CLONING Essay Research Paper

CLONING Essay, Research Paper



To Clone or Not to Clone.

In February 1997, when Dr. Ian Wilmut and his team of scientists in Scotland astonished the

world by announcing that they had successfully cloned a sheep, it sparked an international

debate. Since the invention of Dolly, scientists have been faced with the imminent technology to

clone human beings. This has raised questions about what it means to be human and what

restrictions should be placed on scientific research.

Scientists should use methods of cloning of individual human cells because it provides

benefits of curing diseases and regrowth of damaged organs or tissues. However, scientists

should not clone whole adult human beings because of the violation of moral, ethical, and

religious concerns. Hence, scientists must separate making spare body parts from making whole

people.

Compton.s Interactive Encyclopedia defines cloning as:

The production of duplicate copies of genetic material, cells, or entire multicellular living

organisms. The copies are referred to as clones. Cloning occurs naturally and is also

engineered by human beings. The possibility that people might be cloned from the cells of

a single adult human had long been a subject primarily of fantasy and science fiction but

became very definite at the end of the 20th century. This possibility stemmed from the

successful cloning of lower mammals, leaving little doubt in many scientists. minds that

humans could and would one day be cloned. (1)

In nature, and even in the lives of humans, clones are present. A clone is an organism that

has the same genetic information as another organism. Cloning occurs with all plants, some

insects, algae, and even humans. Identical twins are clones of each other. They have the same

exact genetic information due to the division of an embryo in early development which produces

two identical embryos. Thus, natural cloning already exists. Cloning is currently a technology

that many people could use.

The benefits that cloning could offer range from improving conventional animal breeding to

eliminating any desirable genes in humans. Scientists are also pondering the idea of cloning

endangered species to increase their population. The possibilities are endless. However,

scientists are doing much of the research to benefit human life.

Agriculture may benefit greatly from cloning research. Livestock breeders could utilize the

cloning techniques to produce more consistent products. For example, a cow that has very tasty

meat could be cloned so that a farmer or corporation would have a whole herd that produces

very tasty meat. Therefore, a more consistent product might stabilize prices farmers receive for

their meat, which would benefit small farms. This type of benefit could be extended to most

livestock. It might be possible that animals could carry out genetic alterations that could remove

some hereditary human diseases. These animals would then produce human proteins in milk.

In the New York Times, Gina Kolata reveals, .cloning could also improve the agricultural

industry as the technique of nuclear transfer improves, livestock can produce biological proteins

helping people who have diseases including diabetes, Parkinson.s, and Cystic Fibrosis. (A3).

Cloning could offer a means of curing diseases or offer a technique that could provide

healthy organs and tissues for people who need them. For example, in a Time magazine article

.The Case For Cloning., one writer talks of more benefits through cloning.

She elaborates by saying, .An elderly man develops macular degeneration, a disease that

destroys vision. To bolter his failing eyesight, he receives a transplant of healthy retinal tissue

. cloned from his own cells and cultivated in a lab dish.( Nash 6 ). In the same article

Madeleine Nash also states, .A baby girl is born free of the gene that causes Tay-Sachs disease,

even though both her parents are carriers. The reason. In the embryonic cell from which she

was cloned, the flawed gene was replaced with normal DNA. (6).

Cloning could offer new hope for couples who aren.t able to have children. Also cloning

could provide a new alternative for single women who would like to have children. Some

scientists are already exploring these avenues of research. For example, a scientist by the name

of Richard Seed plans to clone babies for infertile couples.

Jeff Flock, a reporter for CNN says, .Seed, who is not a medical doctor ,says he has already

assembled a group of doctors willing to work with him and has four couples who have

volunteered to be cloned. Seed plans to use the same technique utilized by Scottish scientists in

1996 to clone the adult sheep Dolly. If he is barred from pursuing his work in the United States,

he plans to go to another country. He said he has talked with officials in Mexico, and also was

considering the Bahamas.. Seed says, .Cloning and the reprog

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