cloning

=media type="custom" key="718271"=

=Cloning= In bioethics, the term clone refers to an exact, or almost exact copy of an organism or it's parts. The process of //cloning// is any method used to achieve these copies. Although exact copies are sometimes made naturally, through asexual reproduction, ethics come into play when such actions are achieved in the laboratory.

1) Recombinant DNA Technology:
This type of cloning technology has been around since the 1970's. It is generally the most mild of the three main types of cloning as far as ethics are concerned. The importance of recombinant DNA tecnology, or molecular cloning, is on only the cellular level. Desired genes, often that need to be studied, are cloned. This allows scientists to do more extensive research without using many different organisms. To do it, scientists fist have to find their gene of interest within an organisms DNA. Then, a resriction enzyme is used. They occur naturally in the body. Here though, they are manipulated to cut the DNA exactly where it is necessary. After this the DNA is united with a plasmid. Plasmids are actually part of our DNA that can do their own slef-replication, as long as it is the correct DNA sequence. Once the plasmid has done it's job, scientists have many copies of the gene of interest to study. These genes are most commonly bacterias.

2) Therapeutic Cloning:
This type of cloning, and the next, are both highly controversial in today's society. Therapeutic cloning is used to create any typ of body cell to someday treate disease, or possibly replace organs. The problem with it, is that stem cells are used to create the new cells. They are so important though, because they can literally develop into any type of cell in the body. First, eggs are collected from the ovaries of women. The main problem is that this process will kill the embryo, or as some see it, the child. A specific cell is inserted into the egg, and then stimulated. If done properly, the cell should divide then continue to grow. Eventually it will mature into a healthy cell or organ. Heart disease and Alzheimer's are two of the main things that scientists one day hope to cure with therapeutic cloning.

3) Reproductive Cloning:
The most controversial type of cloning, and one of the most controversial topic in today's society, is reproductive cloning. It entails just what it appears to. Reproductive cloning is used to make near exact copies of whole organisms. //Identical living creatures?// Despite popular belief, clones differ slightly. The cytoplasm of a cell actually carries some DNA information, which will differ in a clone. Years ago, it was believed that mammals could not even be cloned, but it's not just a possibility. It's a reality and it's going on now. It works by taking any adult cell of an organism and removing it from the nucleus, then placing it in an egg, like with therapeutic cloning. It again is stimulated, commonly by electrical current, to start divisions. Once this is done though, the egg must be placed in the uterus of a female so it can grow. This newer process is called somatic cell nuclear transfer. The first successfully cloned mammal was of course Dolly the sheep. Though it proved tons, it left much room for improvement. It was found that clones typically do not live the same quality or length of life as a usual animal. Cloning proved to have deficiencies as Dolly only lived from 1996 to 2003. Along with the fact that there are still problems with cloning, this type also has other problems. It too needs an egg which is controversial, but more importantly it gives people the ability to play "God" so to speak.

__Heres is a list of the animals that have been cloned to date:__
 * [|Tadpole]: (1952) Many scientists questioned whether cloning had actually occurred and unpublished experiments by other labs were not able to reproduce the reported results.
 * [|Carp]: (1963) In [|China], [|embryologist] [|Tong Dizhou] cloned a fish. He published the findings in an Chinese science journal which was never translated into English.
 * [|Mice]: (1986) was the first successfully cloned mammal; [|Soviet] scientists Chaylakhyan, Veprencev, Svi[[image:dolly.jpg width="277" height="205" align="right" caption="Dolly the Sheep"]]ridova, Nikitin had mice "Masha" cloned. Research was published in the magazine "Biofizika" volume ХХХII, issue 5 of 1987.
 * [|Sheep]: (1996) From early embryonic cells by Steen Willadsen. Megan and Morag cloned from differentiated embryonic cells in June 1995 and [|Dolly the sheep] from a somatic cell in 1997.
 * Human: (November 1998) hybrid embryo created from leg cells and a cleaned cow egg - not allowed to implant in a womb, nor develop, nor be born due to ethical issues.
 * [|Rhesus Monkey]: [|Tetra] (female, January 2000) from embryo splitting
 * [|Cattle]: [|Alpha and Beta] (males, 2001) and (2005) Brazil.
 * [|Cat]: [|CopyCat] "CC" (female, late 2001), [|Little Nicky], 2004, was the first cat cloned for commercial reasons
 * [|Mule]: [|Idaho Gem], a john mule born 4 May 2003, was the first horse-family clone.
 * [|Horse]: [|Prometea], a Haflinger female born 28 May 2003, was the first horse clone.

All of the aforementioned should be pursued by science. Society just needs to make sure the studies are being motivated for the right reasons. All three technologies could bring the downfall to man, or a new hope in millions of people. Everything must be done in moderation though. We should not be too eager to jump right into cloning anything and everything.

Humans and Cloning:
As of now, there is no substantial evidence showing that a human has been clones. Many individuals and groups have made such claims. Of the more popular is the Raelians, a religous group well involved in science. In 2002 they had claimed to have cloned one woman and two years later 13 more clone babies had been reported. Claiming giving the names would cause pandemonium for the clone babies they never released names. Most believe it to be a hoax. Although the ideas seem farfetched, the technology is there to do such procedures. The question lies in whether or not it is the right thing to do. Right now the United States provides no federal funding, but laws do not actually ban cloning currently.

Human cloning is science that needs to be pursued. Both therapeutic and reproductive cloning should be permissable in humans, but it should not be free to practice. With therapeutic cloning the controversy comes in stem cells, but poses little threat to soceity. The benefits of such studies could cure numerous diseases and get people in need of organs off the list. The government needs to look into providing money for institutions and private companies to understand more. These studies need no restrictions. Reproductive cloning needs to be closely watched. It should be done, but handled by the government. If it makes it to private practice it could cause chaos. It should only be use currently to see if creating a baby that will grow up to live a healthy human life is possible. Having people pick and choose who they want to be cloned is not an option. Who is anyone to choose who lives and walks this earth. That is a more ethical question to be asked only when cloning humans in safe and perfected.

Works Cited:
1. http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/elsi/cloning.shtml. "Cloning Fact Sheet." Human Genome Project Information. April 29, 2008. 2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloning. "Cloning." April 29, 2008. 3. http://www.altavista.com/image/default. March 1, 2008.