Tm £ Battalion
Monday • February 16,15!
Debate focuses on human clones
By Tiffany Inbody
Editor in chief
PHILADELPHIA- The scientist who cloned the
world-famous sheep, Dolly, said the debate on
cloning is leaving a person out, the cloned child.
Dr. Ian Wilmut, researcher for the Rosenthal In
stitute in Scotland, and other cloning experts ad
dressed the rights and wrongs of human cloning at
the American Association for the Advancement of
Science annual meeting on Friday.
Wilmut said there are ethical issues to be con
sidered in any use of cloning technology.
Cloning can be used appropri- mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
ately in some instances but “If Michael Jordan was
cloning an adult person is not one J
"i think the relationship be- doned and the lO-year-old
tween the child
would be bound to be different, dis
turbed," he said. “I think we should • i i • t t -o
treat each child as an individual." we consider him worthless?
Dr. Arthur Caplan, director of
tion, he said.
There needs to be a system in place to assist fam
ilies who want cloned children. Loti Andrews, pro
fessor of reproductive law and genetic law at the
Kent School of Law in Chicago, said the issue of who
the legal parents are becomes confusing.
If Bill Gates wanted to clone himself, genetically,
he would be creating an identical brother, she said.
Under laws in some states, the legal guardian
could be 10 different people, Andrews said.
Andrews addressed ethical questions when con
sidering the cloning of an adult, particularly a fa
mous one.
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm “If Michael Jordan was
cloned and the 10-year-old
clone broke his knee, would we
consider him worthless?”
The cloned child would be
Lori Andrews
Professor of Reproductive Law
and Genetic Law
and the parents « i i i • i i i under pressure to be a basket-
i hp diffpmijjt. His- Clone broke hlS knee would ball star and not pursue other
avenues of life, she said.
McGee said, “Cloning could
intensify parents’ desire to styl
ize their children, to make them
in the image of a father.”
Caplan presented a scenario
of the relationship between a
guardian and a clone. He re
ferred to one possibility as the “Woody Allen Syn
drome,” referring to the film personality who mar
ried his step-daughter.
“It is somewhat odd to think that people might
have feelings that are consistent with love or even sex
ual feelings toward someone that they parent,” he
said. “Something like that is going to be true of clones.”
Caplan used the example of cloning his wife. “I
am in love with my wife. What does that do to the re
lationship to the clone?”
the Center for Bioethics at the
University of Pennsylvania Health
System, said some of the people
who can afford to use the cloning^^^^
technology are arguing for their
rights to reproduce in any way possible.
“Reproductive technology in the United States at
this point in time is kind of a Wild West,” he said.
If a person has enough money, someone out
there can find a way to clone a human, Caplan said.
Dr. Glenn McGee, the associate director for edu
cation for the Center for Bioethics at the University
of Pennsylvania Health System, said having a cloned
child would change the nature of a family.
Cloning raises many of the same issues as adop-
NASA prepares for Martian microbi
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Rock
samples that NASA plans to scoop up
from Mars could contain live bacte
ria or viruses, and scientists are mak
ing elaborate plans to protect Earth
from possible microbial Martians.
Several federal agencies are
working together to design and
build a high tech laboratory that will
protect against a living Mars germ.
Such a germ might pose a risk of
disease or infection for the Earth’s
people, plants or animals when the
Martian samples are returned in
about 10 years.
“Samples from Mars should be
considered hazardous until proven
otherwise,” Jonathan Y. Richmond,
a biological containment expert for
the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, said Sunday at the
national meeting of the American
Association for the Advancement
of Science.
“The risk is very small, but not
zero,” said John D. Rummel, NASA’s
planet protection officer.
“We’re ignorant (about Mars) and
what we’ve learned in biology is that
when you are ignorant, be careful.”
Although the site and many de
tails are still unknown, NASA plans
to build a laboratory that would
quarantine the Mars samples be
hind the same biocontainment bar
riers that scientists now use to pre
vent the escape of Ebola, a highly
contagious and lethal African virus.
Samples collected by robot craft
WOMEN'S SUPPORT GROUP
For Women Who are Currently
Involved or Have Been Involved
in an Abusive Relationship
Beginning February 17 -
6:30 p.m. - 7:45 p.m.,
Texas A&M University Counseling
and Assessment Center
Light Refreshments and FREE
Child Care Provided On-Site
Call 845-8021 to register or for
Questions. .
m
Tiffany Inbody, Editor in Chief
Flelen Clancy, News Editor
Brad Graeber, Visual Arts Editor
Robert Smith, City Editor
Matt Weber, Night News Editor
Jeremy Furtick, Sports Editor
James Francis, Aggielife Editor
Mandy Cater, Opinion Editor
Ryan Rogers, Photo Editor
Chris Huffines, Radio Producer
Sarah Goldston, Radio Producer
Dusty Moer, Web Editor
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15th Annual Healthy Heart Run
benefiting the
American Heart Association
presented by the
A&M College of Medicine
10k, 5k, and 1 mile walk on
February 28 at 9 a.m.
Location: Reynolds Medical Building
Registration forms at Barnes & Noble,
Copy Korner or online at
hsc.tamu.edu/admis/funrun.html
MSC Barber Shop
Serving All Aggies!
Cuts and Styles
All C orp Cuts $7.
Regular cuts start at $8.
XJ
846-0629
Open: Mon. - Fri. 8-5
tgST Located in the basement of the Memorial Student Center
0n-Campus Interviews
Veeder-Root. the world leader in
manufacturing automatic tank
gauging systems and environmental
products, invites you to experience
our two-year rotational program.
Come join us on Wednesday,
February 18th from 7 to 9pm for
a reception at the Briarcrest
Country Club. And Thursday,
February 19th at the Career Fair
in the Wehner Building.
Go to JobTrak HYPERLINK
http://www.jobtrak.com on the
web for detailed descriptions of
our career opportunities. Also,
for more information on our
organization visit us at our
web site HYPERLINKhttp://
www.veederroot.com
We will be interviewing on campus
on February 20th. See your career
services office for instructions on
how to sign up for interviews.
VEEDER-ROOT
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in April?
Another reason
to sign up for
The Princeton
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Veteran Instructors
[ The teachers For this April’s pencil and pa
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You deserve every advantage.
Courses start thjs Saturday.
THE
PRINCETON
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(409) 696-9099
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on Mars would be sealed on the
Martian surface and not opened un
til the containers are placed in vaults
under negative pressure, which per
mits air to flow in, but not out.
Richmond said that bits of the
Mars samples would be placed in
agar, a laboratory nutrient, to see if
anything grows. Specimens would
be exposed to tissue cultures to test
for toxicity and for the presence of
any microorganism.
Eventually, some of the material
could even be injected into animals
to see if it does harm, he said.
NASA has done all of this before.
The agency built a complex labo
ratory to protect the Earth from
any moon bugs when samples
were returned during the Apollo
lunar program. No evidence of life
was ever found.
But Rummel said “life is quite a
bit more likely on Mars than on the
moon.”
Mars was a warm, wet place, per
haps with oceans, some 3.5 billion
years ago, at a time when it is be
lieved life was appearing under sim
ilar conditions on Earth.
“There’s nothing about Mars that
we know of that would have pre
vented life from evolving there in the
same way it did on the early Earth,”
Rummel said.
Some Mars microbes could still
be living, despite its present hos
tile environment.
“We are finding that organisms
can live in far more extremen
tions than we once thoughip
hie,” said Margaret S. Race,asi
tist for the SETI instituif,
organization that specializes!
search for extraterrestrials.
Earth microbes have beer
living inside rocks, in thesupei
ed water of undersea volcanic
and in the extreme dr>'and
the Antarctic.
But Rummel, Richmor
others believe it is verym
that any living Mars bugcouli
leash an extraterrestrial plage
the Earth.
Richmond noted thatifu
bial life does exist on Mars,it|r
ably has the same genetiepat®
Earth life.
He said scientists now b
that over billions of yeai*
Mars have landed on
tun
lend
, age |
knocked there when asic:: Idisl
smashed into the Red Planet:: Say]
Earth probably have also lane
Mars. As a result, it is possibli
life forms on the planets«
have a common origin.
NASA plans to send sampkEfyol
lection robot landers to twoil -ed
ent sites on Mars in 2001 1
The machines would colleci^the
store bits of rock, soil, ice an
mosphere.
In 2005, another roboi
would be sent to oneofthesite
lect the samples and returnthi
Earth by 2008.
ACCOUNTIN
209/229
coi
nP;
Step
ms
Step
liui
itei
Billy’s Video,
Need Help? Call Us!
Quantum Cow Tutoring:260-C0W!
Univ. Dr., Northgate, next to CD Warehouse (2-9pm Sun-1
TEXAS A&M FOOTBALL
12TH MAN/WALK-ON
Organizational Meeting
DATE: Wednesday, February 18,1998
TME: 4:30 PM
WHERE: Kyle Field — Football Locker Root
* MOST HAVE STARTED COLLEGE IN THE FALLG
‘96 OR AFTER
* MOST BE ENROLLED IN A MINIMUM QF12 HE
* ATTENDANCE IS MANDATORY
Do you wonder what your future holds? Come
talk to DCS and discover the answers.
UCS has been in the computer and automotive business for 27
years. We are looking for many different backgrounds including
sales, customer service, programming, consulting, and technical
support for our Houston and College Station offices. So come
explore career opportunities with UCS at our informational
February 19, 1998
4:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
College Station Hilton
Ballroom 1
We will have representatives from various departments, so feel
free to bring a friend and come any time between 4:00 p.m. and
7:00 p.m. We hope to see you there! If you are unable to attend
or have any questions, please call:
UCS
1-800-883-3031
http.7/www. ucs-systems.com
E.O.E.
UCS Hires Non-Tobacco Users Only
UCS
4r MSC Visual Arts Committee Presents:
A Field Trip to the museums of Fort Worth!
February 21,1998 leave campus by Sam return by 8pm
Renoir’s Portraits
Impressions of an Age
Kimbell Art Museum Fort Worth, Texas
Hurry! Space is limited! Sign up by 8 pm
Monday, February 16 at the MSC Forsyth
Center Galleries (across from the Aggieland
Post Office).
$5 TAMU Students with I.D.
$15 non-students
other museums in the area: Amon Carter Museum,
Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, Modem
Art Museum of Fort Worth
Pierre-Auguslc Renoir, Two Sisters (On the Terrace) detail, 1S81
Look us up! X Ifyou have special needs or for more
Memorial student Center http://www.msc.tamu.edu <5- information , ease cal| in advance a ,
Vtsual Aits Committee http://vac.tamu.edu (409)845-9251 ore-mail: vac.tamu.e*