Fruit Fly DNA to Help in Human Research; Researchers Within Fetching Distance of Cloning Dog
ANN KELLAN, CNN ANCHOR: First Dolly, now Fido? A potentially life-saving device that's full of hot air. And feeling stressed? That could be a good sign. These stories and more just ahead on SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY WEEK. Hello and welcome. I'm Ann Kellan. We're taller, we don't have wings and our life spans are longer, but turns out we humans have a lot in common with fruit flies. Scientists have decoded virtually the entire genetic code of that fly. The findings will help in the research of various human diseases and birth defects.</s>KELLAN (voice-over): What could fruit flies possibly have in common with humans? Genetically, more than you think. This tiny fly with the scientific name Drosophila is now an open book. Scientists have decoded its entire genetic blueprint, or genome, one chemical at a time.</s>CRAIG VENTER, CELERA GENOMICS: It's a very exciting time. The Drosophila genome plays such a key part in science.</s>KELLAN: Even though the fruit fly has only about 13,000 genes compared to 70,000 to 100,000 in humans, we're more similar to fruit flies than not: 70 percent of the genes found in the fly are also present in humans. And because fruit flies reproduce and grow quickly, they're a scientist's dream specimen.</s>VENTER: There's literally hundreds to thousands of discoveries in the fruit fly that have helped us understand our own biology better. One is a set of genes that determine body segments in insects, turns out those same genes control our body development as humans. The key discoveries for understanding the molecular basis of how the human brain functions have come from the fruit fly.</s>KELLAN: Scientists at Celera Genomics, where much of the research was done, developed a new method to quickly sequence vast amounts of genetic information. They take DNA out of a cell, break the material into pieces, analyze the parts chemical by chemical, and with the help of a supercomputer put the genome back together like a jigsaw puzzle.</s>ART CAPLAN, BIOETHICIST, UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: By understanding those genes, by seeing what you can do in a fruit fly -- change the temperature, expose it to different chemicals and then knowing exactly what the fruit fly genes are -- we'll learn something about why sadly things sometimes go astray in human development.</s>KELLAN: Though Celera is a private, for-profit company, it plans to share its findings with researchers around the world.</s>KELLAN: Knowing the fruit fly's genome will also help companies develop more effective pesticides to protect crops. Researchers in both the public and private sectors are hard at work decoding the human genome and expect results as early as this summer. Cloning sheep, and, most recently, pigs, is one thing, but copying canines? Researchers say they are within fetching distance of cloning man's best friend. Rusty Dornin has details.</s>RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): She's beautiful, athletic and super smart. Her owners say Missy is one of a kind, that is until researchers can make a canine copy. Missy's owners are spending more than $2 million in attempts to clone her.</s>LOU HAWTHORNE, GENETICS SAVINGS & CLONE: It started with a dream of a single anonymous billionaire who loved Missy so much that he wanted another dog with the same genetic endowment.</s>DORNIN: It's called the "Missiplicity Project," and it's no joke. Sixty-two dogs at Texas A&M; University are would-be surrogate moms of Missy II. Missy will be the first. Then any Fido might do.</s>HAWTHORNE: The type of animal you want to clone is one that's a once-in-a-lifetime masterpiece of Mother Nature. It could be a mutt, it could be a pure bred, but it's an animal that, for whatever reason, you want to capture those genes.</s>DORNIN: To capture your dog's genes, the Genetic Savings & Clone Corporation will send you a bio-box. A vet will take DNA from your dog. And for $1, 000, it will be frozen until the process is perfected. Some worry whether dogs produced by cloning will be as healthy.</s>HANK GREELY, STANFORD UNIVERSITY: There's a little bit of evidence from cloning from cattle, particularly, that there are some higher rates of some problems with joints and growth in cloned cattle.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE:: She's like an angel. This is sort of the devil dog.</s>DORNIN: Just try and duplicate that, say some dog owners.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE:: Yes, I mean, it would be cool if it would come out the same, but it wouldn't be the same dog, you know?</s>GREELY: I do think it's important to note that it would be the illusion of sameness. Cloning won't make a pet or a person immortal.</s>DORNIN: Researchers believe they'll be able to successfully clone 13-year-old Missy within the next year. And while it may cost a few million to try and clone your canine today, soon it could come down to the cost of a new car, a price some would gladly pay to recreate the essence of their four-footed friend. For SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY WEEK, I'm Rusty Dornin.</s>KELLAN: Well, you say cloned dogs aren't for you? How about a robo-cat? The techno-feline was among the critters up for grabs at the recent Tokyo Toy Fair. The $500 kitty can jump, play dead, do somersaults, without ever having to use the litterbox. Also featured at the fair, Robo-bunnies? And a robo-jellyfish. What will they think of next? Coming up: Tired of the rat race? We're going to introduce you to some mellow and not-so-mellow mice who know the feeling. But next: Those fighting for a safer Internet faceoff with the pharmaceutical industry.