Cloning is a big issue now. Many arguments are going
on about cloning humans being immoral, but what is cloning? Cloning is one or
more offspring from a single ancestor; the genetic composition from the
ancestor is identical to the offspring. No sex is involved in the production of
clones, and since sex is the normal means by which new genetic material is
introduced during procreation, clones have no choice having the same genes as
their only parent. A clone of cells refers to
the descendants of a single parent cell. Tumours are actually clones too. They
are derived from one cell that no longer obeys the normal rules of growth
control. Corals are another example of clones. Identical twins are even clones
that are produced by splitting of a single embryo. So to keep it simple,
members of a clone are genetically identical. Here is a diagram of how cloning is scientifically
done.
The benefits of cloning might include,
building a mass army of look-alikes or recreating Einstein or Elvis. You could
clone livestock for steady supplies of food. There is no guarantee that the
first cloned human will be normal. The foetus might get some disorder or
disability. They might be born disabled. Disorders may show up later in their
life. Such problems have been seen in other cloned mammals, such as
reproductive problems. There is no reason to that this won’t happen in a
humans’ case. Large scale cloning could eliminate genetic originality. It is
diversity that causes evolution and adaptation. It prevents an entire species
from disappearing because of a disease.
The people out there who are childless because of a rare hereditary disease would be able to produce offspring that were genetically theirs. However, if the cloned sheep “Dolly” were anything to go by then less than one in a hundred success rate would cause many problems. More importantly, it is quite possible that cloned individuals will turn out to be at risk. We do not yet know the long-term effects of making an old adult cell nucleus to begin a new life again in an egg.
Two lesbians could have a child by adult DNA cloning rather than by artificial insemination. Each would be able to contribute part of their body to the fertilized ovum. One woman would donate the ovum, which contains some genetic material in its mitochondria, the other woman the nuclear genetic material. Both would have parts of their bodies in the conception.
The people out there who are childless because of a rare hereditary disease would be able to produce offspring that were genetically theirs. However, if the cloned sheep “Dolly” were anything to go by then less than one in a hundred success rate would cause many problems. More importantly, it is quite possible that cloned individuals will turn out to be at risk. We do not yet know the long-term effects of making an old adult cell nucleus to begin a new life again in an egg.
Two lesbians could have a child by adult DNA cloning rather than by artificial insemination. Each would be able to contribute part of their body to the fertilized ovum. One woman would donate the ovum, which contains some genetic material in its mitochondria, the other woman the nuclear genetic material. Both would have parts of their bodies in the conception.
