FREE ESSAY ON CLONING

CLONING

Since the late seventies scientists have been cloning mammals using cells taken from
embryos. In July 1996, medical history was made when a sheep named Dolly was cloned. The
only thing that set Dolly the sheep apart from the other clones was that she was cloned
from an adult sheep cell. Before Dolly was cloned, scientists thought adult cell cloning
was impossible. A clone is defined as a group of genetically identical cells. The goals
and purposes for cloning range from making copies of those that have deceased to better
engineering the offspring in humans and animals. Cloning could also offer a means of
curing diseases. Cloning has many benefits that could be used as an aid to the human
race, but there is also the ethical debate over cloning. Many people believe it will do
damage to mankind. Some feel it is against God's will, while others fear deformity and
emotional stress in the human clone. Despite the ongoing debate, cloning produces many
advances for the human race.
Cloning has already made advances from the cloning animals. Embryo splitting was
developed in the eighties and is used by ranchers and livestock breeders. Through this
process, farmers can twin their best animals and plants for better production. "The
Future of Cloning" states that "Mammalian cloning research would allow genetic
manipulation to produce animals that are disease resistant" (1). Cloning techniques are
also being used in agriculture. It is used to produce higher yield, better quality fruits
and vegetables. "Ethical Concerns" states that, "Transgenic animals (animals engineered
to carry genes from species other than their own) can be made to produce a wide variety
of protein that could be sold as drugs, as well as proteins, called enzymes, that can be
used to speed up chemical reactions."(1). Animals could be mass produced to provide a
much faster and leaner species using cloning technologies. They can also provide for much
needed drug substances using transgenic animals. Transgenic animals are also much cheaper
than using bioengineering methods. Cloning animals has proved to have many benefits also
for humans.
The cloning of animals could also take many creatures off of the endangered species list.
By cloning the endangered animals, they could be saved from destruction and increase
their population. "Medical Benefits of Cloning" said that many animals are also being
bred to provide organs for organ transplant patients. They are bred using the transgenic
technique, to minimize the risk of rejection by the patient's body. Pig's hearts are
often being transplanted in place of a human's diseased heart. Donor pigs with human DNA
could provide stronger hearts for humans in need of a transplant (1). Breeding these
animals could aid in the small number of organs that are available today. The same
procedures used to clone animals could also be used to clone humans.
Cloning humans could also provide many benefits like animals would. "The Uses of Cloning"
believes that infertile couples could use cloning to have children. Infertility
treatments are only successful about ten percent of the time. It causes great emotional
stress and many couples run out of time and money. Cloning would make it possible for the
couples to have a better chance of producing a child. Many couples do not prefer
adopting, so cloning would be their best chance to have a child that was biologically
related to them (2). Women who are single could also use cloning instead of in-vitro
fertilization or artificial insemination. Cloning would also allow the mother to produce
a disease free baby. Many diseases are caused by a flaw in the gene. If the mother could
carry the unflawed gene for one of these disorders, she could have a healthy child by
giving the nucleus of her cell to the fetus. A child's damaged tissues and organs could
also be saved by cloning. 
Tissues and organs could be cloned by using embryonic stem cells to take place of the
damaged tissues and organs. human skin is already being grown in laboratories to use on
people who have been severely burned. The damaged skin can be replaced by a human's
healthy skin to provide a skin graft. There is no risk of the patient's immune system
rejecting the skin. Scientists can grow skin more easily than other tissues and organs
because skin cells are able to divide and produce new cells better than others.
Researchers are attempting to solve this problem by "reprogramming" cells to help them
divide easier. They would then be able provide nerve cells for spinal injury victims or
muscle cells for heart attack patients. "Benefits of Human Cloning" says that cancer
could also be cured through the cloning technique. 
Scientists may learn how to switch cells on and off through cloning and thus be able to
cure cancer. Scientists do not know exactly how cells differentiate into specific kinds
of tissue, nor do they understand why cancerous cells lose their differentiation.
Cloning, at long last, may be the key to understanding differentiation and cancer. (1)
Conditions of Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, diabetes, degenerative joint
disease, and many others could be cured by the use of cloning.
Plastic, reconstructive, and cosmetic surgery could be improved using cloning techniques.
Many cosmetic procedures cause immune disease. Using cloning techniques the cosmetic
procedures would no longer cause immune disease. "The Benefits of Human Cloning" states
that, "With the new technology, instead of using materials foreign to the body for such
procedures, doctors will be able to manufacture bone, fat, connective tissue, or
cartilage that matches the patients tissues exactly" (1). People who were altering their
appearance with breast implants would no longer have to worry about the implants leaking
into their bodies. Accident victims who require reconstructive surgery would have safe
bone and tissue that their body would take as it's own and would not reject. Arms, legs,
and other limbs could also be regenerated using the cloning techniques.
Clones could also be used for spare parts. "Cloning Supporters" suggest that "Fertilized
ova could be cloned into several zygotes, one would be implanted and the others would be
frozen for future use"(2). If a child were to require a transplant, the another zygote
could be implanted and used for the transplant. Steps have already been taken implies Dr.
Patrick Dixon. Aborted fetuses are being used to treat some adult diseases. Twins that
are conceived in a laboratory, then implanted eighteen months apart, are already being
born. Some mothers have already agreed to have another child just for the purpose of
transplant material for the other child (5). This technique is very debatable but could
provide some benefits.
Cloning could provide many much needed medical and agricultural benefits to the world.
Animals could be cloned to provide better livestock, drugs, and organs for human
transplant patients. Cloning could also help couples and women who are not able to have
children. Cloning would help to relieve the emotional baggage of an infertile mother.
Cloning could also save many lives by creating extra tissues and organs for those in need
of an organ transplant or tissue damages. The immune system would accept these organs and
tissues as it's own. Diseased children would also be given a second chance by having a
clone to use for transplants. Cloning holds many medical benefits for the future human
race. "All the Reasons to Clone Human Beings" declares "Human cloning technology is
expected to result in several miraculous medical breakthroughs"(1)