Cloning Debate Essay, Research Paper

What is a Clone?

A clone is a group of genetically identical cells or organisms . Cloning can occur naturally in nature. Single-celled organisms such as bacteria reproduce asexually, the process by which a new organism is produced from only a single parent.

Cloning Techniques

There are three main techniques in cloning. Each group of researchers has its own specific technique. The best known is the Roslin technique, and the most effective and most recently developed is the Honolulu technique. None of these techniques have been proven to have a high success rate. The most promising technique, Honolulu, only has a 3:100 success rate.

Nuclear Transfer-All cloning experiments of adult mammals have used a variation of nuclear transfer. Nuclear transfer requires two cells, a donor cell , and an unfertilized egg cell. The donor cell is forced into a dormant stage and the nucleus is then transplanted into the egg cell. The egg cell is then stimulated to create an embryo and is then transplanted into a surrogate mother . Occasionally a clone of the donor will be born.

Roslin Technique-The technique used to create Dolly is known as the Roslin technique. A donor cell is starved in a petri dish containing few nutrients. This causes the cell to begin shutting down. The egg cell and donor cell are placed next to each other and fused together by an electric pulse. The embryo is then placed in the uterus of a surrogate mother to produce a clone.

Honolulu Technique-This technique was used in 1998 to produce cloned mice. So far it has proven to have the highest success rate, 3 clones out of every 100 attempts. An egg cell is injected with the donor cell s nucleus and feed a chemical culture to jumpstart the cell s growth. The cell then develops into an embryo and is transplanted into a surrogate mother.

Pioneer of Cloning

A Scottish embryologist named Ian Wilmut has been the pioneer of cloning. Wilmut attended the University of Nottingham for his graduate work and then received a Ph.D. in animal genetic engineering from the University of Cambridge. Wilmut has had many accomplishments throughout his life. He was the first to create a calf from a frozen embryo, which he named Frosty. Wilmut s most famous accomplishment was cloning the first mammal named Dolly. The following year Polly, a sheep cloned from fetal skin cells that had been genetically altered to contain a human gene . Wilmut is strongly opposed to cloning humans. He plans to only use his research in ways that can benefit human kind.

Uses of Cloning

Animal Cloning-The scientists who created Dolly plan to clone a hen that can lay golden eggs that are rich in proteins to fight human cancer. Clones could also be used to produce a wide variety of proteins that could be sold as drugs. Medical researchers hope to use clones to provide organs for human organ transplants. Cloning techniques could produce faster-growing and leaner livestock. Endangered species could also benefit from cloning. Northern Arizona University paleontologist Larry Agenbroad who discovered the famous woolly mammoth named Jarcov hopes to clone the animal in the future.

Human Cloning- Human cloning could allow infertile couples to have children. Parents who want to have children who are biologically related might opt to have clone of either parent or perhaps of another relative. Parents could also use cloning to produce offspring free of certain genetic diseases. For instance, if brain cancer is very common in a family, the parents could have that gene replaced with a normal gene.

Bioethical Concerns

With human cloning almost a reality we have to ask ourselves, what is a human? Would a clone be considered human? Could a woman have a normal mother-daughter relationship with her clone? How would the father-daughter relationship develop if the daughter and wife were genetically identical? (Amednews.com).

Another concern is the gene pool . Human cloning could irreversibly affect the gene pool with the potential for serious harm to future generations (McGee). Cloning may reduce genetic variability; producing many clones runs the risk of creating a population that is entirely the same. This population would be susceptible to the same diseases, and one disease could devastate the entire population (McGee). For example if a large number of cattle are clones, a virus could effect the entire population. This could then lead to food shortages.

Cloning could potentially interfere with natural evolution. If people opted to buy only cloned animals, farmers would stop breeding natural animals.

Cloning is extremely expensive and currently cannot be funded by the government. Private organizations have to fund the projects, which could eventually lead to a monopoly.

A major argument against cloning is that it would control mother nature . Parents could alter a baby s genetic code . They could pick the baby s eye color or resistance to certain diseases. A genetic screening test could be used to eliminate zygotes of a particular disorder. The Chinese government may particularly be interested in this aspect. Chinese couples are only allowed to have one child. Since women are considered less than human in this country many couples want to have a boy that can work. This type of technology and attitude could diminish the female population.

A child born from a parent s exact genetic code could have a detrimental effect on family relationships. No one knows how a human may react towards its clone. It may even lead to a higher risk of child abuse.

Not one cloned animal has been born completely normal. All have had some sort of medical disorder. These animals can easily be disposed of, but what if a child is born mutated or with some other kind of disorder? It will be up to the government to pay for these medical bills, which may upset citizens who are already against cloning. The failure rates of such experiments are extremely high, 95-97 percent end in disaster. There are also serious risks for the surrogate mother carrying the clone. Texas A&M researchers Jonathan Hill and Mark Westhusin cloned the bull know as Second Chance. This is thought to be the first calf cloned from an adult bull. The bull was just a month away from being born, when suddenly the mother became swollen with fluid. That cow looked like she swallowed a 55-gallon barrel of water (Westhusin). Not all flaws are immediately noticed. Ian Wilmut, co-creator of Dolly the sheep, had a cloned lamb that appeared to have developed perfectly. The lamb later could not stop hyperventilating; it was later revealed the lamb had deformed arteries leading to the lungs. Squashed-up face or head is very typical in cloned cows. Ian Wilmut who created Dolly said it took 277 tries to get it right. Serious problems have happened in all five species clone so far, and all are mammals, so of course it s going to happen in humans. No question (Jaenisch).

What to Expect of Human Clones

According to several scientists almost all of the first 100 clones will abort due to genetic or physical abnormalities, putting the lives of the surrogate mothers at risk. Of the few clones that make it to term, many will have grossly enlarged placentas and fatty livers. The three or four babies that are born will be extremely big, maybe even 15 pounds. This will make the baby difficult to deliver and may cause complications. The babies that do survive will probably die in the first week or so from heart and blood vessel problems, underdeveloped lungs, diabetes, or immune system deficiencies. If the family has access to an intensive care unit, perhaps one of the 100 clones will survive.

Any clone that makes it through adolescents will without a doubt have a huge navel. All clones so far have had this feature due to the oversized umbilical cord that always develops during these pregnancies. If there were cloned human being, you d be able to recognize them at the beach they d be the ones with navels that are two to three times the normal size said Michael West, president and chief executive of Advanced Cell Technology Inc.

Benefits of Cloning

Scientists argue that clones are no different than identical twins. A misconception of cloning is that a clone will behave the same as the person it inherited its genes from. Personality is not entirely determined by genes; environmental factors play a huge role also. The person and its clone could behave completely opposite. Genes for musical ability may be expressed only if a person grows up in a family that loves music.

The strongest argument in favor of cloning is that it would allow infertile couples to have children. U.S. legal experts claim that preventing a couple from choosing cloning as a method of reproduction would be unconstitutional (World Book 2001). Cloning could shed light on how genes work. This would enable scientists to find new treatments for genetic diseases. As far as cloning not being safe , it has the same risks as a number of medical procedures. Liver transplants for example, have a relatively low success rate but nobody wants to stop those.

Attempt at Human Cloning

Between 600 and 700 couples have already registered to take part in the experiment and the numbers are rising rapidly. At the head of the group is Dr. Panayiotis Zavos an American reproductive scientist. Zavos is working with Italian Dr. Severino Antinori and Israeli Ali Ben Abraham. Antinori is best known for helping a 62-year-old woman give birth. According to him cloning a human is the next step. He hopes to use cloning as a way to overcome male sterility. In January of this year Antinori told the press that he and his team plan to clone a human by the year 2003. Religious groups saying that cloning is not in god s will have heavily criticized the plan. Zavos replied with, If you want a country run by religion move to Iran. The Vatican described this plan as being grotesque. Zavos credentials have also been questioned. While he has more than 20 years of experience in reproductive medicine, he claims on one of his Web sites to be a member of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, which the society claims to be untrue. He recently resigned from the University of Kentucky to join the cloning venture.

Bishop Elio Sgreccia, head of the John Paul II Institute for Bioethics at Rome s Gemelli hospital said human cloning raises disturbing ethical issues. Those who made the atomic bomb went ahead in spite of knowing about its terrible destruction, but this doesn t mean that it was the best choice for humanity (Sgreccia).

The scientists plan to conduct the experiment in a secret Mediterranean location for their own protection. Human cloning has already been banned in several countries including Britain, Italy, Spain, France and the United States. Despite the bans, risks, and ethical issues a human clone is expected by 2003.