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+--- Thread: Research Fatal: you can't clone a clone forever + Implantable ‘pharmacy’ makes drugs in body (/thread-20070.html)
Fatal: you can't clone a clone forever + Implantable ‘pharmacy’ makes drugs in body - C C - Mar 28, 2026
You can't clone a clone forever: the mutations are eventually fatal
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/cloning-mice-genetic-flaws-japan-b2945888.html
INTRO: A two-decade study into cloning has revealed a fundamental flaw in the technology, demonstrating that repeated duplication leads to an accumulation of fatal genetic mutations. Researchers in Japan generated 1,206 cloned laboratory mice from a single female donor between 2005 and 2025.
Initially, no outward signs of trouble were observed across the first 25 generations. However, genetic mutations subsequently began to pile up, ultimately proving fatal. The 58th generation of clones, despite appearing physically normal, died within days of birth due to these accumulated genetic mutations.
This extensive research directly contradicts the long-held notion that clones are identical copies of their original donor and disproves the idea that current cloning technology could be sustained indefinitely without adverse effects.
Developmental biologist Teruhiko Wakayama of the University of Yamanashi, senior author of the research published on Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications, stated: "No one has ever continued re-cloning for this long before. As a result, this is the first time we've discovered that repeated re-cloning eventually reaches its limits." (MORE - details)
Implantable ‘living pharmacy’ produces multiple drugs inside the body
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1121202
INTRO: A multi-institutional team of scientists, co-led by Northwestern University, has taken a crucial step toward implantable “living pharmacies” — tiny devices containing engineered cells that continuously produce medicines inside the body.
In a new study, the team engineered cells to simultaneously produce three different biologics — an anti-HIV antibody, a GLP-1-like peptide used to treat type 2 diabetes and leptin, a hormone that regulates appetite and metabolism. When implanted under the skin of a small animal model, the device kept drug-producing cells alive and stably delivered all three therapies at once.
Called HOBIT (short for hybrid oxygenation bioelectronics system for implanted therapy), the new system integrates the engineered cells with oxygen-producing bioelectronics. Roughly the size of a folded stick of gum, the design shields cells from the body’s immune system while also providing cells with oxygen and nutrients to keep them alive and producing biologic drugs for several weeks.
With more work, living pharmacies hold the potential to treat chronic conditions with a single, long-lasting therapy — bypassing the need for patients to carry, inject or remember to take medications... (MORE - details, no ads)
RE: Fatal: you can't clone a clone forever + Implantable ‘pharmacy’ makes drugs in body - Yazata - Mar 28, 2026
You can clone at least some plants seemingly forever. There are plants, including some of economic value, that have been bred to the point where they are no longer able to propagate by seeds. The only way to propagate them is by cuttings, which effectively is plant cloning.