alena Pance at the University of Hertfordshire, who was not involved in the study, the most important question is how long the genetic material can be stored. It would be paramount to show extended, indefinite storage in these conditions for this system to provide an effective long term preservation of species and samples, she said.

The authors agree that there are more mysteries. The body may have a harder time repairing DNA damage in somatic cells compared to sperm, which draws away their energy from developing a fully-functioning egg. Their epigeneticswhich regulates how genes turn on or offmay also be messed up because of incomplete reprogramming.

Ultimately, this is just the first step. Somatic cells are easier to capture compared to reproductive ones, especially for infertile or juvenile animals. Doing it easier and cheaper is a plus. The team is now looking to capture genetic material from cadavers or feces to broaden the scope.

The approach described in this work offers an alternative to present banking methods and certainly allowing more permissive temperatures would be a great advantage, said Pance.

Image Credit: Wakayama et. al./Nature Communications

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Scientists Cloned Mice From Freeze-Dried Skin Cells, Opening the Door to Biopreservation - Singularity Hub

David Milarch is on a mission, to clone the world's oldest and largest trees and preserve them for humanity.

"This tree was 1,000 years old when Jesus walked the Earth," says David Milarch, showing a seedling of a giant sequoia which he cloned from an existing tree.

David set up the Archangel Ancient Tree Archive in 1994. The NGO clones the world's most ancient trees, mostly giant sequoias and redwoods.

"The redwoods that we're cloning are 2,000-4,000 years old, and we have no idea how they can be that old," says Milarch.

"It's like finding a family somewhere in a remote area, where people are 200 to 300 years old. Wouldn't you want to study their genetics and find out how they're able to live for so long?"

The archive studies the genetics of ancient trees, before cloning them and planting them back in their native forests. Their aim is to reforest the Earth with trees that are resistant to global warming.

The world's last remaining sequoias are limited to 75 groves, scattered along a narrow belt of the western Sierra Nevada in California, US. They have massive trunks with bark as thick as 45 cm and can grow over 90 metres tall.

Giant sequoias, having survived thousands of years of wildfires and diseases, are now in danger of being wiped out by increasingly intense wildfires fuelled by climate change.

Large sequoias had never been incinerated before 2015, and the destruction of the majestic trees hit unprecedented levels last year when 10-14% of the 75,000 trees larger than 122 cm in diameter were destroyed.

One famous member of this family, General Sherman, is thought to be the largest tree on Earth by volume. An independent study found that this single tree can store about 86 years worth of a person's carbon emissions.

Milarch says that these ancient trees have the capacity to sequester ten times more CO2 than an average tree.

He believes that one way of reversing climate change is to repopulate the planet with these ancient trees.

"We found 130 different species of trees all over the world. We found 22 1,000-year-old oaks in Ireland," says Milarch.

He believes it is possible to clone 5 million trees in four years, using one tiny piece of a healthy ancient tree. The samples come from the top branches, which are then added to a sterile foam cube, along with a mix of hormones.

"We went from a 3-4 per cent success rate to a 97 per cent success rate by using these foam cubes with the hormones," says Milarch.

To avoid monoculture and promote diversity, the DNA of the strongest and most ancient trees is mixed, which helps these trees to be resistant to diseases.

"So country by country, continent by continent, you want to find the largest, healthiest native species of that country," says Milarch.

By cooperating with laboratories around the world, he thinks it is possible to create hundreds of millions of highly resistant native species.

However, to make a real difference, the world needs billions of these trees.

Watch the video to learn more about these ancient trees.

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Meet the man cloning the world's oldest trees to fight climate change - Euronews

Cloning in Biology: Can we create an organism that looks exactly like the other organism? Can an organism have the same morphological and genetic composition? What is such a process called? The answer to all such questions is cloning. When the word cloning is uttered, the mind connects it to the birth of the cloned sheep Dolly. In 1998, the birth of Dolly became sensational news all over the world, and soon, debate began about human cloning. Today our understanding of the very word cloning has expanded, and we know many other types of cloning too. Cloning means creating identical copies. Plants cannot be omitted from the discussion of cloning, but being less complicated organisms than animals, they have been cloned for ages. Read this article to learn more about cloning, its types, processes and much more.

Cloning simply means creating exact replicas or copies. Cloning in biotechnology refers to the process of creating identical copies of either DNA fragments, cells or organisms. The organism which has the identical genetic make-up and the morphological attributes of the source organism is called a clone, while the process is called cloning.

Based on the origin of the process, we can have two main types of cloning, i.e. natural cloning and artificial cloning:

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Early experiments on reproductive cloning began some (40) years ago through a process known as embryo splitting. In this procedure, a single two-celled stage embryo was split manually into two cells, and then each cell was grown as an identical embryo. In (1924,) Hans Spemann and his student Hilde Mangold performed some experiments of somatic cell nucleus transfer (SCNT) in amphibian embryos. This was considered the first step towards animal cloning.

In (1996,) Ian Wilmut and his team announced the successful cloning of a sheep, Dolly. This was a major breakthrough. Dolly was cloned using the same technique of somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). The cloning of Dolly was significant because she was the first mammal to be cloned successfully using an adult somatic cell. The birth of Dolly was also significant because it demonstrated that a nucleus could be dedifferentiated and redesigned to develop into a new organism.

Practice Exam Questions

Fig: SCNT procedure used in the cloning of Dolly

Cloning means creating identical copies. Biotechnologically, cloning refers to creating identical copies of DNA fragments, cells or animals. Cells and animals cloned are genetically identical to the source organism. Cloning can be of two types, i.e. natural and artificial. Propagation by vegetative and asexual reproductive methods are be considered natural cloning methods. Artificial cloning primarily refers to the biotechnological process of creating clones. However, human reproductive cloning has technological limitations, and the current techniques are not sufficient to create a human clone. It is also legally banned in many countries and is related to many ethical controversies.

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Q.1. Can humans be cloned?Ans: Reproductive human cloning is not possible as of now due to technological limitations and ethical controversies. It is also legally banned in many countries. However, therapeutic human cloning for obtaining stem cells is being practised for research purposes only.

Q.2. Why is human cloning banned?Ans: Human cloning is banned mainly for religious controversies associated with it. It is also feared that human clones could be abused in many ways. Seventy countries have legally banned human cloning.

Q.3. What is cloning?Ans: The organism which has the identical genetic make-up and the morphological attributes of the source organism is called a clone, while the process is called cloning.

Q.4. When was the first human cloned?Ans: The first hybrid human clone was developed in (1998) by scientists at Advanced Cell Technology, USA. They created a hybrid clone by taking the nucleus from mans leg cells and inserting it into a cows egg cell from which the nucleus was removed. This embryo died after (12) days.

Q.5. How is DNA cloning done?Ans: DNA cloning is done either by rDNA technology (genetic engineering) or by PCR technique. Reproductiveand therapeutic cloning (whole new organisms are produced) is done primarily by a technique called somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT).

We hope this detailed article on Cloning helps you in your preparation. If you get stuck do let us know in the comments section below and we will get back to you at the earliest.

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Cloning in Biology: Benefits, Types of Cloning, Human Cloning Facts

Love Island viewers have been left baffled after appearing to spot a 'clone' of one of the islanders during last night's episode.

Wednesday's episode saw more Ekin-Su-based drama as she had the choice of three men, eventually choosing Davide to couple up with.

This resulted in Danica coupling up with Jay, despite him rejecting her earlier in the day. Jay had been getting to know Antigoni, who was left understandably frustrated by the sequence of events.

For some viewers though it wasn't the recoupling drama that caught their attention, but the appearance of an apparent clone of contestant Dami.

Initially, Dami can be seen with some of the other boys around the firepit as they ask Jay how he feels about being picked by Danica.

But in the background of the shot, a figure wearing what seems to be the exact same clothes can be seen walking off towards the kitchen area.

Taking to Twitter to share a clip of the weird moment, one person asked why there were "two Dami's on the screen?"

Another said: "Seeing double in #LoveIsland tonight, anyone know why Dami had to clone himself?"

And a third wrote: "Hows Dami at the fire pit and walking off with the girls in the same frame?"

Some joked that perhaps Dami cloning himself was the only way to keep up with the amount of contestants who have been asking him for "counselling service" in recent days.

Love Island continues tonight at 9pm on ITV2 and ITV Hub.

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Love Island viewers baffled after spotting clone in the villa during last nights episode - JOE.co.uk

Police officers who stopped a "cloned" vehicle on the A10 discovered copious amounts of fuel in containers throughout the vehicle. The fuel, police say, is suspected as stolen.

A photo tweeted by the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Roads Policing Unit showed the inside of the vehicle. There was at least seventeen large cannisters full of brown liquid suspected by police as stolen fuel.

In addition to vehicle cloning, the driver was swabbed and results of a drug test indicated that the driver was under the influence of cannabis. The stop happened close to Cheshunt on the A10.

Read more: Some pharmacies across Hertfordshire to temporarily stop giving Covid-19 vaccinations as demand slows

The officers confirmed on Twitter that the driver has been arrested. They tweeted: "RP22 - A10, Cheshunt. Cloned vehicle stopped. Driver and vehicle were subsequently searched.

"Containers of suspected stolen fuel were discovered. Driver provided a positive drugs wipe for cannabis. Driver arrested."

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For the latest crime updates in your area, type your postcode below.

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Hertfordshire crime: Police stop 'cloned' car on A10 near Cheshunt - discover huge amounts of 'stolen' fuel - Herts Live

At a glanceExperts RatingPros

ShadowMaker is fast, easy, reliable backup and the free version nicely takes care of the basics. A Pro version with more features is available via subscription and perpetual licenses.

$79

MiniTool ShadowMaker, a first-rate backup program with a competent free version has evolved quite a bit since our look at version 2.0. Its also now available as a subscription or a with a perpetual license. A rather pricey $79 three-seat, perpetual license is up $50 from the last time we looked. Theres a lot of competition at this price point. Just saying.

Note: This review is part of ourroundup of thebest Windows backup software.Go there for details about competing products and how we tested them.

ShadowMaker 3.6 occupies approximately 225MB of disk space, and is a particularly clean install, leaving only a single process running in the backgroundits scheduler. The interface is on the dark side and uses the squarish Zune design metaphor of Windows 8/10.

All major categories of functions are available from the main page, and the program is largely intuitive if youre even somewhat familiar with the backup process. I could argue some of the labels and language, but that would be nigglingthe program steps you through most operations in a logical, friendly manner.

As I hinted at, ShadowMaker is one of the more competent backup freebies out there. For basic imaging, file and folder copy, folder sync, and disk cloning it will get the job done quickly and easily. The major omission is disaster recovery, unless you count a cloned disk that you can swap in for a failed drive. Thats certainly a viable alternative. Otherwise, youll need to reinstall Windows then run ShadowMaker Free to get your data back.

To be honest, on those super-rare occasions Windows has gone belly-up on me, Ive always taken advantage of the opportunity to get rid of all the accumulated junk with a fresh install. Just a thought.

There are several additional features available in the $79 ($6 a month/$36 a year) Pro Ultimate version. First and foremost is the Windows PE-based disaster recovery media. PE allows the program to operate just like the installed version. Other additions include support for command-line backups, incremental and differential backups, automatic culling, network PXE booting, as well as SSL encryption.

But my favorite pay feature is backup of remote computers. Enter the IP address (see below) of the remote computer running ShadowMaker, the program reboots, and all the disks, partitions, and files from the remote computer are now available as backup choices. You can access and back them up using the same wizards you use to back up the local machine.

This means I can keep my lazy toukus at my main machine, and back up any other PC on the network. Sweet, and possibly the reason youll want to pay for the three-seat licenses. Now if only ShadowMaker were available for the Mac and Linux.

ShadowMaker 3.6 was exceptionally fast at all normal operations: creating images, syncing folders, mounting images, etc. It was unbelievably fast backing up the main partition (with 75GB of stuff) on my test rig. Indeed, I thought it was failing until I mounted the images and checked the result. The compression rate was quite high as well, with the backup weighing in at a mere 18GB.

On the other hand, the clone disk function lacks any resizing/restore to fit capability, and even when I provided an identically-sized SSD, it balked. The process with ShadowMaker requires a larger-capacity disk.

To be fair, not restoring or cloning to smaller-capacity drives is a common issue (Windows own backup wont do it). But this was the first time Ive seen a like-sized drive disqualified. If you want to adjust sizes of partitions during backup or restore, look to the Mac daddy of imaging: R-Drive Image.

Also, when youre backing up an entire disk, make sure youve manually selected all the partitions. ShadowMaker wont select all of them by default, even omitting the main data partition in one case.

The free version of ShadowMaker is a very competent free backup program with few peers at the price (there are ads). However, when it comes to paying for ShadowMaker.

I can understand (if not like) subscriptions for software that is continually evolving and acquiring new features. But its difficult to fathom the logic in monthly payments for backup software thats largely feature complete. If you only use it once a year, a month of rental could make sense, and the free version can access the images it created should you need to restore in the future. Or you could rent it again when you need to restore.

But largely Im left weighing the value of the $79 (three-seat license) ShadowMaker Pro Ultimate. Theres stiff competition from products such as Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office and the aforementioned R-Drive Image, which cost less. I love ShadowMakers remote backup trick and its a possible deal-maker, but the program is still a hard sell at the price.

Irrespective of monetary outlay, ShadowMaker has matured nicely since our previous looks. It was very reliable in testing and its very fast. Download the 30-day trial of Pro Ultimate and give it a whirl. It might just suit your needs.

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ShadowMaker 3.6 review: Fast imaging, sync, and disaster recovery - PCWorld

The issue of human reproductive cloning has recently received a great deal attention in public discourse. Bioethicists, policy makers, and the media have been quick to identify the key ethical issues involved in human reproductive cloning and to argue, almost unanimously, for an international ban on such attempts. Meanwhile, scientists have proceeded with extensive research agendas in the cloning of animals. Despite this research, there has been little public discussion of the ethical issues raised by animal cloning projects. Polling data show that the public is decidedly against the cloning of animals. To understand the public's reaction and fill the void of reasoned debate about the issue, we need to review the possible objections to animal cloning and assess the merits of the anti-animal cloning stance. Some objections to animal cloning (e.g., the impact of cloning on the population of unwanted animals) can be easily addressed, while others (e.g., the health of cloned animals) require more serious attention by the public and policy makers.

Excerpt from:

Ethical issues in animal cloning - PubMed