Cloning – Defining Human CloningEssay title: Cloning – Defining Human CloningA couple that had been married for only two years was in a terrible car accident. The wife walked away with a few cuts and bruises. The husband, however was unconscious when the paramedics arrived. He went into a coma shortly after arriving at the nearby hospital. He came out of the coma but was never to be the same again. It turns out that when he was in the accident he had severe head trauma, and would be a vegetable the rest of his life. He could not take part in the reproduction of children. The wife is now distraught because they will never have children together. She heard about the possibility of cloning and believes that it is the only way that she will ever have children. Is it so?
IntroductionThe ethics of human cloning has become a great issue in the past few years. The advocates for both sides of the issue have many reasons to clone or not to clone. This is an attempt to explore the pros and cons of human cloning and to provide enough information of both sides of the arguments in order for the reader to make their own informed decision on whether human cloning is ethical or not. Cloning will first be defined. Then a brief explanation of why questions concerning cloning humans have arisen will be presented. Some things cannot be known for sure unless it is tested, i.e., human cloning is allowed. Followed by that, a discussion of the facts and opinions that support cloning will be presented and then the same against cloning. Please remember that not all of this has proven true nor is able to be proven yet, but has simply been argued as a scientific hypothesis. Finally, my own personal opinion will be stated.
Defining Human CloningWhen speaking of human cloning, what is meant? Different groups and organizations define it differently. To use a specific definition, the American Medical Association (AMA) defined cloning as “the production of genetically identical organisms via somatic cell nuclear transfer. ‘Somatic cell nuclear transfer refers to the process which the nucleus of a somatic cell of an existing organism is transferred into an oocyte from which the nucleus has been removed” (Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs 1). In other words, cloning is the method of produce a baby that has the same genes as its parent. You take an egg and remove its nucleus, which contains the DNA/genes. Then you take the DNA from an adult cell and insert it into the egg, either by fusing the adult cell with the enucleated egg, or by a sophisticated nuclear transfer. You then stimulate the reconstructed egg electrically or chemically and try to make it start to divide and become an embryo. You then use the same process to implant the egg into a surrogate mother that you would use with artificial insemination. (Eibert)
However, many groups have used a broader definition of cloning. They include the production of tissues and organs through growing cells or tissues in cultures along with the actual producing of embryos to be born. This is done with the use of stem cells. When an egg is fertilized and begins to divide, the cells are all alike. As the cells divide, certain cells differentiate and become the stem cells that produce certain tissue and then organs. Research in this very active. There is still much for scientists to learn about cell differentiation and how it works. To a clone an organ, a stem cell must be produced and then used to a clone that specific organ. For the sake of this paper, both definitions will be used in order to cover all opinions.
One must understand that cloning does not produce an exact copy of the person being cloned. What cloning does, is that it copies the DNA/genes of the person and creates a duplicate genetically. The person will not be a Xerox copy. He or she will grow up in a different environment than the clone, with different experiences and different opportunities. Genetics does not wholly define a person and the personality.
How It All StartedIn February 1997, when embryologist Ian Wilmut and his colleagues at Roslin Institute in Scotland were able to clone a lamb, named Dolly, the world was introduced to a new possibility and will never be the same again (Nash). Before this, cloning was thought to be impossible, but now there is living proof that the technology and knowledge to clone animals exist. Questions began to arise within governments and scientific organizations and they began to respond. Are humans next? Is it possible to use this procedure to clone humans also? Would anyone actually try? What can we learn if we clone humans? How will this affect the world? These are only a few of the questions that have surfaced and need answered.
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When it was announced in April, 1995, and in March 1997, human cloning techniques were developed with the goal of carrying the human gene out into the next generation. That work followed a yearlong process known as the “Project Humanization”, which is to produce clones of any species of human having the same DNA (e.g. all the chicken eggs that were put into humans before they had human DNA) and will soon be applied to future human populations to produce clones. Although such an outcome is far from certain, Dr. Wilmut believes that human and ape-type clones need to be used to test their abilities or risk getting lost in their own genome. [4] A recent study reported in Scientific Reports suggests that, by adding a gene to the human genome, one can test a human’s IQ, memory and other characteristics. [1]
Human cloning and human cloning are two forms of the “gene transfer” process used when a gene is inserted into a human embryo or, as in the case of the technique described in the “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences” as described above, a clone from the opposite sex.
An important difference has to do with the technique itself. An additional issue is that cloning involves removing the fertilized egg from a donor. As explained in detail at the end of this article, fertilization, or genetic modification, is a genetic engineering procedure in which a human creates a new gene upon being given the cloning weapon from a known individual from between the mother and sperm bank. When the human is given the technology, there is a transfer of information from one part of the egg to the other via the fertilization technique. A person’s fertilized egg is then harvested from the mother for genetic analysis. The embryo is then transplanted into the future human. The transfer is still referred to as gene transfer. [5] Dr. Wilmut believes this transfer of information to a recipient will make the recipient more likely to follow in order to find a suitable gene for reproduction. [6] So far, several studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of such transfers on biological organisms. However it is far from clear that human cloning is the only possible method for producing a better human.[7]
So, where do we go from here?
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Many are familiar with the development of “genomics” for cloning for medical purposes. In reality, the process is based on a combination of genetic methods, such as PCR or microfusion, and chemical and biological studies (such as chemo techniques. [8] These studies have demonstrated a number of significant advantages. Firstly, the genetic method requires very little space and time to synthesize the DNA using the human DNA methylation kit which is about 10nm long. This creates the genetic data stored on the genome which can be read and compared to the