Departments



Articles

Less

Editorial: Timely Guest Editorials & Letters Are Welcome
May 14th, 2010

Editorial: But He Wasn`t Taking His Meds
April 24th, 2010

Editorial: Editorial: Earth Day 2010
April 20th, 2010

Editorial: Editorial: New Cross-Florida Canal?
April 5th, 2010

Editorial: Editorial: State of the Birds
March 31st, 2010

Editorial: Editorial: Our Members Are Vital to Our News Mission
March 6th, 2010

Editorial: Editorial: Follow the Money
January 21st, 2010

Editorial: Editorial: Thanks to All
January 14th, 2010

Editorial: 2009 In Review
January 10th, 2010

Editorial: Editorial: Concussion in Athletes Deserves More Attention
December 13th, 2009

Editorial: Editorial: Thanksgiving 2009
December 1st, 2009

Editorial: Editorial: Domestic Violence Affects All of Us
November 13th, 2009

Editorial: The Obscenity Conundrum
November 6th, 2009

Editorial: Editorial: The Obscenity Conundrum
October 30th, 2009

Editorial: Cedar Key 2009 Seafood Festival
October 9th, 2009

More

Armadillos and Anthros

Armadillos and Anthros

Editorial

Now that the Gulf of Mexico is placid as a mill pond, at least temporarily, we can turn our thoughts to things more esoteric than survival. And with apologies to John Steinbeck, the thoughts are of armadillos and their mammalian cousins, man.

Armadillos have expanded their range into North America over the past century despite sharing that century with a constantly expanding population of cars and trucks. (So much for irrelevant correlations.) Armadillos, like man, will eat almost anything as long as it hasn't been dead too long. They also exhibit the twinning process, carried to a much higher level than mankind. Armadillos can deliver identical quadruplets or even octuplets, all from a single fertilized egg. That is carrying the twinning process one or two steps beyond identical twins.

Human twins, although novel, are not unusual. Identical twins are less common, but much less spectacular than armadillos' identical octuplets. Because this is a family news paper, the production of fertilized eggs will not be discussed further here. However, suffice it to say, the processes are more similar than dissimilar for armadillos and humans.

The point of this esoteric editorial is that the miracles of birth and cloning are related. Cloning is not a new concept. Armadillos have perfected the process. Man and woman have been doing it without even knowing it. Now scientists have refined the process. It is now up to society to use good judgment and the process, like atomic power and stem cells, for good and not evil.

Click for printer friendly version

Email this article to a friend

 

 

© 2013
Cedar Key News

cedarkeynews@gmail.com