China hopes to make a great leap forward in Stem Cell Research

March 6, 2002 5:35 PM

China hopes to make a great leap forward in Stem Cell Research Does anyone else find this a little troubling? Are all the clones going to look like Jiang Zemin?
posted by AsiaInsider (17 comments total)

So does the cloning lab's centrifuge constitute a cultural revolution? *rimshot*
posted by gazingus at 6:02 PM on March 6, 2002

[groan!]
posted by five fresh fish at 6:10 PM on March 6, 2002

I know you're only joking around (at least, I think so*), but unfortunately its the people who actually think that way who are condemning people in need of transplants to die, and the paralyzed never to walk again. Stem cell research is NOT about cloning copies of yourself, although you wouldn't know it from media coverage.

From paragraph 2:
Their intention is not to copy human beings, but create genetically matched cells to make tissues for transplant patients and for research.

*The idea that the chinese government would be doing something nefarious to _increase_ their population is preposterious even by the weak standards of conspiracy theory.
posted by malphigian at 6:10 PM on March 6, 2002

i find it troubling that we are putting a halt to some key discoveries based on some people's misguided sense of morality. i also find it troubling in a way that we will be passed by other countries in this area even though we are currently leading the field. on a positive side at least all of humanity doesn't share our limited viewpoint and the research will get done somewhere
posted by rhyax at 6:16 PM on March 6, 2002

oh, and i really have to say it, humans actually have a cheaper way to make more humans than cloning, we've nearly perfected it in fact.
posted by rhyax at 6:21 PM on March 6, 2002

Well, what I troubling is the idiotic paranoia keeping that stuff from being worked on and developed here. Someone needs to do it.
posted by delmoi at 6:26 PM on March 6, 2002

Rhyax: Who's the "we" ('in a way that we will be passed') that you refer to? What leads you to believe that "we" is a leader in the field? Just curious...
posted by five fresh fish at 6:40 PM on March 6, 2002

Hooray for the Chinese! Superman rejoices!
posted by treywhit at 6:48 PM on March 6, 2002

Of course they'll all look like Jiang Zemin. Everyone knows that all Chinese people look the same anyway.
posted by wackybrit at 7:37 PM on March 6, 2002

Its not that China is bad or evil ( I don't think it is) but its just that they have a terrible record of not using technology wisely or with much regards for the after effects.

You know that the guy who cloned Dolly has just moved to Singapore....
posted by AsiaInsider at 9:55 PM on March 6, 2002

... which is not in China.
posted by vbfg at 12:52 AM on March 7, 2002

but THEY RULE singapore.
posted by kliuless at 6:49 AM on March 7, 2002

Errrr, no they don't.

There are ethnic Chinese people in Singapore. There are ethnic Chinese people in Hong Kong. Hong Kong used to be part of the British Empire. Singapore used to be part of the British Empire. The Japanese captured Hong Kong in an embarrassingly easy manner. The Japanese captured Singapore in an embarrassingly easy manner. Singapore is known for being a city built from nothing and a centre of international trade. Hong Kong is known as a city built from nothing and a centre of international trade.

Hong Kong is part of the Chinese mainland. Singapore is at the bottom of the Malay peninsula. The Chinese rule Hong Kong. The Singaporeans rule Singapore.

Subtle, but certainly different.
posted by vbfg at 7:46 AM on March 7, 2002

like THEY RULE the philippines.

sorry, just j/k :) you're right of course!
posted by kliuless at 7:51 AM on March 7, 2002

Actually, the Fukinese Chinese economically and politically rule Singapore since they are the dominant ethnic group. Fukinese economically rule Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and also...Taiwan.

Thailand's Tochou Chinese have intermarried with the royal family of Thailand and own much of the businesses in Bangkok as well.

So Yes, Singapore is not China..but its within the Chinese Sphere of influence.

Not saying that that is bad...just the reality of the economic power structure of SE Asia.
posted by AsiaInsider at 9:06 AM on March 7, 2002

You know that the guy who cloned Dolly has just moved to Singapore...

I didn't know that. Is he working for a university or a private company? Is there a brain drain towards Asia already undwerway?
posted by homunculus at 1:04 PM on March 7, 2002

Yes

dolly dude is here?
posted by AsiaInsider at 6:57 PM on March 7, 2002