The Pros And Cons Of Cloning

The concept of cloning has been around since the 1800’s, although, in the field of scientists, it has slowly been evolving into a vigorously debated topic, throughout the last 3 decades. Cloning is essentially defined as the process of artificially reproducing genetically identical organisms. Scientists all around the world, through research, are still learning more about the topic, but the fascinating process officially gained awareness as a result of a 1986 experiment conducted by Ian Wilmut, scientist at the Roslin Institute in Scotland. The project was essentially centred around a sheep referred to as “Dolly” that was cloned in a lab using a frozen mammary cell from another adult sheep. At the time, this was a significant milestone in the field, as all cloning up to this point had been done using embryos, and never actual adult cells. The Dolly experiment served as a catalyst for additional intensive research, which consequently resulted in a myriad of new benefits and uses for cloning. From that point on, we have made many advancements, and currently, in our modern day society, scientists are more capable of putting their research into practice, with the assistance of the constant improvements in technology. The method of cloning has already been implemented as a solution to infertility, and plants and animals can be cloned for the purpose of creating new possible food alternatives. The main benefit of cloning revolves around health, as lives can be saved or prolonged, thanks to a theoretically simple process known as organ transplantation, where for example, the parts from a cloned pig can be used to replace those malfunctioning, in a human. If scientists keep doing research on the topic at the current rate, and conducting e...

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... of reproductive cloning is that in the future, it may be a solution to infertility, where a baby containing the genes of both parents could be artificially created, which will help the millions around the world who are unable to have children. Another benefit of cloning is that plants and animals can artificially be produced in large quantities directed at human consumption, which may, in the future help world hunger. Nutritionally superior or more “predictable” plants can also be created which will which will benefit us health-wise, and save farm costs. Lastly, the main advantage of cloning is that, through organ transplantation (therapeutic cloning), lives can be saved or prolonged, for those who have defective organs. For these 3 reasons, it’s a no brainer that scientists should continue extensive research and experiments for the better of our society as a whole.