Animal Cloning Debate

Animal Cloning Debate

A clone is a genetic copy of another living organism –animal, plant or

human. Animal cloning is a widely discussed issue in our society

today. The question now is whether the Australian government should

ban animal cloning. Many opinions are generated from this subject,

such as the justifiability of cloning, and how far it should go.

Religious views are prevalent, so too are numerous ethical concerns.

The issue of whether or not the government should ban cloning has

gained progressive attention, as the science of animal cloning is

further perfected.

BIOLOGICAL BACKGROUND

Animal cloning is the process of creating a biological replicate of

another organism with the exact genetic makeup of the original

individual. Two processes can be used to obtain clones. The first

process is called “embryo splitting.” In the laboratory, an embryo is

created by joining a sperm cell from a male animal donour, with an egg

cell from a female animal donour. The embryo begins to divide into two

cells, and these cells are separated and implanted in different foster

mothers. This process has been successful in the cloning of mammals

such as cattle, pigs, rabbits, mice, sheep and goat.

The second process is called nuclear transfer or cell nuclear

replacement. This process was used to produce Dolly the sheep, the

first animal cloned from a differentiated cell taken from an adult

animal. The donour nucleus of the cell is introduced into an

unfertilised egg cell, from which the nucleus has been extracted. An

electrical pulse is used to fuse the donour nucleus and the egg cell

together and to initiate the development of the “re...

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...the genetic variation will be maintained. Nevertheless, there

still might be limits to how useful cloning can be.

In September 2001, an Australian Parliamentary committee recommended a

ban on creating human embryos for research purposes only and a ban on

human reproductive cloning. However, the creation of cloned embryos

through the process of nuclear transfer was excluded from the ban

recommendation. Hence, there is a strong potential for animal cloning

in the near future. The National Stem Cell Centre is an Australian

alliance of biologists, medical practitioners and companies working to

realize the potential of stem cell research and cloning technology.

Their research is very beneficial in determining the effectiveness of

animal cloning technology- its management, uses, control, advantages

and disadvantages.