Over 100 years ago, cloning was introduced and throughout the years has been questioned, analyzed, and experimented. This topic has caused some people to revolt towards this controversial breakthrough. To begin with, cloning is “a cell product or organism that is genetically identical to the unit or individual from which it was derived” (“Cloning”). It is simply “the duplication or closely resembles another in appearance, function, and performance” (“Cloning”). I did not know there were different types of artificial cloning including “reproductive cloning, DNA cloning, and therapeutic cloning” (“Gene Therapy”). I was not aware of the first genetically identical mice were split during 1979 according to the National Human Genome Research Institute (“1998 Release”). From cloning, this eventually opened doors to therapeutic and stem cell research. As controversial as it is, the health benefits of cloning outweigh the cons.
“With multiple types of cloning in gene cloning, it produces copies of genes or segment of DNA” (“Cloning Fact Sheet”). In reproductive cloning, it produces a double of whole animals. In any cloning process it is always an artificial process. First, I did not know in animal cloning it is specifically reproductive cloning where researchers remove a mature somatic cell like skin cell or an udder cell from the animal. “They then transfer the DNA of the donor animal’s somatic cells into an egg cell or oocyte it has its own DNA containing nucleus removed. With other animals the main experiment conducted in order to clone is splitting embryos in test tubes. Then they implant the results in embryos into the wombs of the adult animal” (“Cloning Fact Sheet”).
For many years the controversy of human cloning still seems to...
... middle of paper ...
...tionship between stem cells and cancer cells needs to be more clearly understood if stem cells are to be used to treat human disease (“Cloning Fact Sheet”).
There can be a huge advantage for using cloning. It can especially be a grand pro for maintaining biodiversity. “This cloning may be an important tool for reversing and creating endangered species” (“Organ Cloning”). “A benefit of cloning and related to stem cell research is cloning healthy human cells, as humans continue to reproduce it can lead to damage the DNA lines increases. This can make mutations and defective genes, nevertheless those could eliminate with the healthy human cells. There can be a quicker recovery from a traumatic injury to someone with the cells” (“Pros and Cons”). This can be seen as a medical and scientific breakthrough in biology. The cons and pros are evenly distributed in my view.
Children grow up watching movies such as Star Wars as well as Gattaca that contain the idea of cloning which usually depicts that society is on the brink of war or something awful is in the midsts but, with todays technology the sci-fi nature of cloning is actually possible. The science of cloning obligates the scientific community to boil the subject down into the basic category of morality pertaining towards cloning both humans as well as animals. While therapeutic cloning does have its moral disagreements towards the use of using the stem cells of humans to medically benefit those with “incomplete” sets of DNA, the benefits of therapeutic cloning outweigh the disagreements indubitably due to the fact that it extends the quality of life for humans.
Cloning, upon first hearing the word cloning, the thought of Dolly the sheep pops into the mind. The first and most used type of cloning though is not the type that creates animals, but rather DNA cloning. “Cloning is an umbrella term that science uses to indicate the duplication of biological material.”(Human Genome Project) Cloning is further broken down into three categories. The first is DNA cloning, which is the replication of DNA strands. DNA cloning is usually the process of getting a cell to replicate a desired gene for us. DNA cloning has been used since the 1970’s and has persisted as an effective cheap means of replicating DNA of interest in a foreign host cell. “To "clone a gene," a DNA fragment containing the gene of interest is isolated from chromosomal DNA using restriction enzymes and then united with a plasmid that has been cut with the same restriction enzymes.”(Human Genome Project) Plasmids are not part of the chromosome but they replicate along with the cell when it replicates and divides. Since they are not a part of the chromosome they are easier to isolate and manipulate without affecting the cells function. “When the f...
Another perk to cloning is that we could possibly alter animals to give more effective products, or more desirable products. For example a herd of sheep in Montreal have a gene in their DNA that lets them produce spider silk through their milk. It is said that bulletproof vests can be made from this silk. Just imagine the possibilities if we were able to create such animals. By using the cloning process, they can make many products that can be helpful to the environment and the people.
“Cloning represents a very clear, powerful, and immediate example in which we are in danger of turning procreation into manufacture.” (Kass) The concept of cloning continues to evoke debate, raising extensive ethical and moral controversy. As humans delve into the fields of science and technology, cloning, although once considered infeasible, could now become a reality. Although many see this advancement as the perfect solution to our modern dilemmas, from offering a potential cure for cancer, AIDS, and other irremediable diseases, its effects are easily forgotten. Cloning, especially when concerning humans, is not the direction we must pursue in enhancing our lives. It is impossible for us to predict its effects, it exhausts monetary funds, and it harshly abases humanity.
Cloning has been in nature for thousands of years, a clone is a living thing made from another consisting of the same DNA. For example identical twins are clones because they have the same DNA but the differ because the twins begin after conception when a zygote, a totipotent stem cell, divides into two, some plants self-pollinate and produce a seed, which in turn, makes plants with the same genetic code (Hyde). According to the Human Genome Project there are three types of cloning, DNA, therapeutic and reproductive; DNA cloning involves transferring DNA from a donor to another organism, therapeutic cloning, known as embryo cloning, involves harvesting stem cells from human embryos to grow new organs for transplant, and last is reproductive cloning which creates a copy of the host (Conger). One of the earliest cloned animals was a sea urchin by Hans Dreisch in the late 1800’s. Unlike Victor Frankenstein, Dreisch’s goal was to prove that genetic material is not lost in cell division, not to create another being, (History of Cloning) stated by Frankenstein “that I might infuse a spark of being into the lifeless thing that lay at my feet.” There are many ways an animal...
It is essential that human cloning is outlawed. It is salacious to perform, research, and promote these experiments on human subjects; it is neglectful, and shrewd to make the presence of this objective technology legal, let alone obtainable. Not only is human cloning hazardous and illogical, but morally incorrect and greatly dishonorable. The most alarming thought referring to human cloning is that it has the power to alter the foundation, that we as a nation, are assembled upon. What occurs after we take things too far and lose control? What happens when we are no more satisfied in simply seeking education of the physical universe? We will cross the line between natural and synthetic. What will differentiate God from man? Do we have the authorization to change the evolution of life? Science has proven that we can reproduce humans both naturally and unnaturally, but that does not mean that mean we should stop questioning whether or not we should scientifically reproduce humans.
Cloning is a recent innovative technique the National Institute of Health defines as a process employed to produce genetically identical copies of a biological entity. Depending on the purpose for the clone, human health or even human life can be improved or designed respectively. “Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) is the most common cloning technique. SCNT involves putting the nucleus of a body cell into an egg from which the nucleus has been removed."^1 From this technique, an embryonic cell is activated to produce an animal that is genetically identical to the donor. Today, human cloning still remains as a vision, but because of the success of Dolly, the lamb, researchers are becoming more confident in the ability to produce a genuine
First and foremost, it is important to discuss what human cloning is. It is the conception of in vitro embryos that produces “individuals that are exact genetic copies of the donor from whom the DNA was obtained” (Munson 366). In Laymen’s terms, cells are inserted from the donor host into an unfertilized egg from another host (meaning it is asexual) and the new egg is transferred into the surrogate mother where it will foster into an embryo, if effective.
Cloning is, and always has been an extremely contentious topic. To some, the ethical complications surrounding it, are far more promiscuous than what scientists and medical experts currently acknowledge. Cloning is a general term that refers to the process in which an organism, or discrete cells and genes, undergo genetic duplication, in order to produce an identical copy of the original biological matter. There are two main types of artificial cloning; reproductive and therapeutic, both of which present their respective benefits and constraints. This essay aims to discuss the various differences between the two processes, as well as the ethical issues associated with it.
Automatically when people talk about human cloning that tend to be negative. Most reaction is people shouldn't play god or interfere with nature. Of course there are negative consequences that could come from cloning. On the other hand there is so many positive things that could save more lives than it would cost. Yes Cloning involves risky techniques that could result in premature babies and some deaths. That is why public policy needs to be changed on cloning. The medical possibilities are endless if federal money is given to research and develop cloning techniques.
Many people say that everyone in the world has a twin. Today, science and technology has the ability to make this myth reality through the process of cloning. I am strongly against cloning for many reasons. People should not utilize cloning because it would destroy individuality and uniqueness, cause overpopulation, animal cruelty, it is against morals and ethics, and it violates many religious beliefs.
Cloning, especially human cloning attracts increasingly more attention after the first mammal cloning animal Dolly born in 1997. Cloning is divided into two categories: therapeutic cloning and reproductive cloning. Therapeutic cloning is more related to tissue level cloning to transplant healthy cells and reproductive cloning is individual level cloning. Thus, the term cloning in this essay is used to describe both individual level and tissue level cloning. Public have different views. Some people support it because of its medical value, yet some people argue that it may bring many safety risks and moral problems. Hence, decisions ought to be made to identify the extent of cloning. Therefore, this essay introduces two major benefits of human cloning on disease therapy and analysis two arguments against it on safety and ethical issues.
Recent discoveries involving cloning have sparked ideas of cloning an entire human body (ProQuest Staff). Cloning is “the production of an organism with genetic material identical to that of another organism” (Seidel). Therapeutic cloning is used to repair the body when something isn’t working right, and it involves the production of new cells from a somatic cell (Aldridge). Reproductive cloning involves letting a created embryo develop without interference (Aldridge). Stem cells, if isolated, will continue to divide infinitely (Belval 6). Thoughts of cloning date back to the beginning of the twentieth century (ProQuest Staff). In 1938, a man decided that something more complex than a salamander should be cloned (ProQuest Staff). A sheep named Dolly was cloned from an udder cell in 1997, and this proved that human cloning may be possible (Aldridge). In 1998, two separate organizations decl...
The Benefits of Human Cloning In recent years, many new breakthroughs in the areas of science and technology have been discovered. A lot of these discoveries have been beneficial to the scientific community and to the people of the world. One of the newest breakthroughs is the ability to clone. Ever since Ian Wilmut and his co-workers completed the successful cloning of an adult sheep named Dolly, there has been an ongoing debate on whether it is right or wrong to continue the research of cloning (Burley).
In terms of being an advantage, it can help decrease the death rate by destroying disease and has the potential to increase the lifetime of humans. Based on what scientists have discovered, genetic engineering is used as a beneficial technique to slow down the aging process of people, meaning it helps to store more life. Cloning is one of its biggest successful advantages which has developed a whole new discovery in today’s life, making life more interesting and easier. This cloning process has made it possible for scientists to make copies of many animals such as sheep and has also led technology to the next level where the famous human genome project has been successfully completed.... ...