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Heres how you can clone your pets like Barbra Streisand did
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After her beloved dog Samantha died in 2017, Streisand used cells taken from her dogs mouth and stomach to clone two new puppies. - photo by Herb Scribner
Barbra Streisand didnt play around when it came to getting herself a new dog.

After her beloved dog Samantha died in 2017, Streisand used cells taken from her dogs mouth and stomach to clone two new puppies.

She recently posed with those two puppies Miss Violet and Miss Scarlett for the cover photo of Variety.

Streisand jokingly suggested that Variety use the caption Send in the Clones" for the photo. Variety didn't use her suggestion.

They have different personalities, Streisand said in the story. Im waiting for them to get older so I can see if they have her [Samanthas] brown eyes and seriousness.

Streisand said she has a third dog, who is a distant cousin of Samantha. She often poses with all three dogs in her Instagram feed.

According to The New York Times, people can clone their dogs for $50,000 through the company ViaGen Pets, based in Texas. If you just want to hold onto your animals genes, you can pay $1,600.

Cloning takes roughly 60 days, which is about the length of a dogs pregnancy, according to the Times.

ViaGen Pets said on its website that the animals wont be direct clones, but close.

Cats and dogs delivered by cloning have the same genes as their donor pets and will be the closest match possible to the donor, ViaGen said on its website. This is best described as identical twins born at a later date.

The company said cloning animals isnt science fiction.

People have a hard time wrapping their brain around that it is a real technology, said Melain Rodriguez, the client services manager for ViaGen, according to KDKA. That it is not science fiction. Its not like what you see on TV or in the movies.

The technology has one vocal detractor. PETA doesnt want celebrities cloning their animals, according to a statement sent to Page Six on Tuesday, saying that cloning doesnt help solve problems centered around animal homelessness.

We all want our beloved dogs to live forever, but while it may sound like a good idea, cloning doesnt achieve that instead, it creates a new and different dog who has only the physical characteristics of the original. Animals personalities, quirks, and very essence simply cannot be replicated, and when you consider that millions of wonderful adoptable dogs are languishing in animal shelters every year or dying in terrifying ways when abandoned, you realize that cloning adds to the homeless-animal population crisis. And because cloning has a high failure rate, many dogs are caged and tormented for every birth that actually occurs so thats not fair to them, despite the best intentions. We feel Barbras grief at losing her beloved dog but would also love to have talked her out of cloning.
Its toxic: New study says blue light from tech devices can speed up blindness
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A new study from the University of Toledo found that blue light from digital devices can transform molecules in your eyes retina into cell killers. - photo by Herb Scribner
It turns out checking Twitter or Facebook before bed is bad for your health.

A new study from the University of Toledo found that blue light from digital devices can transform molecules in your eyes retina into cell killers.

That process can lead to age-related macular degeneration, which is a leading cause of blindness in the United States, according to the researchs extract.

Blue light is a common issue for many modern Americans. Blue light is emitted from screens, most notably at night, causing sleep loss, eye strain and a number of other issues.

Dr. Ajith Karunarathne, assistant professor in the UT Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, said our constant exposure to blue light cant be blocked by the lens or cornea.

"It's no secret that blue light harms our vision by damaging the eye's retina. Our experiments explain how this happens, and we hope this leads to therapies that slow macular degeneration, such as a new kind of eye drop, he said.

Macular degeneration is an incurable eye disease that often affects those in their 50s or 60s. It occurs after the death of photoreceptor cells in the retina. Those cells need retinal to sense light and help signal the brain.

The research team found blue light exposure created poisonous chemical molecules that killed photoreceptor cells

"It's toxic. If you shine blue light on retinal, the retinal kills photoreceptor cells as the signaling molecule on the membrane dissolves," said Kasun Ratnayake, a Ph.D. student researcher working in Karunarathne's cellular photo chemistry group. "Photoreceptor cells do not regenerate in the eye. When they're dead, they're dead for good."

However, the researchers found a molecule called alpha-tocopherol, which comes from Vitamin E, can help prevent cell death, according to Futurism.

The researchers plan to review how light from TVs, cellphones and tablet screens affect the eyes as well.

"If you look at the amount of light coming out of your cellphone, it's not great but it seems tolerable," said Dr. John Payton, visiting assistant professor in the UT Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. "Some cellphone companies are adding blue-light filters to the screens, and I think that is a good idea."

Indeed, Apple released a Night Shift mode two years ago to help quell blue lights strain on the eyes, according to The Verge. The screen will dim into a warmer, orange light that will cause less stress on the eyes.