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This is absolutely mind-blowing. Also, since humans are now very numerous and so good at surviving, makes you wonder if humans could mutate this way too. Makes

This is absolutely mind-blowing. Also, since humans are now very numerous and so good at surviving, makes you wonder if humans could mutate this way too. Makes it seem like you'd just get outright pregnant instead of ovulating, which may be a bummer.

dmix 9y ago
The article ends by explaining why asexual cloning is a bad idea in the long term and how few species exist like this, outside of some relatively new ones, because they lack the evolutionary benefit of sexual adaptation (such as fighting diseases and other evolutionary traits). I guess technology and modern medicine could counteract that but it's still not ideal in the long-term. Nor would genetic clones create a very interesting society.
- sohkamyung 9y ago
  > Nor would genetic clones create a very interesting society. One of the more interesting attempts at creating a human society made up of clones is the James Tiptree, Jr. story, "Houston, Houston, Do You Read?" [1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houston%2C_Houston%2C_Do_You_Read%3F https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houston%2C_Houston%2C_Do_You_R...
  - RepressedEmu 9y ago
    Theres also an Outer Limits episode of a guy trapped on another planet who self replicates clones of himself. Although I think it does it more through "splitting" than an actual birth cycle. Very freaky episode with lots of "body-horror" as he begins to split.
- burfog 9y ago
  It would make a very interesting society. Mass-produced clothing would fit well. Public schools would not need to worry much about the extremes of ability. Shared mental traits would encourage a high level of trust, but identification difficulty would undermine it. With everybody having the same innate ability and interests, the pay differences between different jobs would be much higher.
jonmc12 9y ago
In mammals, epigenetic information is needed from both parents. Its thought that this epigenetic information is kind of a negotiation between the survival/growth traits of male DNA, and the resource strain put on the female during embryonic development and child-rearing. Kind of like a product feature request list being paired down for production delivery. It looks like there is some evidence, from mice experiments, that epigenetic information could be synthesized to induce asexual reproduction in mammals. I also found a recent gene editing technique to directly edit mice epigenomes, in theory that might be a path to design an asexual mouse, or another asexual mammal. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthenogenesis#Mammals https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthenogenesis#Mammals https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genomic_imprinting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genomic_imprinting https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/12/171207141735.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/12/171207141735.h...

dmix 9y ago

The article ends by explaining why asexual cloning is a bad idea in the long term and how few species exist like this, outside of some relatively new ones, because they lack the evolutionary benefit of sexual adaptation (such as fighting diseases and other evolutionary traits). I guess technology and modern medicine could counteract that but it's still not ideal in the long-term. Nor would genetic clones create a very interesting society.

sohkamyung 9y ago
> Nor would genetic clones create a very interesting society. One of the more interesting attempts at creating a human society made up of clones is the James Tiptree, Jr. story, "Houston, Houston, Do You Read?" [1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houston%2C_Houston%2C_Do_You_Read%3F https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houston%2C_Houston%2C_Do_You_R...
- RepressedEmu 9y ago
  Theres also an Outer Limits episode of a guy trapped on another planet who self replicates clones of himself. Although I think it does it more through "splitting" than an actual birth cycle. Very freaky episode with lots of "body-horror" as he begins to split.
burfog 9y ago
It would make a very interesting society. Mass-produced clothing would fit well. Public schools would not need to worry much about the extremes of ability. Shared mental traits would encourage a high level of trust, but identification difficulty would undermine it. With everybody having the same innate ability and interests, the pay differences between different jobs would be much higher.

jonmc12 9y ago

In mammals, epigenetic information is needed from both parents. Its thought that this epigenetic information is kind of a negotiation between the survival/growth traits of male DNA, and the resource strain put on the female during embryonic development and child-rearing. Kind of like a product feature request list being paired down for production delivery. It looks like there is some evidence, from mice experiments, that epigenetic information could be synthesized to induce asexual reproduction in mammals. I also found a recent gene editing technique to directly edit mice epigenomes, in theory that might be a path to design an asexual mouse, or another asexual mammal. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthenogenesis#Mammals https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthenogenesis#Mammals https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genomic_imprinting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genomic_imprinting https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/12/171207141735.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/12/171207141735.h...