The Pros And Cons Of Cloning

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Cloning is a procedure of creating genetically indistinguishable organisms through nonsexual means (Devolder 2008). After years of countless research and experimenting, scientists successfully cloned their first mammal using a technique called somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). In Devolder’s paper she states, “Somatic cells are any cells other than the reproductive system cells” (Devolder 2008). Scientists realized they could take fully developed somatic cells from any part of the body and, through the SCNT system, use the cells to make a genetic copy of the cell. This growth in cell research is binding scientists in a race to establish their findings so they could be the first in the finish line. This pressure to be renowned has driven scientists to attempt to control the very natural process of life. Our world is plagued by disease, an increase in population and poverty with limited resources to satisfy the basic needs of mankind, so cloning is often regarded as the solution. Cloning for reproduction and therapy has improved drastically displaying a lot of potential uses but is vastly outweighed with larger risks.
The thought of cloning often terrifies people because they believe there will be copies of themselves rampaging around the world. Individuals often overlook that, “In nature, twins form very early in development when the embryo splits in two. Since they developed from the same fertilized egg, the resulting individuals are genetically identical” (Genetic Science). Scientists who understand the procedure of twin formation, have been using reproductive cloning for decades. According to Devolder, “The genetic material is removed from a donor egg so as to create an empty egg. A cell is then removed from the male’s rep...

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...that is genetically identical to another person who has previously existed or who still exists. This may conflict with long-standing religious and societal values about human dignity, possibly infringing upon principles of individual freedom, identity and autonomy” ("Cloning Fact Sheet"). The high failure rates of cloning and the abnormalities after successful procedures in human systems have caused most societies to wary away from cloning. To implement this health risks on humans would simply be immoral. Who knows maybe cloning one day would be more proficient than sexual reproduction and safer. Humans would choose this as a primary way to reproduce the most prominent humans but until more research is done, cloning is not prominent in today’s society. With cloning you never know where it could end up, I mean even Bill Gates wasn’t worth a billion dollars overnight.

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