I need to clarify this for someone
2006-10-27 04:32:12 · 14 answers · asked by Robert B 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Biology
Yes, but they'd be Invisible Pink Unicorns. May Their Hooves Never Be Shod.
2006-10-27 04:33:41 · answer #1 · answered by Beardog 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
No. Stem cells have the capability of becoming any organ (heart, lung, nerve tissue) but they will become human (or dog or cat) heart, lung and nerve tissue, not those of another animal.
To create pink unicorns would require to change the DNA, and we are very far from being able to play around with DNA with a precise goal like that. The most that has been done was to use the genes from a living organism that does something desirable and graft it into the DNA of an organism that we want to have the characteristic the other has.
To summarize, stem cells is "let's redo this organism, following the plans and instructions of the DNA" while creating a pink unicorn would mean "let's change the plan to build something different".
2006-10-27 11:39:42 · answer #2 · answered by Vincent G 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you were to use stem cells for cloning, you would have to have the stem cells of a pink unicorn to create a pink unicorn. Since there's no evidence that unicorns have ever existed, there's not a possibility of that happening.
That's not to say that some day, scientists couldn't create a pink unicorn, if someone thought it was a worthwhile project. But that would seem to me to be more of an experiment with genetics and not require the use of stem cells.
I'm including a few links to help you explain stem cells better to your friend. In current technology, you need heart stem cells to repair a heart, and so forth. Like stem cells to build like tissue. So, find a pink unicorn somewhere and I bet you could get researchers to make another one for your friend! :)
2006-10-27 11:55:42 · answer #3 · answered by BrendaSue 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hi:
Stem cells could, in theory, be conditioned to grow into any organ of the organism from which they were derived. This is how it works in the body.
This means that if you are able to get a sample of stem cell from a pink (or your fav color) unicorn, and if you have the cutting-edge technology to condition the cells, in theory, yes you can.
That would be pretty fancy, wouldn't it? Pink unicorns..... wonder what you would come up with next!
2006-10-27 12:38:39 · answer #4 · answered by BigPak 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Lets think about it for a second!!, how can we use stem cells of human or something to make another specie like it will be an 'imaginative' pink unicorn?
Hmmmm, I don't think so!!, sorry
2006-10-27 12:58:55 · answer #5 · answered by omayradm18 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you have stem cells from a pink unicorn, yes.
2006-10-27 11:40:42 · answer #6 · answered by elaeblue 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, but only if they came from pink unicorn embryos.
2006-10-27 11:39:15 · answer #7 · answered by Brian L 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Maybe... but not invisible pink unicorns.
2006-10-27 11:33:52 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, just blue unicorns.
2006-10-27 18:48:19 · answer #9 · answered by Strix 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think you're thinking about a transgenic animal.
2006-10-27 12:32:07 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋