[ RadSafe ] DNA, Cloning, and so on

[JPreisig at aol.com]

Dear Radsafe,
 
     Hey All.  Mars Rover is finding fundamental  organic compounds on 
Mars.  Wonder if they float around in Space  also???
 
     We apparently are well on our way to melting the  Earth's Polar 
Icecaps --- do they refreeze in their
respective Winters???  Maybe we should melt them permanently ---  hopefully 
not.  Wonder what
percentage of the Global Land mass we would lose if the ice caps  
permanently melted.???  Anyone have 
a spare graduate student around to do this calculation???
 
    So, with tissue preservation, DNA storage in the cold  etc., one could 
preserve tissue and/or
DNA indefinitely???  Or perhaps Sperm and Eggs also???  Stored  tissue, 
DNA, Eggs, Sperm
Etc. might possibly outlive their donor person, animal, organism  etc.???
 
   Want to store Egg, Sperm, tissue, DNA Etc. so you can  keep your 
favorite Pet, organism, animal,
Etc. cloned forever??? --- Sure, why not....  Is someone cloning  Humans 
already somewhere???
Geez, I hope not.
 
   Cloning, sure why not... Skip ahead a bit brother... (Monte  Python and 
the Holy Grail)...
Why bother cloning at all???  Just start with the elementary  biochemical 
components, organic
molecules etc. and assemble DNA from scratch.  Design your own animal,  
human, creature, organism,
etc. as you wish.  Build your extinct dinosaur from scratch???  I  guess 
the preceding design
process is a bit too soon, since we are only still  figuring out all of 
Human DNA.  Something to think 
about for the future.
 
   I don't want to go into the following, since I am a  
geologist/geophysicist and might someday have to
teach Evolution.  Is Life an Engineered Structure, designed by some  
beings, or perhaps
ONE most-powerful being (the Big Guy???)???  Or is evolution real, and  
feasible, or at least
moderately probable???  Wasn't there some story about Monkeys typing  away 
for a long time, and if
so, would they be able to produce a great Novel eventually???
 
  I guess intelligent design could happen without a supreme  being.???  
People who don't believe in God,
usually do believe in Evolution???
 
    Most Anti-Nukes I run into (possibly very  pro-environment folks) have 
the Environment at the Center of their belief  system.  It is the most 
important thing in their lives.
 
    Sorry, I digress too much.  Severely off-topic, I  guess???
 
    Have a good week....
 
    Regards,   Joe Preisig
 
PS  Sometimes BSA is Boy Scouts of America.  Sometimes BSA is  Brookhaven 
Science     
      Associates, the people who operate  Brookhaven National Lab (USA)...