The Usefulness of Cloning

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The Usefulness of Cloning

The term 'cloning' have entered popular vocabulary of many people. The

issues on cloning are getting controversial and growing more

complicated the word "clone" comes from the Greek "klwn" which means

similar. Strictly speaking, a clone refers to one or more offspring

derived from a single ancestor, whose genetic composition is identical

to that of the parent No sex is involved in the production of clones

and cloning is sometimes called asexual reproduction. Such a feat can

be achieved by substituting the nucleus, which contains the genes from

one the cells making up that individuals body, for the nucleus of the

fertilized egg.

Generally, the aim of cloning is to produce an organism exactly the

replica of that of the parent cell which the cell is taken. The

question of the day is has cloning any use to mankind? In truth there

are many advantages of generating genetically identical organisms.

Centuries of selective breeding have been applied to produce

particular breeds and specific desirable features aimed at ensuring

predictable performance. Selective breeding has been used to achieve

slowly but surely more or less the same ends that cloning can.

However, there are two major differences between cloning and

inbreeding. Firstly, inbreeding takes a long time to ensure the

requisite genetic identity. Secondly, it can only take advantages of

genes already present in the organism.

In theory, cloning provides an alluring shortcut to amplifying the

number of organisms with an apparently desirable genetic constitution.

As for plants, cloning can produce a stable mixture of robustness and

productivity as f...

... middle of paper ...

...or does it prolong his life. The

clone would be entirely a different person other than his inherited

strengths and weakness, with quite different experiences, thoughts,

attitudes, priorities, even preferences - and certainly identity. The

society should be well educated about the effects of cloning and not

just having all the negative thoughts about clones used for war or

slaves. Educational pamphlets or campaigns should be organized to

provide the society with valuable information on cloning. In summary,

cloning should be used for medical advances but never misused or

manipulated. For example, scientific research involving stem cells,

including from embryonic tissue, could yield new treatments for

disease. Cloning could be the greatest scientific biological

achievement if properly conducted for the right causes.

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