Human Essay Research Paper Table of Contents

Human Essay, Research Paper

Table of Contents

§ Introduction

§ Definition of Cloning

§ History of Cloning

§ The Embryo Cloning Process

§ The Human Cloning Process

§ Pros of Cloning

§ Cons of Cloning

§ Government involvement in Cloning

§ Misconceptions about Cloning

§ Personal Observations on Cloning

§ Conclusion

§ Bibliography

1. Introduction

The controversial topic that will be examined in this paper is cloning and how it has become a major issue within modern society. In 1997, the cloning of the sheep Dolly marked a major breakthrough in science. This event took place at The Roslin Institute in Scotland and it shocked the entire world. Because of the simplicity of the process used many people realized that the cloning of a human being was no longer the stuff of a science fiction novel, but in fact a clear possibility.

Since then, the idea of cloning a human has become the subject of great debate. This is a very sensitive topic, and there are many people that are both for and against it. There are also many misconceptions related to cloning, how it works and what its ramifications are. The purpose of this paper is to explore this topic in detail and to provide conclusions regarding both the positive and the negative influence of this phenomenon.

2. Definition of Cloning

Cloning, in the simplest terms is the production of one or more individual plants or animals that are genetically identical to another plant or animal. (Religious Tolerance.org)

There are two ways of cloning: Embryo cloning works by removing one or more cells from an embryo and making these cells develop into a separate embryo with the same DNA as the original. Cloning also happens naturally when the fertilized ovum splits and produces an identical twin.

2. The History of Cloning (Using Adult DNA)

§ It has been reported that the cloning of embryos has been taking place since the 1980 s. At this stage the cloning that took place involved splitting a single fertilized ovum into two or more clones. Both of these were then implanted into the womb of the female and eventually she gave birth to identical off spring.

During this time the option of cloning an adult DNA was considered impossible.

§ Dr. Ian Wilmut of the Roslin Institute in Scotland achieved the first cloning of an adult DNA in July 1996. He had successfully cloned Dolly, a sheep. Since this time, the institute has successfully cloned seven other sheep using the same process.

§ In 1998, Dr. Yanigimachi of the University of Hawaii announced that he had successfully cloned mice. His team had managed to produce 22 cloned mice. An interesting development was that he had been able to clone seven of the mice from other clones that had all come from the cells of one mouse.

§ During the same year, researchers in Japan succeeded in cloning eight calves from the DNA of one cow.

§ In December of 1998, researchers announced that they had been able to clone a human being. The two scientists responsible were Kim Seung-bo and Lee Bo-yeon. They took an ovum from a woman and removed its DNA. They then inserted a somatic cell from the same woman. Their report states that we were unable to confirm division up to the fourth cell stage, the stage of embryo development when a test tube embryo is placed back into the uterus, where it can then further develop into a fetus (Chosun-Ilbo newspaper).

Further research revealed that the purpose of this experiment was not to clone humans, but to clone specific, genetically identical organs for human transplant. This procedure was not followed through and their work stopped after pressure from ethical groups and the Korean government.

§ By end of 2000, eight species of mammals had been cloned. These include mice, sheep, cows, goats, rats, and pigs. According to Religious Tolerance.org, up to 5000 animals have been cloned by the end of 2000 (James).

3. The Embryo Cloning Process

Step One: This involves taking a cell from the female.

Step Two: Next, and unfertilized egg is removed from a second female.

Step Three: The DNA from the cell is removed and transferred to the egg.

Step Four: The egg is implanted into the surrogate female.

Step Five: The resulting offspring is genetically identical to the original donor.

(New Scientist)

This form of cloning has actually been around for quite some time. The first embryo human cloning was achieved by Dr. Robert Stillman at the George Washington Medical Center in 1994 (Kolata). They took seventeen flawed human embryos that were about to die anyway. They came from an ovum that had been fertilized by two sperm. This meant that there was an extra set of chromosomes and meant that the ovum would never develop into a fetus. These ovum were successfully split, creating a clone.

4. Human Cloning

As mentioned above, the cloning of animals such as pigs and sheep has already taken place. According to the research done for this paper, a human has not been cloned yet. Human cloning would require a somatic cell as opposed to a reproductive cell such as an egg or a sperm from a person and removing its nucleus. The DNA of the somatic cell is transferred to

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