Cloning
CloningThe topic of cloning has much confusion and controversy behind it. Some people have heard of the sheep named Dolly, she was the first organism to be successfully cloned. Also pigs have been cloned, to be used for transplants. Cloning has many goals and purposes to achieve. People are hoping to bring back loved ones for reunions, help endangered species, or just have a friend. Although this may sound nice and also a great idea, but there will be consequences learned and cloning just might be a bad idea.
The first thing to get cleared up is what is cloning and what is a clone. Cloning is the technique of producing a genetically identical duplicate of an organism. A clone is said to be all descendents derived asexually from a single individual, as by cuttings, bulbs, fission, mitosis, or by parthenogenesis reproduction.
The scientific technology of cloning is the artificial production of organisms with the same genetic information. The technology behind cloning is called nuclear transfer. Nuclear transfer transfers a nucleus from one cell to an enucleated cell. The outcome of this transfer will make an organism with the exact genetic information as the donor cell. Scientists are currently using this technology and with many species. Although people think clones are only artificially made, there is more to cloning that meets the eye.
Many people misunderstand the word clone. Clones are present in human life as well as nature. Clones are the organisms with the same genetic information as another organism. That does not mean they have to be artificially made. Currently all plants, some insects, algae’s, unicellular organisms that perform mitosis, and some multicellular organisms including humans produce clones. There are approximately eight million identical twins in the world, therefore there are eight million human clones living on earth. Identical twins have the same genetic information due to the embryo splitting during early development producing two organisms, therefore making them clones.
Cloning has a short but rather amazing history. People actually attempted cloning at the beginning of the 20th century. Sea urchins, frogs, sheep and other organisms were used to try to perfect cloning.
Cloning has been attempted many times. The first attempt was made by Adolf Eduard Driesch. Driesch could let the eggs of a sea urchin into a two-blastomere stage. Then he separated them by shaking the flask and allowing them to grow. The cells developed into dwarf sea urchins and Driesch could not explain the reasoning. In 1952 Robert Briggs and Thomas J. King made the second attempt. They successfully planted a nucleus into an egg cell. They had transferred the nuclei into the egg of a leopard frog. Unfortunately the egg cells did not develop. A successful transfer of the nucleus occurred later in the 1970s; it was accomplished by John Gurdon. However the eggs did not develop beyond tadpoles. In 1981 scientists announced a successful transplant of mouse embryo nuclei into eggs. Scientists tried to copy the experiment but found the results were fabricated. In the seventies and early eighties a few scientists still studied cloning and believed it was possible. In later years they dropped cloning and went on to different occupations. However the persistence of
Dr. Steene Willadson led to the successful transfer of nuclei of embryos of sheep to produce clones. Later he experimented with cows and monkeys and also became successful. Later, in 1996 Dr. Willmut and Dr. Cambell of Scotland produced the first cloned sheep from embryos. There new method was to starve the donor cell of nutrients, which would allow the genetic information to pass more easily. This made Dr. Willmut and Dr. Cambell world famous.
There are many good attributes and bad attributes that come with cloning. Many things are human related which will effect the whole population of Earth. Others may just affect animals and not humans.
There are many goals and purposes that scientist have for cloning. Scientists would like to use cloning to clone animals for useful organs, which they could use in organ transplants. They could clone a pig and use its liver to save a person whose liver is failing. Also, people could bring back loved ones who have been deceased for a family reunion. Nature could also benefit by saving an endangered species or helping sick animals. Cloning could help people cope with diseases and make them feel like a whole new person. Also they could provide infertile couples with an actual baby. If a couple had a miscarriage they could clone the miscarriage. The possibilities are endless. Alothough there are many benefits there are also unfavorable consequences that go with cloning.
There are many things that could go wrong with cloning. Cloning people would lead to a decline in genetic diversity. The old saying that everybody is special in their own way would hardly be true. Everyone would be the same, and you couldn’t lead a normal life. Cloning could also lead to inbreeding. If you kept cloning and cloning almost everyone would be family, which would cause problems fast. Another possibility is if there was a hidden disease in an organism that was cloned. If a lot of clones were made it would wipe out total populations. Also cloning is still in its preliminary stages and could not be perfected for decades. There might be hidden side effects that we cannot detect or long term side effects. So I think that its safe to keep it away from people until we have it perfected.
Many people have different opinions on the topic of cloning. It depends on what kind of person they are. If they are religious they might think differently than an antichrist and so on. Some people have an opinion that we’re taking nature into our own hands and that we shouldn’t mess with nature. While other people think that it is completely natural and that if we weren’t meant to clone then we wouldn’t have the ability to. Some people think that it doesn’t respect the fact that we have souls and that it is sinful. Also, that cloning is unnatural and we are taking God’s work into our own hands. It also would deprive people of their uniqueness and everything someone did would be normal, dull, and boring. Birth would not be such a memorable moment or not even a moment. Why go through such pain when you can have a cloned baby.
I also have my own opinion on this matter. I think that it is good when it does not change a lifestyle such as using organs for a transplant or helping endangered species grow under supervision. Bringing back the deceased would be interesting but it could cause religious or racist problems. I also think that it is pretty unnatural and that we shouldn’t mess with the world unless the outcome is absolutely flawless and does not affect people in any major way. The worst part about it is the huge impact it could make on people and things that make them unique. Also it could make things, which were so special, a normal everyday ritual or no big deal.
As you can see, cloning has gone a long way since Adolf Driesch and his sea urchins. Cloning will continue to become more advanced and will be used different ways so we can benefit from it. Although many people have different opinions and reasons cloning should and should not be used we will never know until we try it out. I just hope that nothing goes wrong and it is a complete success.