Author: no author
was posted
Publication: Science Daily
Date: February
5, 2013
Link: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130205101153.htm
Picture Link: http://www.dddbeagles.com/images/largetilly.JPG
Picture Link: http://www.dddbeagles.com/images/largetilly.JPG
 |
| This picture shows a pregnant beagle much like what Klondikes mother would have looked like. |
Summary:
This
article began with introducing Klondike, a now nine month old eagle-Labrador
retriever mix that was conceived using artificial insemination. Artificial
insemination is when sperm cells and eggs are joined together in a less
traditional manner to form an embryo. It is then inserted into a surrogate.
This reproductive technology is intended to be used on endangered species, with
the hope to scientifically produce animals that are on the verge of extinction.
Due to varying times that an animal is able to produce the embryos made are
able to be frozen. This is also known as cryopreservation. This is another step
so that scientist can aid in reproduction of animals in order to preserve genetic
diversity of endangered species.
Opinion/Reflection:
I
personally believe that artificial insemination should not be permitted. It is
cruel taking animals out of their natural habitat and forcing them to hold
another animal’s young. What if an animal surrogate does not want to be pregnant,
and a scientist forces them to be? The world got alone fine without this
advancement in science. It is my hope this scientist allow animals to breed
traditional way. This is also done with humans. Couples who are having trouble
getting pregnant can find someone else to hold their baby, while still having
the other two parents DNA.
Questions:
Do you think the artificial insemination is ethical? Explain.
How do you think that this will
improve biodiversity, and lower the extinction rate?
How could doing this affect other species? How
could it affect (benefit/harm) humans?
I chose to invite Barbara Reed to comment on our blog. Reed is a plant physiologist and uses cryopreservation in order to maintain certain plant genes in gene banks. My e-mail to her read:
ReplyDeleteDear Ms. Reed,
Hello! I am a high school freshman form Hatboro-Horsham High School and am currently taking environmental science. In this class we were put in groups and began blogs devoted to current events in science that relate to what we are learning. We are currently learning about biodiversity. As part of my job on the blog, I have to invite a professional to comment on our blog post. Although you work with plants and the post is about animals, both share a common link, cryopreservation. If you could please comment with your thoughts, we all would greatly appreciate it. Thank you so much!
The blog is called the Golden Girls Science Blog and can be located at http://goldengirlsscienceblog.blogspot.com/2013/02/all-about-developing-cities-and.html#comment-form
-Emily Panetta
It is great that you are learning about science and taking time to think about it. The first thing in science is that you need to be very careful to be accurate is what you say and write.
DeleteIn this case you need to start with the correct definitions: Artificial insemination (AI) is when semen (sperm) are injected into the female by artificial means (not by the male but by a person using a syringe). In vitro fertilization is when the sperm and egg are combined outside the animal and then the embryo is inserted into a female for the pregnancy (sometimes called assisted reproductive technology, ART) . The female can be the egg donor or another female.
These techniques are almost always used on animals already in captivity and are normally used to increase populations of endangered species in zoos or special facilities set up to increase populations of a particular animal. Sometimes semen is collected in the wild, but this is not usual. (Google the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, Center for Reproduction of Endangered Wildlife website for examples).
Embryos produced by ART can be cryopreserved and then used for additional breeding seasons or implanted in additional females so that even more baby animals from this endangered species can be born. The goal is to have a viable population in the wild that has enough genetic diversity to reproduce on their own and survive.
I can appreciate your personal comments on the subject, but you are thinking that reproduction in animals is like we know it is in humans. But it is really not the same. For animals the natural cycle is to produce young almost every year. It is not something they plan like humans do, they mate yearly based on hormone cycles. Think of dogs and cats. If you let your pet outside without neutering, you will have kittens or puppies once or twice a year. They don’t plan it, they just do it because their hormones control their reproduction. People have hormones too, but we also have higher mental facilities to control these urges.
Is it better to save these species (by people using scientific means)or let them go extinct (because people kill them or take their habitat for human uses)?
Because there are few individuals of endangered species they can’t find suitable mates or all available mates are closely related and the offspring have genetic defects and do not survive.
If these species were not endangered they would be producing offspring nearly every year, so using AI or ART would be following their natural cycle. By using AI or ART you can provide a suitable mate, even if the other animal is in a zoo on the other side of the country. This allows the population to be increased, and sometimes the animals can be released into the wild to help increase the wild population.
So AI and ART are ways to keep animals from becoming extinct. If you like pandas or tigers or cute little antelopes then these techniques may be what keeps them around for your children to see in person and know that they are also in the wild.
Barbara Reed
Thank you so much for commenting!! The clarification helps very much. Also, thank you for showing us the other side to the argument!
DeleteThank you Ms. Reed for express your views on this topic. I will be more careful next time to make sure that I have clear, correct, and concise definitions to support my topic. I do understand your perspective, and I appreciate you taking the time to share this information with us.
DeleteI found two articles to follow up with Becca's post. One focuses on advantages and disadvantages, and the other mainly talks about the way artificial insemination affects farm animals.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ehow.com/info_8433695_disadvantages-artificial-insemination-cows.html
http://www.ehow.com/about_5105924_disadvantages-artificial-insemination-animals.html
I personally agree with Rebecca that artificial insemination and animal surrogation is wrong. I feel that this whole practice goes against nature's intent and that these animals who must become mothers to a newborn that isn't even their own, possibly against their will in some cases, is not ethical. Though I think it is an interesting approach to breeding and possibly resurrecting extinct species, I do not think that it is the best idea for these situations. Extinct species are extinct for a reason, and trying to bring back a certain animal through insemination I feel goes against the natural way of life. This relates to what we are currently learning as a class in the way that artificial insemination could be used to return deceased species to an ecosystem. If a key organism were to die out and leave its ecosystem vulnerable and more prone to unsuccessful recovery after a natural disaster, then I could see the benefits to these scientific practices. For artificial insemination, however, could it be used the same way as some parents now can pick traits for theier children, such as having blue eyes and being athletic, only for animals instead? For example, could artificial insemination be a tool in choosing the physical traits of a dog, perhaps, such as having black spots and a brown coat?
ReplyDelete