The Significance of Cloning Mammals on Human Cloning
Cloning has been going on in the natural world for thousands of years. A clone is simply
one living thing made from another, leading to two organisms with the same set of genes.
In that sense, identical twins are clones, because they have identical DNA. Sometimes,
plants are self-pollinated, producing seeds and eventually more plants with the same
genetic code. When earthworms are cut in half, they regenerate the missing parts of their
bodies, leading to two worms with the same set of genes. Any organism that reproduces
asexually; produces a clone. However, the ability to intentionally create a clone in the
animal kingdom by working on the cellular level is a very recent development.
From sheep to monkeys, scientist have made great strides in the past few years in
cloning mammals. The birth of these transgenered animals provides a major stepping
stone for the cloning of humans. Now groups say they are ready to clone a human being.
Controversy over their plan runs high, but scientists believe the technology for human
cloning, at least a limited type of cloning for now, is available. A revolution in
reproductive biology is now taking place, that provides technical means for cloning
humans. Many scientists who work with cloned animals say that the procedure is
difficult and dangerous and too ethical to try on humans. Therefore it is my purpose in
this paper to chronicle some events that have led to the still emerging technologies that
can be directly applicable to the of potential human cloning.
Dolly, born at the Roslin Institute in Scotland in 1996, was the first mammal to be
cloned from an adult mammal. When Ian Wilmut, Keith H. S. Campbell a...
... middle of paper ...
...ired.com/news/print/0,1294,42706,00.html
“Cloning: Questions and answers.” Roslin Institute Online. 3 Mar. 2000. Online.
http://www.ri.bbsrc.ac.uk/library/research/cloning/nt-notes.html
Human Cloning Foundation. "The Benefits of Human Cloning." Internet
http://www.humancloning.org/benefits.htm, 1998.
Glenn McGee. The Human Cloning Debate 2nd Edition. May 2000, Berkeley Hills
Books; ISBN: 1893163121
Martha C. Nussbaum, Cass R. Sunstein. Clones and Clones : Facts and Fantasies
About Human Cloning. September 1999, W.W. Norton & Company
M. L. Rantala, Arthur J., Phd. Milgram. Cloning : For and Against December 1998
Open Court Publishing Company
Chapman and Hall. A Functional Biology of Clonal Animals.1989, Timber Press.
“Cloning—Are Humans Next?” World Book Encyclopedia. 9 Feb. 2001. Online.
http://www.worldbook.com/fun/bth/cloning/html/cloning.html
There are many questions surrounding the concept of cloning. Is it morally correct? Are clones
11.2) Asexual reproduction involves a single individual / parent who pass duplicates of all its genes to its offspring without the fusion of gametes. Sexual reproduction involves two parents who give rise to offspring that have unique combination of genes inherited from the two parents.
Farrell, Courtney. "Cloning: An Overview. By: Farrell, Courtney, Carson-Dewitt, Rosalyn, Points of View: Cloning, 2013." Ebscohost.com. Mackinvia.com, 2013. Web. 21
“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.
Sexual reproduction is that the union of male and feminine gametes to create a fertilised egg or zygote. The ensuing offspring inherit one-half their traits from every parent. Consequently, they 're not genetically similar to either parent or siblings, except within the case of identical twins. As theorised by Mendel, adults are diploid, meaning as 2N, having 2 alleles offered to code for one attribute. The gametes should be haploid, signified by N, containing just one allele in order that once 2 haploid gametes mix, they manufacture a traditional diploid individual. The method where haploid sex cells are created from diploid parents is known as meiosis, and it happens solely within the reproductive organs.
For years, the prospect of human cloning was fodder for outrageous science-fiction stories and nothing more. However, in more recent times, human cloning has moved significantly closer to becoming a reality. Accordingly, the issue has evoked a number of strong reactions, both praising and condemning the procedure. The fact that human cloning not just affects human lives indirectly but actually involves tinkering with human creation has forced human cloning into a position of controversy. The progress of the issue of human cloning, then, has been shaped not only by the abilities and resources of scientists but by public opinion and by governmental regulation that has resulted from public pressure.
They say “the new technologies, such as software models that mimic the human body and stem cells extracted from embryos or grow from skin cells will reduce or eliminate that need for animal testing”(Animal Testing pg1 para 5). Health director Dr. Elias Zerhouni admits that experimenting on animals to help humans has been a failing disappointment and says “we have moved away from studying human disease in humans. The problem is that animal testing has not worked, and it is time we stopped dancing around the problem… We need to refocus and adapt new methodologies for use in humans to understand disease biology in humans” (PETA “Alternative To Animals Testing” pg1 para
Cloning, a topic that has recently caused mayhem all over the world, is possible, but will it be here to stay? The astonishing news that scientists had cloned a sheep a couple of years ago sent people into panic at the thought that humans might be next. "Cloning is a radical challenge to the most fundamental laws of biology, so it's not unreasonable to be concerned that it might threaten human society and dignity" (Macklin 64). Since most of the opposition is coming from the pure disgust of actually being able to clone species, it makes it difficult for people to get away from the emotional side of the issue and analyze the major implications cloning would have for society. To better understand this controversial issue, the pros and cons of cloning will be discussed.
Last of all, Cloning is not ethical, many religious groups look down upon cloning and think it’s not proper because they think it’s like playing God. Many scientists were mainly thinking about cloning animals and, most likely, humans in the future to harvest their organs and then kill them. “Who would actually like to be harvested and killed for their organs?” “Human cloning exploits human beings for our own self-gratification (Dodson, 2003).” A person paying enough money could get a corrupt scientist to clone anybody they wanted, like movie stars, music stars, athletes, etc (Andrea Castro 2005),” whether it be our desire for new medical treatments or our desire to have children on our own genetic terms (Dodson, 2003).
1) Robertson, John A. “Human Cloning and the Challenge of Regulation,” The New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 339, no. 2 (July 9, 1998), pp. 119-122.
"National Geographic Reports Human/Animal Hybrid Creatures Being Created in Labs Around the World." LifeSiteNews.com. 27 Jan. 2005. Web. 05 Apr. 2011. .
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...
In the first article, the author describes cloning as the process of creating a cell, tissue line or even a complete organism from a single cell. He says that the concept of cloning was introduced in 1903 and plants were the first living organisms to be cloned. He gives examples such as trees sending up runners, worms dividing into smaller worms and says that all these are clones. He then explains the various threads and experiments used over the years and how they have contributed to the field of cloning.
Robinson, Bruce. “Human Cloning: Comments by political groups, religious authorities, and individuals.” 3 August 2001. Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance. 1 October 2001 <http://www.religioustolerance.org/clo_reac.htm>.
two organisms can be, yet it appears that of all the known animals their way of