Cloning 7
Cloning 7Genetic Engineering / Cloning
Genetic engineering, altering the inherited characteristics of an
organism in a predetermined way, by introducing into it a piece of the
genetic material of another organism. Genetic engineering offers the
hope of cures for many inherited diseases, once the problem of low
efficiencies of effective transfer of genetic material is overcome.
Another development has been the refinement of the technique called
cloning, which produces large numbers of genetically identical
individuals by transplanting whole cell nuclei. With other techniques
scientists can isolate sections of DNA representing single genes,
determine their nucleotide sequences, and reproduce them in the
laboratory. This offers the possibility of creating entirely new
genes with commercially or medically desirable properties.
While the potential benefits of genetic engineering are considerable,
so may be the potential dangers. For example, the introduction of
cancer-causing genes into a common infectious organism, such as the
influenza virus, could be hazardous.
We have come to believe that all human beings are equal; but even more
firmly, we are taught to believe each one of us is unique. Is that
idea undercut by cloning? That is, if you can deliberately make any
number of copies of an individual, is each one special? How special
can clones feel, knowing they were replicated like smile buttons. "We
aren't just our genes, we're a whole collection of our experiences,"
says Albert Jonsen. But the idea, he adds, raises a host of issues,
"from the fantastic to the profound."
When anesthesia was discovered in the 19th century, there was a
speculation that it would rob humans of the transforming experience of
suffering. When three decades ago, James Watson and Francis Crick
unraveled the genetic code, popular discussion turned not to the new
hope for vanquishing disease but to the specter of genetically
engineered races of supermen and worker drones. Later,...
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