Dog Breeders and the Technology of Cloning: A Glimpse Into the Future
We have constantly sought ways of making life more convenient for us. We have discovered different technologies that would have flabbergasted men of yesterday.
We have turned dreams into reality. We have turned nightmares in to fact.
And through it all, we have considered our discoveries as progress. Yes, it is progress, but towards what, no one knows.
We are a race dependent upon our technology for survival. We have learned so much fro our environment that, like ancient alchemists, we can develop almost any substance synthetically.
No longer content with manipulating non-living things, we have begun looking towards the mystery of life.
Ever the curious race, humanity sought to understand what exactly made him tick.
Not content with finding out, we tried to change the way things were. We learned to study the patterns that are involved in the development of life… and how to manipulate them into forming what we want.
The basic pattern of life, genetics, has been so deeply studied that we now use it in our everyday lives. Dog breeders, gardeners, even ordinary people trying to find a mate use genetics unconsciously.
Dog breeders have been using the science of genetics for decades, if not centuries. To dog breeders, the fact that certain traits come with certain breeds is crucial. They breed dogs with this fact in mind.
Dog breeders count on genetic traits to affect, positively, the outcome of a breeding. They try to develop dogs that are inclined to one behavior and appearance.
They also know the gargantuan task of such breeding. Dog breeders know by heart the proper standards of each breed. They can determine the outcome of a breeding because they chose the dogs specifically to produce that outcome.
The circle of life goes on… but with a bit of help from humans.
Dog breeders of today have developed into artists. They are so precise in their methods that they can predict the outcome of each breeding almost accurately.
Did you notice the word “almost”? Well, this is because the technology is not yet advanced enough to produce truly customized dogs.
However, the breakthrough of Hwang woo-suk of South Korea may alter the expectations from dog breeders radically. This breakthrough was the cloning of a dog, Snuppy.
Although the cloning itself is against the standards of different dog breeding associations because of the fact that it does nothing to improve any breed but merely copies, the potentials for the technology can be very useful.
Dog breeders have realized the possibility of directly manipulating a dog’s genes and therefore improving its conformity to standards.
With the knowledge gained from cloning research, dog breeders can isolate each trait or characteristic to a specific gene. Physical appearance and temperament now need not come together. When before, there were unavoidable problems and difficulties with a specific breed, dog breeders may be able to separate the two.
The potential use of this technology by dog breeders is not so difficult to comprehend once you realize that the very essence of dog breeding is genetics.
However, not all dog breeders excel because of their ability to produce dogs that are genetically conformed to breed standards.
Most of the time, it is just the tender loving care of the dog breeder that makes the difference.
And hopefully, that will never change.
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