Running head: HUMAN CLONING: ITS IMPACT AND THREAT TO HUMANITY HUMAN CLONING: ITS IMPACT AND THREAT TO HUMANITY Name of student: Name of university: Author note:
HUMAN CLONING: ITS IMPACT AND THREAT TO HUMANITY 1 Since the advent of the Modern period and with the contributions of the Industrial Revolution, scientists have made gigantic leaps and advancement in new discoveries and inventions. One such major breakthrough in the field of biotechnology and medical sciences has been the introduction of cloning. In the field of biotechnology, cloning refers to the process of propagation of cells or DNA fragments of organisms such that every new organism formed out of the proliferated cell or DNA fragment is identical to the subject organism (Shapiro, Biezuner and Linnarsson 618). This process is also called molecular cloning through which copies of cells or DNA fragments are artificially produced and the copies produced are called clones. This kind of cloning is different from natural cloning which occurs in plants, fungi and bacteria, which multiply and spread through the process of asexual reproduction. Under artificial cloning, also called as Reproductive cloning, genetically identical animals are created using generally using “somatic cell nuclear transfer” (SCNT). Many politicians are calling for a ban on human cloning and this essay argues on the same aspect through highlighting the benefits and the cons. In 1996, Dolly The sheep was the first clone mammal created successfully by Sir Ian Wilmut and Keith Campbell at the Roslin Institute at Scotland. Since then, a number of species have been cloned such as tadpoles, mice, monkeys, pigs, horses and many other (Clark 135). The consequences that followed the success of cloning the first sheep was the question regarding the possibility of cloning humans. Technically, human cloning is conceivable however the practice of it is hindered by various legal and ethical threats that is poses to human society. The making of a genetically identical copy of a human is called human cloning. Generally, it is to refer artificial or unnatural human cloning, which is the reproduction of human cells and tissues (Keefer 8875). Also, not only the natural conception but also the delivery of identical twins are not an example where the term can be used. Commonly, there are two types
HUMAN CLONING: ITS IMPACT AND THREAT TO HUMANITY 2 of theoretical human cloning, reproductive cloning and therapeutic cloning (Robertson 142). Therapeutic cloning would involve cloning cells from a human for the medicinal and transplants usages and it is an active area of research, however, it is not in medical practice anywhere in the world, as of 2014. Therapeutic cloning at present is being researched by two common methods, pluripotent stem cell induction and somatic-cell nuclear transfer. Reproductive cloning would require making a whole cloned human, instead of mere particular tissues or cells (Yamada 533). While the concept of human cloning is judged, it would be noteworthy to dwell into the benefits that can be obtained from this process. In future, with the help of therapeutic cloning, scientists hope to generate organs and tissues for the purpose of transplants. For doing this, DNA would be extracted by scientists from the person who needs a transplant and insert it into an enucleated egg. When the egg with the patient’s DNA, begins to split, the transformation of embryonic stem cells can be done into any form of tissue that needed to be harvested (Takahashi and Yamanaka 2459). It is the stem cells that would help in generating an organ or tissue for the recipient’s genetic match. As mentioned in the theory, the cloned organ would then become capable of being transplanted into the patient with no risk of tissue reception. The need for organ donation would be significantly decrease once organs could be generated from cloned human embryos. Human cloning can not only generate new organ but also solve the problem of infertility in women by implanting the cloned embryos into the bodies of infertile women (Galli et al. 143). Damaged organs, impaired tissues can be corrected and diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Diabetes, and Parkinson’s can also be cured by this method. It can be used to create bone marrow clones to treat individuals suffering from leukaemia (Kokai, Marra, and Rubin 404). Despite the
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