Cloning Essay, Research Paper

Cloning

Cloning, as of recent years, has become a very controversial issue. Society is

firmly divided on the uses and ethics of cloning. Cloning can rang from producing copies

of plants and animals to clones of humans and human organs. But cloning can have

several positive effects for the well being of society.

Cloning plants can have positive effects fo humans. Scientist can clone plants and

alter them to produce healthier food. For example, oranges which contain an abundance

of Vitamin C, can be altered to include Vitamin D and Calcium, which is found amply in

milk. Cloning can also improve the status of hunger-stricken Third World nations. Fruits

and vegetables can be cloned to produce large amounts of food without have to worry

about growing season, climate, or any other environmental factor. They can also be alterd

to be able to be grown in different environments or to produce more food and for a longer

period of time.

Cloning animals can have several ramifications. Foremost, is the benfit of humans.

This can be done in two ways. First, cloning animals can help us understand the way our

cellss divide, multiply and operate. We can also learn how to fix ceratin disorders, thus

leading to tests and research in similar human disorders. For example, sheep have a

disease of the brain, called Scrapie, that causes tremors, loss of motion, and eventually

death. This disease is very similar to the human disease called Parkinson?s disease.

Scientists can try to stimulate new brain cells to divide and regrow damaged areas in the

sheep brain first and then try similar procedures for humans. Animal cloning can also lead

to better production of food. Ranchers can take one cow, the best out of the whole stock,

and clone it. This would improve his sales and our health because we are given a healthier

product. Endangered animals can also benefit from animal cloning. For instance, instead

of doing lab monitored pregnancies and artificial inseminations for endangered animals,

scientists can clone several embryos for the healthiest animal of that species.

Working the way up the evolutionary scale leads eventually to cloning human

organs and ultimately humans. This is the most controversial area of cloning, but despite

the controversy, cloning of human organs and also humans can have some positive effects.

To illustrate, kidney tissue can be used to grow a healthy kidney for patients with frequent

kidney failures. This would prevent donor rejection and also the waiting time for a

suitable donor.

I believe that cloning can be wrong but it depends on the ethics and uses of the

cloning method. For example, cloning animals can be very beneficial to humans in the

knowledge that they learn of the animals of the world and also the knowledge they learn of

themselves. But the uses and ethics are is very controversial. If scientists are cloning to

produce healthier animals and improve the life of humans and the world, then their

intentions are in the right place. But when cloning animals and plants leads to human

cloning then the issue becomes unethical and immoral. To clone a human, many errors

would be made along the way in the production of a normal, healthy human being. And

human clones would have to start as a baby and then grow up. So there would be many

deformed and sick children created along the way of the process of creating a normal

human. Most of them would die in their early stages of development. Humans could also

be cloned in a lower evolutionary form and used as slaves to do hard manual labor. So I

don?t believe that there is any postive results in human cloning. Cloning animals, plants,

and human organs can be beneficial, but again, as long as the intentions are good and in

favor of the improvement of mankind.

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2. Laris, Michael. ?On the Eighth Day, Man Created Pandas, Chinese Begin Cloning To

Try To Save Species.? Washington Post, The 8 August 1998: A13.

3. Weiss, Rick. ?Sowing Dependency or Uprooting Hunger.? Washington Post, The 8

February 1999: A9

4. Gribbin, August. ?Human cloning draws nearer as ethicist seek to draw rules. With

bans infectual, market for babies drives research.? Washington Time, The. 9

November 1999: A1.

5. Jegalian, Karin. ?A POWERFUL PACKAGE. Old cells can do incredible new tricks,

scientists find.? Dallas Morning News, The. 14 September 1998: 8D.

6. Stringer, Judy. ?ACT annoucement highlights the growing uses for immature cells.?

Mass High Tech. 7 December 1998.

7. Eaton-Robb, Pat. ?Pigs Grown With Human Genes.? Associated Press News Service,

The. 22 February 1999.

8. Bergquist, Lee. ?Cows could produce medicine in their milk, Research done in state is

key part of advance.? Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 28 January 1999: 1

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Knight-Ridder Washington Bureau. 17 September, 1998.

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to clone couple?s canin.? Fort Worth Star-Telegram. 2 October 1998: 1.

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12. Stirnger, Judy. ?Dolly and clan spawned a flock of anti-cloning bills.?. Mass High

Tech. 11 January 1999.