Univeristy of Arizona |
Ethical Concerns of Cloning Extinct Animals
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MCB 404 Research Paper |
11/12/2010
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Expansion of the human race is increasing every day, as a consequence animals are becoming extinct quicker than they have ever before. Roughly 100 species become extinct a day. (Robert, 2000) According to Webster, extinct is defined as “no longer existing”, this term applies to mammoths, tasmanian tiger, dodo bird, ibex, dinosaurs, etc. Today, they exist in museums like the Smithsonian. Ever since the movie Jurassic Park with its spectacular special effects, the thought of cloning extinct dinosaurs using their genetic material “DNA” have always been on our minds. Is it possible with our current technology? Cloning is no longer a product of science fiction that we only see in movies through special effects or CGI, it has become actual reality. In 1996 after many failures Dolly the sheep became the first successful cloned mammal to have lived after birth; she died in 2003. (Stahl, 2010) This substantiate that the genetic material from an adult cell could be used to cultivate a genetically identical clone. Unfortunately, cloning is very difficult with a low success rate of 1-2%. (Fiester, 2005) At present, we have successfully clone other animals such as cows, rats, cats, mice, pigs, and recently rats. However several attempts at cloning extinct animals have not yielded decent results. What are the possible uses for cloned animals? Conversely, there are several ethical and moral implication involving cloning extinct animals. To further understand these implications we need to look at cloning as a whole instead of on a subset of just extinct animals. Are we tampering with Mother Nature by playing god? Are there consequences for the environment? What about the welfare of the animals involved?
The Essay on Cloning Endangered Species
... and very close to becoming extinct. Cloning is needed to save these animals from extinction. Extinct animals would be very hard to ... hope of cloning endangered species.There are so many animals that are nearly extinct which could benefit greatly by cloning. Cloning endangered species ... pictures. I think that cloning should be started right away before some of these animals go extinct and we will ...
Cloning is the process of creating an identical copy of an organism or a part of the organism by using its genetic material “DNA”. This means that the DNA must be intact to be eligible for cloning. Any damage to the DNA will cause the DNA to be short of crucial information that is needed to fully develop a clone. (Stahl, 2010) DNA is a double helix, consisting of two chain made up of base pairs that are made up of nucleotides (guanine, thymine, cytosine, and adenine).
The sequential order of these nucleotides in the DNA determines what genes an organism express including how they function by producing a cell’s proteins. Those proteins are the building blocks of an organism. So essentially, DNA is the blueprint that determines their biology. But what if there aren’t any good samples to obtain viable genetic material? For example, dinosaur DNA extracted from bones, hair or tissue samples are usually damaged beyond repair. Cells begin to break down soon after death in a process called apoptosis. These dying cells release enzymes that slice up the DNA into tiny bits. Also, the DNA goes through chemical alteration of the nucleotides that causes the gene sequences to be changed. (Zorich, 2010) All of these factors make it difficult to clone extinct animals without a good source of genetic material. Luckily, scientists are now taking precautionary measure by preserving tissues, eggs, and sperm from endangered animals. They are then stored in cryogenic facilities called frozen zoos. Frozen zoos could be used to revive a species or even revitalized the depleted gene pool. (Kenneth, 2001) Today two of the main facilities are located at San Diego Zoo and the Audubon Center for Research of Endangered Species. (Stahl, 2010)
There are several ways to make a clone. The main one that has been gaining popularity and used most is somatic cell nuclear transfer “SCNT”. The process involves extracting genetic material from the nucleus of a cell and then transferring it into a donor egg. The egg is not fertilized, meaning that no spermatozoa entered the egg; instead the egg begins to divide as if it has been fertilized. The egg is then set into a womb of a closely related surrogate mother to grow into a fetus. (Stahl, 2010) Somatic cell nuclear transfer was a technique used to grow Dolly the sheep and many other animals. Measures to clone extinct or endangered animals have already been taken. On January 6, 2000, a violent storm in Spain killed the last remaining Pyrenean Ibex, by causing a tree to fall and crushing her skull. Opportunely, skin samples from the Pyrenean Ibex were taken and preserve before the last one died. Nuclear transfer was used in the ibex’s case with goat eggs and eventually one clone survived birth but hours later it died of lung failure. (Zorich, 2010) Other experiment with an endangered species known as a gaur in Worcester, Massachusetts was also successful. It produced a baby gaur who unfortunately died two days later with an intestinal infection from a natural cause. (Kenneth, 2001)
The Essay on Cell Division In Animals: Mitosis, Cytokinesis, And The Cell Cycle
Cell division in animals is a two-step process involving mitosis and cytokinesis and is set up by interphase. Interphase is a growth period for the cell. In the nucleus the chromosomes are duplicated but are not yet distinguishable because they are still a form of chromatin. There is also a nucleoli, one or more, present producing ribosomes that are sent to the cytoplasm. Mitosis is the division ...
What are some of the benefits of cloning animals? We can clone animals to be disease resistant, which can lead to healthier animals providing them with greater welfare. Nevertheless does the process of cloning cause the animal any pain and suffering? Surgery is done on the donor animal to retrieve eggs and another procedure is done to implant the embryos into the womb of the surrogate. Many people and organization like the Animal Welfare Organization is against cloning because of surgical procedure done on animals. (Fiester, 2005) Are there standards for the humane treatment of animals? In today society, the standards held for animals in cloning should be the same standards held for animals in different areas of modern life such as agricultural, sports, research, etc. If we view the treatment towards animals in livestock for consumption negatively then we view treatment towards animals cloning the same way and vice versa. Some clones are produced purely for novelty means. By cloning animals we are treating them as mere things rather than living, breathing subjects. Animals are already considered things that we can own. Does cloning further commoditifies animals? When animals were initially cloned they were given certain names, currently they are being referred to by numbers and letters. Cloning will ultimately further desensitize us from the suffering that these animal are enduring. (Fiester, 2005)
The Research paper on Can We Or Should We Clone Humans
Can we and should we clone humans? Cloning humans has recently become a possibility that seems much more feasible in today's society than it was twenty years ago. It is a method that involves the production of a group of identical cells or organisms that all derive from a single individual (Grolier 220). It is not known when or how cloning humans really became a possibility, but it is known that ...
Millions of pets are unwanted in shelter and millions of animals are put down every year. So why are we attempting to clone deceased animals? Money is seen as being wasted instead of being allocated to habitat protection. This could derail conservational efforts. (Kenneth, 2001) A huge sum of money is wasted on the Missyplicity Project, where they unsuccessfully attempted to clone a deceased dog. However, scientists agree that the money allocated wouldn’t necessary go to habitat protection. The people that are spending 20,000 and 50,000 to clone their beloved pet are seen as wasting money on a falsified myth, that the clone would be exactly identical to their deceased pet, physically and mentally. This point is invalid, in the same way that we shouldn’t tell somebody to waste money on cigarettes.
Countless people see that cloning is a way for human to play God. We are fundamentally creating life through assisted reproduction and engineering life. This is viewed as dehumanizing ourselves and devaluing the natural world. Are we playing God? Is the origin of this question from an ethical or religious standpoint? There are two views from a religious standpoint. The first is that religion should not enter the realm of public policy. The second is that God wants human to engage in science; what we are doing is a mental gift given to us by God. From an ethical point, we have been modifying animals throughout human history by selectively breeding, why should cloning be considered any different? (Fiester, 2005)
Many animals have become extinct because of human interaction, such as the destruction of their habitat, hunting, overfishing, and pollution. (William, 2004) Could bringing them back through cloning undo the damaged that humans have caused. (Stahl, 2010) Extinction threatens about 11% of birds, 25% of mammals, and 34% of fish. (Robert, 2000) Some animal species population are so low that they possess minimal genetic variation. Cloning could provide a way to increase genetic diversity by introducing new genes to the current gene pool without removing the original animal from the wild. (Kenneth, 2001)
The Essay on Cloning Enigma Human Clone Cells
Year 2004: A father goes to a hospital and enters the room of a genetic engineer." Sir I want to have a child." Doctor, "What gender?" A boy, blue eyes, blonde hair, fair skin, good height and intelligence equivalent to Einstein's." Doctor," Sorry sir, no Eins tiens, no Aristotle's, Government isn't allowing any more. You know the student councils have been shouting their heads off, cause the ...
We are now at a time where science is catching up with our imagination. Technology is advancing and expanding at a very rapid rate. Cloning animals using genetic material is no longer just a dream, the possibility are endless. Unfortunately with every new controversial experiment, comes with ethical and moral concerns, including many more questions. Could cloning bring back diseases or parasites? If we can attempt to clone dinosaurs what about our closest ancestor the Neanderthals? Nevertheless, the questions are never-ending. 64% of Americans believe that animal cloning is wrong. (Fiester, 2005) Is this because they are afraid of the unknown? Ultimately we need to take a step back and look at the situation as a whole. Does the small suffering done to animals outweigh the benefits to humans and other animal?
Citation
Stahl, Lesley. “Could Extint Species Make a Comeback”. 60 minutes. Aired on Jan 10, 2010 on CBS
Zorich, Zach. “Should we Clone Neanderthals”. Archaeological Institute of America. Volume 63 Number 2. March/April 2010 <http://www.archaeology.org/1003/etc/neanderthals.html>
Robert P. Lanza, Jose B. Cibelli, Francisca Diaz, Carlos T. Moraes, Peter W. Farin, Charlotte E. Farin, Carolyn J. Hammer, Michael D. West, Philip Damiani. Cloning. October 2000, 2(2): 79-90. doi:10.1089/152045500436104.
William V Holt, Amanda R Pickard and Randall S Prather. Wildlife conservation and reproductive cloning. ZSL Institute of Zoology, Regent’s Park. Reproduction (2004) 127 317-324. DOI: 10.1530/rep.1.00074
Kenneth Lee. Can cloning save endangered species? Current Biology – 3 April 2001 (Vol. 11, Issue 7, pp. R245-R246)
Fiester, Autumn. Ethical Issues in Animal Cloning. Center for Bioethics Papers. University of Pennsylvania Scholarly Commons. 6-1-2005
