Thursday December 22, 2005

I've Been Thinking:

Iran has cloned sheep embryos.
The first is expected to be born on February 14, 2006.
Seven weeks from now.
That puts Iran ten years behind Dolly, the first sheep to be cloned, born in 1996.

Is this factoid the least bit significant?
It is very significant.
Here are several reasons:
Iran is run by Shiite religious leadership and they have signed off on the cloning issue and on stem cell research. The minority Sunni religious leadership has rejected all cloning experimentation.

Iran has been undertaking, and successfully accomplishing, a series of technological and scientific advancements that includes advanced weapons and space satellite development. This cloning is just the latest in the series.

Iran is positioning itself to be a regional if not an international, technology player. They want to provide and sell technology, not import it. They want to become independent and in demand.

Iran is investing large sums and putting their best and brightest on these projects. The religious leadership is balancing science and religion in a way that many analysts naively think is way beyond their capabilities.

World, watch out. Keep on the alert. This is serious stuff happening in Iran.