Clowns Or Clones Essay Research Paper Clowns

Clowns Or Clones Essay, Research Paper

Clowns or Clones

Cloning is a word heard of only recently within the last 2 or 3 years. Cloning is

said to have proved useful in perfecting genetics among animals as well as humans. While

human cloning is still a little ways off, animal cloning has already begun. Dolly the sheep

was the first to be cloned and then it went on to pigs. Perhaps as we go down this line,

we may someday work our way to cloning humans. Human cloning would only be a real

benefit to our health and could only lead to a prosperous future (Bernan 65). Who is to

say no to a better life.

Imagine a world full of Mini-Hitlers , genetic replicates of Adolf Hitler, seeking

world domination. Picture them starting a second Holocaust on a worldwide scale, killing

millions upon millions of people as a solution to establish a superior race. This scenario

is far-off, but this is the kind of thing people think about when they hear the word

cloning .

Cloning has always been considered science fiction. Millions of people have

enjoyed stories about a someone using cloning technology to conquer the world, probably

because they hadn t expected cloning to become reality. The creation of Dolly, a cloned

sheep, shocked people, including our federal government. The House of Representatives

and the Senate immediately drafted bills to completely ban human cloning. President

Clinton instituted a moratorium on federal funds for human cloning experiments. He also

established the National Bioethics Advisory Commission(NBAC) to address the science

and ethics of human cloning. It immediately published an article entitled Cloning Human

Beings: Report and Recommendations of the NBAC , which basically said human cloning

is morally unacceptable.

Several states have also established restrictions on human cloning; one state has even

banned human cloning. These government actions are irrational and should be immediately

revoked. The federal government should regulate, not ban, human cloning. This is because

significant benefits can result from cloning technology. The ethical implications are also

only temporary. They are induced by misconception. Besides, fanatic biologists are going

to pursue human cloning technology with or without government consent.

It would be beneficial if I begin by briefly explaining the history of cloning and the

processes involved. Dolly was given birth in February 1997. She was created by Ian

Wilmut and his colleagues at Roslin Institute in Scotland. She was created using a

technique called somatic-cell nuclear transfer . This is where a nucleus-omitted ovum is

injected by a nucleus taken from a body cell. A jolt of electricity allows the reconstructed

egg to divide. The egg is then inserted into a uterus to develop. This is the way the first

human clone will mostly likely be made.

Numerous of remarkable benefits can come from cloning technology. One of these

is a treatment for infertility. Infertility is caused by genetic defects, injuries to the

reproductive organs, congenital defects and exposure to toxic substances and radiation.

Many assisted-reproduction technologies have been developed. This includes surrogate

mothers for women without a functional uterus, intracytoplasmic sperm injection for males

who can t produce viable sperm, and IVF for women with blocked or missing fallopian

tubes. However, these treatments have proven to be highly inefficient and they can t help

people whose reproductive organs have not developed or have been removed. Twelve

million Americans are infertile at child bearing age. They will pursue years of painful and

expensive treatments to have little chance of success. Human cloning can offer infertile

people a higher chance of success. Most people are infertile because they can t produce

viable gametes. Cloning technology wouldn t require viable sperm or egg, any body cell

would do. This technology would be able to bypass defective gametes and allow infertile

people to have their own biological children. Cloning technology may even prevent clinical

depression, divorce, and suicide among infertile people (Bernan 62). This is because

infertility often leads to them.

Cloning technology can help perfect gene therapy, the actual correction or

replacement of defective gene sequences. Gene therapy is currently limited because of

inefficient vectors, or viruses that convey new genes into cells. A copy of a defective gene

is in every cell of the body. These viruses must infect everyone of these cells and replace

the defective genes with the normal genes. However, these vectors only infect a frustrating

small amount of cells. This deems gene therapy inefficient. Human cloning can change this.

Scientists can determine which cells recieved the desired gene alteration using fluorescent

tages; the cells that were affected would glow. Cloning technology would allow scientists

to

Внимание, отключите Adblock

Вы посетили наш сайт со включенным блокировщиком рекламы!
Ссылка для скачивания станет доступной сразу после отключения Adblock!

Скачать