The Light Years
| Image | Description |
|---|---|
 |
Image displaying the information of the excerpt |
| [Introduction music] | |
| [Title] The light years | |
| Yannick Villedieu: Hello, this is Yannick Villedieu of the team. Welcome to this March 2, 1007 edition of Light Years. | |
| Today, we are doing to discuss Dolly and cloning, but Johanne Arcan and I are also going to talk about a very, very beautiful visitor. | |
| Johanne Arcan: Yes, the Albop comet is fast approaching Earth and it is already being termed the comet of 1997. | |
| And conversely, regarding the infinitely small, German physicists have perhaps identified a new particle, the leptoquark. | |
| YV: And so Marc Bourgault, you also have something to offer regarding the infinitely small? | |
| Marc: Yes, the National Research Council of Canada has just been entered into the Guinness Book of Records. Two scientists have perfected the smallest ruler ever to exist. | |
| YV: The nano... M and YV: ruler. |
|
| YV: But for starters, here is a story about sheep, sheep, sheep, sheep, sheep, sheep, sheep. [musique] |
|
| YV: Well yes. The news has travelled the world and made headlines in all the newspapers. It has also figured prominently in radio and television bulletins. | |
| You have heard a lot about it. You have probably even discussed it with friends and colleagues, | |
| but all the same, we are going to discuss it on this show because it is unavoidable, | |
| because with the cloning of an adult sheep by a team of British researchers, one step, one huge step forward has been made in animal reproduction. | |
| Details were made public, on Thursday, in the very prestigious and serious Nature science journal, but many view this step forward as very troubling. | |
| In all the newspapers and on radio and television, one question immediately comes to people's minds: and if it were to be done to humans? | |
| So, we will be discussing humans shortly and cloning's potential outreach to humans, | |
| but for the moment, let us consider what has been done and published by researchers in Edinburgh, Scotland, that concerns one species: the sheep. | |
| My first guest is a reproduction researcher. Among other things, he has participated as a biologist in the in vitro human fertilization program at his hospital, the CHUL, in Québec. | |
| His name is Raymond Lambert. He is also a member of the Universal Movement for Scientific Responsibility. | |
| Dr. Raymond Lambert, this new step forward in animal reproduction: would you qualify it as progress, a revolution, a precedent? | |
| Raymond Lambert: Well! It is progress, a revolution and a precedent. The three terms are exact. YV: Yes. |
|
| RL: Well, it is progress, because technology will allow us to reproduce farm animals of great value, meaning genetic and productive potential, with a certain ease. |