Cloning has science gone too far
Cloning has science gone too farCLONING: HAS SCIENCE GONE TOO FAR?
INTRODUCTION
For years the subject of cloning has captured the imaginations of authors, movie directors and much of the human population. Cloning is the prospect of creating an animal or even a person that is genetically identical to its "parent." Until recently the subject seemed farfetched and fictional, because no one really realized how close we had actually advanced in cloning research.
It was during February of 1997 that an embryologist, Dr. Ian Wilmut, announced the birth of a cloned lamb named Dolly. She was the first ever successfully cloned mammal from an adult cell. What Dr. Wilmut did was amazing. He took the DNA from a six-year-old ewe and fused it with the egg of another ewe after removing the second ewe's own DNA. After fusing, the cell began to divide as would a regular embryo. The embryo was then implanted in a third ewe who only a few months later gave birth to Dolly 1 .
Upon news of this, many people began to question the possibility of not only creating genetically identical sheep, but humans as well. There has been much controversy on whether or not the cloning of humans as well as animals is ethical or even moral. Also there has been much discussion as to whether or not the benefits of cloning outweigh the dangers.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS IN CLONING RESEARCH?
There is no doubt that Dr. Wilmut's new discoveries have brought an uproar of excitement between not only the scientific community, but the general public as well. Groups such as farmers, surgeons and even environmentalists have shown various interests in cloning research.
The farming community has expressed much intrigue in cloning for the purpose of being able to reproduce copies of their best animals. For example, a dairy farmer would much rather be able to take his best dairy cow and recreate it by copying its DNA as opposed to breeding it and taking a chance that the calf would either be male or an unprofitable female2.
Medical doctors have also been quite interested in the recent discoveries of Dr. Wilmut as well. Cloning research has brought them one step closer to the possibility of actually cloning organs. The advantages of this would be the ability to take someone's DNA and use it to create a healthy and compatible organ to replace one that is failing3. A good example of this would be a heart transplant patient. Scientists would be able to create a heart within a laboratory setting and implant it into the patient.
Environmentalists have also jumped on the cloning "bandwagon." There has been discussion of using cloning techniques in breeding endangered species which have trouble reproducing in captivity. Panda bears would be a good example of this.
WHAT ARE THE DANGERS...
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