Cloning has been around since 1970. A successful, healthy cloned lamb was completed in 1997. Scientist continue, day in and out, to perfect cloning with high hopes of using the technology to help cure diseases. It may sound like a good idea, but the offspring being produced give more of a chilling effect. Right now, there are many different types of cloning, and the battle of viewpoints makes it even more complicated.
The first type is recombinant DNA technology. This is cloning DNA fragments and producing new cells. Right now, bacteria are the most common used host cells for this type of technology. They are working to use this technology to learn about other technologies, such as genetic engineering. It seems as though DNA cloning is the basic building block of learning how to properly clone. Instead of waiting until that was perfected, scientists decided to jump ahead and work on reproductive cloning.
The purpose of reproductive cloning is to make an animal that has the same DNA as another currently existing animal; hence the cloned lamb dolly. This has been the most successful case, so far. Many articles and news stories involved the idea of reproductive cloning. It also led to the knowledge that specialized cells can, and do, change in the body. Some people think that the success of reproductive cloning is a huge step in human knowledge. Others think it is completely unethical. This is understandable. The produced offspring does not seem real. Especially when they are talking about endangered species. Humans are trying to use reproductive cloning to repopulate species we destroyed in the first place. It seems very unnatural because of how these animals are made. It is no longer the story of the ‘birds and bees.’ Not only have we been experimenting with animals, it has now moved up to experimenting with humans.
Therapeutic cloning is producing human embryos for research. To do this, scientists are extracting stem cells from embryos, which ultimately destroy them. It is obvious as to why this is such an unethical act. We are killing unborn babies to make test tube babies. Right now there have been no successful cases further than it dividing into six cells.
Cloning is a very unnatural process. We have completely taking out nature and substituted chemicals. Another thing to consider is when did animals become nothing to use? If we can successfully use reproductive cloning, we can mass produce pigs and work on using their body parts as organ donations. Do we not already mass produce pigs in factory farms? Do we not already religiously practice genetic engineering? Yet we do not know enough about it to be doing this. Many of the offspring created have several health problems and are born abnormally large, which is extremely dangerous for the host. We are experimenting with more and more, but we do not seem to know enough about one type of cloning before it moves on to the next.
2 comments:
Great job on your essay!! I wrote about "Dolly" the sheep as well.
keep up the good work!!
~Monica
1. What are the two best features of the essay? I like how you explain the different types of cloning and you use language I readily grasp. Your essay moves from informing us about the facts and then why you arrived at the opinion you voice in the controversy.
2. What are the two things that could most be improved? Perhaps some works cited would add credence to the facts you reference. I’m thinking I will add this to my next paper as well. Otherwise, I felt as though you covered things well. I think your point that we’re killing real babies to make test tube babies was poignant.
3. What is something new that the essay made you think or reflect upon? The sudden proliference of cloning experiments around the world. It does seem as though we’re advancing faster than we ought.
4. What most surprised you in the essay? That cloned human cells have only divided into 6 cells and then died.
Good Work,
Janet Rajczyk
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