Therapeutic Cloning

Human cloning refers to the creation of a genetically identical copy of humans. This is done by copying the cells and tissue of humans using different cloning techniques discovered and developed over the last 130 years.

History

Cloning first made an appearance in the 1880s where zoologist and comparative anatomy of the University of Freiberg August Weismann proposed that the genetic information of a cell would diminish with each cell division. This idea was then pursed and later confirmed by Wilhelm Roux who destroyed a cell frog embryo with a hot needle in which only a half embryo developed. Next Hans Driesch experimentally challenged the theory of Weismann and Roux in which Driesch showed that blasomeres isolated from 2 and 4 cell sea urchin

SCNT in terms of Therapeutic Cloning has revolutionized the way we now approach genes as the knowledge discovered about this process can now be used for both research and clinical applications including the use of SCNT product as a vector for gene delivery, the creation of animal models of human diseases, and cell replacement therapy in regenerative medicine. This technology has the potential to resolve human paralysis and has been proved to have the ability to regenerate spinal cord tissue as shown by Deshpande et al who transferred motor neurons derived from ESC to rats with a severed spinal cord. The process of SCNT, similar to that of reproductive cloning, includes the desired host oocyte to be obtained and immobilized through light suction exerted by a pipette tip. A glass needle is used to remove a small piece of the thick transparent membrane surrounding the ovum and is reinserted through this puncture to extract the polar body and the oocyte nuclei. The incorporation of the somatic nuclei into the enucleated oocyte can be done through electro fusion, which is the process of an electric pulse to integrate a mammalian cell into the oocyte. Alternatively, a somatic nucleus can be injected into the perivitelline space, which is the fluid-filled region between the zona pellucida and the cell membrane of an oocyte or fertilized

This means that the stem cells have the potential to differentiate as well as produce into almost any cell in the body, assuming the cell is under the correct conditions. These pluripotent cells can therefore be used to potentially treat diseases in any body organ or tissue by replacing damaged and dysfunctional cells. Another advantage to this type of cloning is that the risk of immunological rejection is alleviated because the patient's own genetic material is used. If a cell line were created with cells from another individual, the patient's body would be more likely to identify the foreign proteins and then engage an attack on the transplanted cells. Disadvantages of Therapeutic Cloning include that many attempts are required in order to create a viable egg. The stability of the egg with the infused somatic nucleus is poor and it can require hundreds of attempts before success is