Cloning Essay Introduction Example For Students

Cloning Essay Introduction The biological definition of a clone is an organism that hasthe same genetic information as another organism or organisms(Cloning, 1997). From this definition and from informationabout the science behind cloning, my current view on cloning isthat it is ethical. This statement ignores information about howwe can misuse cloning and what consequences occur when theprocedure is unsuccessful. I currently do not think cloningshould be used until it is perfected. I doubt however that wewill allow cloning to be misused, and think most people wouldprobably have this opinion on cloning, but their lack ofknowledge on cloning, or their belief that cloning would bemisused, is the reason for differences of opinion. Thus, anelaboration on the history, techniques, ethics, and reasons forresearching the technology of cloning is necessary. The first thing that must be cleared up is what is cloning,and what is a clone. A clone is an organism derived asexuallyfrom a single individual by cuttings, bulbs, tubers, fission, orparthenogenesis reproduction (Cloning, 1997). Parthenogenesisreproduction is the development of an organism from anunfertilized ovum, seed or spore (Parthenogenesis, 1997). Hence, cloning, biologically speaking, is any process in whichproduction of a clone is successful. Thus, the biological termcloning is the production of a genetically identical duplicate of an organism. However, people can use the word cloning tointend other meanings. For instance, we generalize many olderand new techniques as cloning. This is not a good practicebecause these techniques are different and impose unique concernsIn the world of scientific technology, cloning is theartificial production of organisms with the same geneticmaterial. Scientists actually call the transferring of a nucleusfrom the cell of one organism to an enucleated egg cell nucleartransfer (Wilmut, 1997). This will produce an organism that hasthe exact genetic material as that of the donor cell. Scientistsare using current techniques exceedingly more, and with a varietyof species. Astonishingly, more clones are present in the worldIn nature, and even in the lives of humans, clones arepresent. As stated earl ier, a clone is an organism that has thesame genetic information as another organism. From this we cansay that cloning occurs with all plants, some insects, algae,unicellular organisms that conduct mitosis or binary fissions,and occasionally by all multicellular organisms, includinghumans. Monozygotic twins, or identical twins, are clones ofeach other. They have the same exact genetic information due tothe division of an embryo early in development which produces twoidentical embryos. About eight million identical twins are alivein the world, thus, already eight million human clones inhabitthe world. In unicellular organisms, a cell will produce twodaughter cells that have the same genetic material. Today, the only cloning research is occurring in scientificmodel organisms. These are organisms that research scientistsfrom around the globe have collected copious amounts of data. All this data is necessary so that advancements in research cancontinue more efficiently. The most common scientific models areE. coli, mice, fruit flies, and frogs. The first organisms that were cloned using nuclear transfer were frogs. This is becausethey have large egg cells and scientists can obtain up to twothousand of them from one ovulation. (McKinnel, 1979) Successful cloning has occurred with livestock. The drivetoward success is not because livestock like cows and sheep aremodel organisms. Instead, the farming industry has made andcontinues to make a big effort toward finding a way to implementthe technique of nuclear transfer for livestock. Research incloning is also occurring in primates. The reason for studyingprimates is the similarities with humans. This leads us to themost talked about aspects of cloning, the use of the techniquesThroughout this century, conversation, novels, magazinearticles, newspaper reports, and movies have focused on theimplications of cloning humans. Part of this media createsthoughts of a utopian society, while some a horrific world; theFor those who have had these frightening thoughts, Dr. Richard Seed states he can accomplish the task of cloning a humanusing nuclear transfer. Dr. Seed is a physicist who researchedfertility sciences in the 1980s and is now specializing inembryology. He states that he has set up a fertility clinic thatcan conduct nuclear transfer. Dr. Richard Seed is creating anuproar regarding the ethics of cloning. This is ironic becausecloning has occurred. (Flock, 1998) Cloning of humans in a biological sense already has and isoccurring. Scientists are researching by splitting embryos toexecute experiments to find data relating to celldifferentiation, the use of stem cells, and genetic screening. Amazingly, genetic screening is occurring in Britain quite often. Fertility clinics aim this service toward couples where themother or father has a genetic disorder. A fertility clinic willclone an embryo, then test it for genetic disorders. If theembryo is tested negative for genetic disorders, then thefertility clinic implants a clone of that embryo. This shouldguarantee that the child will not have any genetic disorders. That is the current work with cloning. It is becoming apart of our society already. Cloning is currently a technologythat many people could use. I believe it will become morepopular as prices for the technique decreases, and as the use ofcloning becomes increasingly acceptable. That is if we humansconsider cloning an acceptable technology, and that we would liketo use for the twenty-first century. Cloning has progressed soquickly, few of us know if we should be even fooling with thistechnology. Some scientists say that we put technologies to useonce the pros outweigh the cons. A good place for us to findthat information is to look at the past and current researchresults with cloning and why scientists research it. Amazingly, the first attempts at artificial cloning were asearly as the beginning of this century. Adolph Eduard Drieschallowed the eggs of a sea urchin develop into the two-blastomerestage. Then he separ ated it by shaking it in a flask andallowing them to grow. The cells developed into dwarf seaurchins. Driesch could not explain his experiments and gave upembryology for philosophy (McKinnel, 1979). The first implantation of a nucleus into an egg celloccurred in 1952 by Robert Briggs and Thomas J. King inPhiladelphia. They had transferred the nuclei of Leopard Frogseggs (McKinnel, 1979). The egg cells did not develop. Successful cloning of embryo cells was accomplished later in the1970s by Dr. John Gurdon. The frogs did not develop beyondtadpoles. In 1981, investigators announced they had transplantednuclei from mouse embryos into mouse eggs. However, otherscientists tried to duplicate the experiments, but found thatthey fabricated the cloning results. (Kolata, 3 March 1997) During the late seventies and early eighties, there were fewscientists still studying cloning. Many had predicted that itwas impossible to clone embryonic mammal cells. Few continuedwith research. Many gave up a nd went into other fields. However, some persisted and were rewarded for their efforts. In 1984, Dr. Steene Willadsen announced that he hadsuccessfully transferred nuclei from embryos of sheep to produceclones (Kolata, 1997). He also was successful with cows and evenmonkeys. He advanced his methods, and began cloning embryos thatwere in the 64-128 cell-stage. This suggested that perhapsnuclear transfer was possible with differentiated cells. Moreexciting was when Dr. Neal First produced cows by nucleartransfer from more developed embryos in 1994 (Kolata, 3 June1997). Dr. First produced four calves. Two years later, Dr. IanWilmut and Dr. Keith Campbell, of the Roslin Institute inEdinburgh, Scotland, produced for the world Megan and Morag, thefirst cloned sheep from embryo cells. Their new techniqueinvolved the starving of the donor embryo. This would put thecell in the right moment in the cell cycle, thus allowing thegenetic material to integrate more successfully with the eggcell. T his was the integral step of nuclear transfer. Dr. Firsthad executed the same step, but a laboratory staff member did itaccidentally, and First did not realize the significance of hisstaff members blooper (Kolata, 3 March 1997). Dr. Wilmut andDr. Campbell became world famous. Their fame was not finishedOn July 5 at 4:00 P.M. lamb number 6LL3 (Campbell, 1997), orDolly, was born in a shed down the road from the Institute. Sheweighed in at 14 pounds and was healthy. Scientistsaccomplished this by using frozen mammary cells taken from asix-year-old pregnant ewe and fusing them with an enucleated egg. The trick to fusing the cells is giving a small electric currentto the petri dish on which the egg cell is. This stimulates theegg much like a sperm would, and usually takes the geneticmaterial from the cell and becomes a zygote. They let thiszygote grow into an embryo, and then transplanted the embryo in arecipient ewe, acting as a surrogate mother. This procedureoccurred late in January o f 1996. This was the day of fusion datefor Dolly, which is the natural equivalent to a conception date. An interesting note is that three different sheep were involvedin producing Dolly, versus the usual two or one (in-vitrofertilization). Furthermore, the Roslin scientists used threedifferent breeds for each sheep to prove that the experiment wasAfter Dolly came other sheep, cows and even rhesus monkeyscloned using similar techniques but with slight variations. These cloned animals came from Roslin and many universities fromacross America. They even produced clones which had genes thatwould produce certain proteins. For instance, at Roslin,scientists are trying to produce sheep that produce milk withbeneficial proteins for Cystic Fibrosis patients.(Kolata, 24The goals and purposes for researching cloning range frommaking copies of those that have deceased to better engineeringthe offspring in humans and animals. Cloning could also directlyoffer a means of curing diseases or a techn ique that could extendmeans to acquiring new data for embryology and development oforganisms as a whole. Currently, the agricultural industrydemands nuclear transfer to produce better livestock. Cloningcould massively improve the agricultural industry as thetechnique of nuclear transfer improves. Currently, change in thephenotype of livestock is accomplished by bombarding embryos oflivestock with genes that produce livestock with preferredtraits. However, this technique is not efficient as only 5percent of the offspring express the traits (Kolata, 25 July1997). Scientists can easily alter adult cells. Thus, cloningfrom an adult cell would make it easier to alter the geneticmaterial. A transgenic organism has had its genetic informationartificially altered. The goal of transgenic livestock is to produce livestock with ideal characteristics for theagricultural industry and to be able to manufacture biologicalproducts such as proteins for humans. Farmers are attempting toproduce transg enic livestock already, but not efficiently, due tothe minimal ability to alter embryos genetically. Scientists canharvest and grow adult cells in large amounts compared withembryos. Scientists can then genetically alter these cells andfind which ones did transform and then clone only those cells. Scientists also ponder the idea of cloning endangered species toincrease their population. The possibilities are endless. However, we are actually doing much of this research for theimprovement of life for humans. Embryologist Dr. SteeneWilladsen, when talking of past research, stated, I was checkingfences, looking for holes in the scientific fabric, ways to breakthrough what others considered dogma. (Kolata, 3 June 1997). Tamed Shrews And Twelfth Nights: The Role Of Women EssayAt this point, I believe we should not use cloning. However, if we are to venture into cloning we must make manyprecautions. I think the best way to do this is to research theconsequences. Yet, I do not believe cloning of animals isacceptable. Thus, I do not think we should conduct cloningexperiment on animals. In summary, cloning is ethical, unlessthere is lack of respect for the lives of animals and humans, andfor the ongoing inhabitation of life on earth. Bibliography: