To Ban or Not To Ban?
Cloning is a fascinating and very new technological break-through us humans have discovered. The first mammal to be successfully cloned was the sheep Dolly. This sheep signified the beginning of many new medical discoveries about how DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid) works. Many people believe that the use of cloning technology is unethical and should be banned. I think that cloning technologies should be embraced and furthered. The benefits that cloning could give humans far outweigh the detrimental aspects. There are medical benefits to be had as well as the power to reverse some of the harmful things humans have done to the planet.
In February 1997 Ian Wilmut and his colleagues at the Roslin Institute in Scotland announced a stunning news that they had cloned a lamb from the cells of a mature sheep. Although many animal cloning experiments have been performed in the past, they have succeeded only in cloning the cells of embryos. This latest experiment has been remarkable because it was the first successful attempt to clone a mature mammal, producing an exact physical replica of the adult animal.
In what is considered a normal reproduction of mammals is when a sperm and an egg fuse naturally, each one contributing half of the material that makes up a genetically unique individual. However, the process that was used to create Dolly is quite different. This process is known as gene transfer in which a cell is mechanically fused from one animal onto an egg cell whose nucleus has been removed (enucleated egg cell).
The Essay on Human Cloning Reproductive Ban Animals
"A total ban should be placed on human reproductive cloning aimed at creating a child." This comment is backed by a National Academies' report that considered only the scientific and medical aspects of this emotional and controversial issue. Based on experience with reproductive cloning in animals, the report concluded that human reproductive cloning would be dangerous both for the woman and the ...
Since the egg cells do not have deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), the embryo created contain the DNA from only one source. As a result the embryo will develop into an exact physical replica of the animal from which the cell containing the DNA was taken.
Scientists had thought that gene transfer could only be performed using embryonic cells, in which all the genes are active. They also believed that the process could not be conducted using adult cells since some genes are active while others are not. However, Wilmut and his colleagues discovered a way to make adult cells behave like embryonic cells. They then fused 277 nuclei from adult Finn Dorset ewes onto enucleated egg cells taken from Scottish Blackface Ewes. Thirty of the eggs developed into embryos, and twenty-nine of these were implanted into Blackface ewes. One of these pregnancies was carried to term and resulted in the birth of a Finn Dorset Lamb, Dolly, who was the exact replica of the adult from which the cell had been taken (Winters 6).
Wilmut and Dolly became instant celebrities and also found themselves at the center of intense debate. However, this controversy did not focus on the creation of Dolly but on the possible creation of other mammals such as humans. The news of Dolly s birth has led to a great deal of discussion about the scientific, moral and ethical issues surrounding the prospect of human cloning.
There are some ethical concerns that make people oppose human cloning. Such people are afraid that human clones might be used for spare parts in organ transplants or for other unethical purposes. Legal experts, however, claim that clones would have all the legal rights and protections of other people. They note that society never questioned the legal rights of offsprings resulting from other productive technologies, such as in vitro fertilization (the technology that produces test-tube babies ) (Worldbook.com 3).
The Essay on Human Cloning Cells Dolly Cell
... cord cells for quadriplegics and paraplegics, hearts, lungs, livers, and kidneys could be produced. By combining this technology with human cloning technology ... production of an organism using the DNA from an adult cell. "Dolly" was the result. Dolly has the exact same genetic ... and result in a newborn. Individuals created in this way would have the same nuclear genes as the original adult cells, but ...
Our personalities are made up by the totality of our life experiences, what we learn and whom we love. And no two lives are identical. Some ethicist assert that cloning is unacceptable because it would violate the human dignity of cloned children. Since cloned children are manufactured and not conceived, they would probably be viewed by society as commodities and treated less than a human–a thing, a product for use that can be put aside and then used again for our own selfish needs. In addition cloning also creates serious issues of identity and individuality. The cloned person may experience concerns about his distinctive identity not because he appears to be identical to another human being but because he may also be a twin to the person who may be his father or mother –that is if he can call them that. People who defend cloning say that the clone would be very different from the original. He would have different parents, different friends, a lifetime of different experiences. People who oppose cloning also view it as unsafe because they feel that there are too many unknown factors that could adversely affect the offspring. Cloning experiments on humans are like to produce mishaps and deformities similar to those that result from research on animals.
On the other hand, defenders of cloning see it as beneficial. Most of the knowledge that exist regarding the feasibility of transferring genes has been gained through gene cloning and recombinant DNA (DNA from one source that has been joined to DNA from another source) (Magill 510).
By using this technology, existing products (protein products) can be made more efficiently, more cheaply and more safely. One example is the manufacture of the hormone insulin, which regulates blood sugar levels in humans; lack of this hormone results in the disease diabetes mellitus. Using recombinant DNA technology, the insulin gene was cloned and has been expressed in a vector such that the insulin made by this system is absolutely identical to human insulin made in the body normally. Also sickle-cell disease, muscular dystrophy, cystic fibrosis and hemophilia are examples of several hundreds of known genetic diseases that result from mutations in single genes (Magill 509).
The Term Paper on Cloning Human Clone
... be made illegal, to court such disasters" (Griffith 6). The diseases and defects that human clones would have alone should convince everyone that human cloning ... understand how adult! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! genes revert to a fetal state in cloning (Kolata 1). If a human were to be cloned, a slight defect in ...
In addition, not only will cloning be used to target genes but also it will speed xeno-transplantation (using organs from pigs to treat human patients).
Animals could also be made resistant to some diseases–i.e., tse-tse fly.
Cloning could also be beneficial for infertile couples or couples who have a recessive gene for disease. They can be given the freedom to chose cloning in order to have a baby. Why shouldn t couples have the liberty to chose this method in order to have a child? After all no one finds twins or triplets too strange to deal with. But in reality twins or triplets are not identical at all. Environment, experience and their own choices endow them with as much individuality as anyone else. Once, artificial insemination was seen as abhorrence that its use was banned even for cattle. But now the idea of test tube babies has been accepted by the public, this shows how technology can win hearts when it touches upon the right to have a healthy child.
Cloning does not violate human dignity. This could only happen if they were treated as a lesser being, with fewer rights. a cloned person is given the same liberty and rights as any other individual. Human cloning should be governed by the same laws that now protect human rights.
Since Dolly s birth in 1996 there has been questions about her age. Scientists have debated just how old Dolly is. If she grew from the DNA of a six year old cell, does that mean she is nine years old now or only three? The question led some scientists to call Dolly a sheep in lamb s clothing (Ulick 25).
There are fears that if a person cloned from an adult human might age faster than normal, which can indicate that they might fall victim prematurely to the diseases of old age or turn out not to be fertile. But there is a positive side to this problem, scientists can target what specifically causes people to age and probably later on in the future humans might be able to age more slowly.
To ban or not to ban? This is the question that has many people even President Bill Clinton struggling with. The commission was sent to advise the federal government on the ethical questions posed by biotechnology research and new medical therapies. But they realized that cloning did not violate any unethical principles. Human cloning might not offer benefits to humanity, but no one has yet made a persuasive case that it can do any real harm either. Humans must be allowed to experiment with it in order to find its best uses and to make and learn from mistakes by using it. Otherwise how are we going to learn if it really works or not.
The Essay on Cloning 45
If you pay any attention to the news whatsoever youve probably heard about cloning. Cloning is the most controversial issue today. Quite simply put, cloning is duplicating or making a copy of something, usually a cell or DNA. Scientists for a while now successfully have been testing it out on animals. A clone, however, is only genetically identical to its donor, not physically or behaviorally ...
Who knows humans won t be cloned till scientists get together and perfect the technology of cloning. so that they can fix all the little imperfections of cloning. But banning cloning completely without even knowing or trying to find out what benefits it holds for us in the future should not be considered. Just by experimenting on animal cloning can reveal many new discoveries in the history of science and technology.
Words Cited
Cloning–Are Human s Next? (www.worldbook.com) Ethical Concerns.
Duprau, Jeanne. Cloning. San Diego, CA: Lucent Books Inc., 2000.
Kolata, Gina. Cloning: The Road to Dolly, and the Path Ahead. New York: William
Morrow Inc., 1998.
Nussman C. Martha and Cass R. Sunstein, eds. Clones and Clones: Facts and Fantasies
About Human Cloning. New York: W.W. Norton & Company Inc., 1998.
