The Russian military will soon be equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) turbocharged war robots capable of acting independently on the battlefield, Russia’s Minister of Defense recently announced .
But Sergei Soygu went much further than that, moreover in the “other” direction, after suggesting that he wanted to clone a group of ancient warriors. Of course, solving this task will not be easy, as even the chances of non-human clones are low, and their legitimacy is unclear.
But if someone holds a position like Russia’s defense minister, presumably all his bases you have to come up with such an idea by thinking in an unusual way in order to protect your country from threats. However, with his latest strategic plan – cloning an entire army of ancient warriors – Sojgu can certainly cross a line.
At the early summer meeting of the Russian Geographical Society, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested that using the DNA of 3,000-year-old Scythian fighters potentially to bring them to life.
First, some background: The Scythian people, who originally came from present-day Iran, were nomads who They toured Eurasia between the 9th and 2nd centuries and built a vast empire that survived for centuries before they were eventually ousted. Two decades ago, archaeologists in the Siberian Tuva region unearthed well-preserved remains of soldiers in a mound, or tomb. biological materials than other types of soil. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Soygu knows this better than anyone because he thinks of Tuva and is definitely thinking of some kind of human cloning. But is it possible at all?
In theory, no one has cloned humans so far. However, scientists have already successfully performed therapeutic cloning of certain cell types for therapeutic purposes and other specific gene engineering solutions, and of course there are high-profile examples of cloning animals with a rather complex structure. Earlier this year, for example, scientists cloned an endangered American animal species for the first time: a black-legged ferret whose donor had been dead for more than 30 years.
Then why is the person still not on the menu? Due to a technical problem with the most common form of cloning, the so-called nuclear transfer. In this method, the nucleus of a somatic cell (e.g., a skin or organ cell that has a specific purpose in the body) is gently removed and this nucleus is placed in an ovum whose nucleus has been carefully removed. It is like an empty template waiting for a new nucleus to be inserted.
“Cloning humans and other primates is technically more difficult than cloning other mammals,” the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Human Genome Research Institute. One reason for this is that in primate oocytes, proteins essential for cell division, called spindle proteins, are located very close to chromosomes. Consequently, when the ovum nucleus is removed, two division spindle proteins that are required for full development are also removed. Even if this problem is relatively easy to avoid, human cloning is extremely taboo in much of the world and is even outright illegal.
Although embryo genetic engineering has not been banned in the United States, The NIH does not fund research into practice and may not, under any circumstances, perform embryo manipulation in places such as in vitro clinics that are not authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
De suppose Russia ignores all legitimacy and goodwill for Sojgu’s great plans. In this case, scientists should develop a method that can extract the human nucleus without irreparably damaging the cell.
Scientists have cloned certain monkeys, so that primates – at least in theory – they are still on the table, but the success rate is very low even for non-primate clones – Dolly, the sheep’s research team needed 277 attempts to get a viable embryo.
And what if it’s all perfectly do you succeed Well, the Scythians were powerful warriors and talented cavalry, but scientists – or the Kremlin – must carefully check a cloned baby version of a deceased adult warrior for disease and other prose childhood problems. Who will raise these children? Who will be legally responsible for their well-being?
Sojgu could imagine a future race of extremely capable warriors, but … it’s still at least 20 years old, and nature versus upbringing would be worth tossing. Good genes here or there, but after all, Scythian warriors didn’t have a plumbing, let alone a smartphone. This is a whole new world. Or Russia is already working in a post-apocalyptic army.
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