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Cloning Essay For or against? Cloning can be the answer to many of the threats that loom on the human horizon. I believe that it can help many people in the future. Through cloning we might eventually be able to find cures for cancer, AIDS, or other genetic or life-threatening diseases. We might also be able to prevent heart attacks or strokes. We may also be able to correct peristalsis, which has paralyzed many including Christopher Reeves.
When scientists finally finish mapping the human genome, and apply that knowledge with what is known about cloning, we will be able to accomplish all of these positive goals. Unfortunately, when people think of cloning they do not think of these positive achievements, but rather the cartoon like events that have been pressed upon us by the media and futuristic fatalists. They espouse that millionaires will get themselves cloned or their children cloned, in an attempt to live forever. They will use the clones to provide organs whenever necessary. This of course is pure fantasy. The Human Rights Act insures that all humans, clones or not, have rights even birthrights.
This means that if the clone does not want to give an organ to their original, then they dont have to. By analyzing the current information regarding cloning, it can be shown that there are many reasons for supporting continued research from curing life-threatening diseases to saving endangered animals. The shortage of viable human organs is a real problem today. Donor organs are often not available when needed or are rejected by the host. Cloning could completely eliminate the problem of finding matching organs when they are needed. Its a transplants surgeons dream. (Philip Cohen, July 11, 1998) New technology techniques takes a cow egg, strips it of its nuclei and fuses it with a human cell to create an embryo that begins to grow either in a test tube or in a petri dish.
Following the initial growth, the embryonic stem, or ES cells, are taken from the embryo so that the cell can develop into a wide range of tissues. According to Jose Cibelli of Advanced Cell Technology, work [in this area] is looking very promising. (Philip Cohen, July 11, 1998) Although the techniques do need further work, New Science has learned that many steps have been taken so that it can be quietly accomplished. Some of the earliest medical payoffs could be the production of nerve of heart muscle cells that can be used for transplantation. Ultimately, this new technology hopes to create entire organs or tissues. These organs would have little problem with immune rejection because they would be cloned from the patients down cells. This technique would surely lessen the amount of names on the waiting lists for organ transplants through out the world.
It would also lessen the need for organ donors. Another approach to growing organs and tissues is to harvest ES cells from human embryos. Along with the right growth factors scientists may be able to persuade human ES cells to grow into tissues and organs in vitro. In these processes, scientists would not be able to use human eggs because of the ethical ramifications and because of their short supply.
Thus the move to the research around the use of cow eggs, which are more abundant and have less ethical ramifications. Joseph Jerry and his team of scientists based their research on the failure of a different technology, which was developed by a team of scientists led by Neal First of the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Neal showed that adult cells taken from a wide variety of mammals could be fused with that of a cow egg, which has been striped of its nuclei. When the eggs were fused they were able to produce embryos that began to develop in vitro. The problem with this technology is that the embryos stop developing before any organs start to form. What scientists are looking for is to create a system that will not grow into a human offspring but will form the organs needed for transplants.
The key that scientists have to master is the extraction of the ES cells from the embryo before it stops growing. Scientists need to determine whether ES cells can be taken from an embryo, which was created by fusing a human egg with a stripped cow egg. Cibelli refuses to talk about what they have done and their progress surrounding their project, but they have gone to a European patent office involving fusing human fibroblasts with stripped cow eggs. If something stops this work, it wont be technical problems, it will be legal or ethical issues, (Philip Cohen, July 11, 1998) according to Cibelli. Arthur Caplan a bioethicist at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia thinks that the technique of the fusing of the eggs will always be controversial. However, since it does not create viable human embryos, it does avoid the worst ethical quagmire.
Scientists need to discuss with legislators, and eventually the public, the exciting results that this type of cloning can produce. They must also discuss the ethical questions and set up safeguards. This type of discussion can reduce the fear of cloning. Throughout these discussions is important to note, however, that this technology can eventually alleviate problems with the short supply of organs and tissues without having to clone viable human beings. (Philip Cohen, July 11, 1998) In New Zealand a team of scientists have cloned the last surviving member of a very rare breed of cow. They have cloned no fewer then ten identical calves from the adult Friesian. The calves were born in August and September at the Ruakura Research Center in Hamilton, New Zealand.
These ten calves demonstrate that cloning livestock has quickly become efficient. David Wells of the Ruakura center explains the cloning technique that creates a six-hour delay between fusing an adult cell with one that has been stripped of its nuclei and the start of cell division in the resulting embryo. (No Author, November 14, 1998) The technology of cloned livestock is not just in New Zealand. It is beginning to spread like a bushfire all over the world. Herds of cloned livestock will be a common sight within a few years.
This is mainly the result of a breakthrough by the American Company, ABS Global of De Forest, Wisconsin. Recently, the company showed off its first success Gene a six-month-old calf. Gene was created from a cell removed from a fetal calf. The process used was also shown to work well with adult cells. According to As director of research, this is a very valuable option as cows or other animals that have proved their worth can be cloned. More then ten cloned adult cattle have been implanted in cows, and they are expected to give birth in a few months.
To make their clone, the ABS team took a cell from the donor animal and fused it with an unfertilized egg that had its nucleus removed. The egg developed into an embryo with the same genes as the donor cell. The team then divided the embryo into individual cells and grew these into new embryos before implanting them in surrogate mothers. (Daniel Pendick, August 16, 1997) ABS would not publicize their information about their patents, but Michael Bishop thinks the key breakthrough was when they established a genetically stable cell line to serve as the beginning of cloning. As part of the criticism of the research, the concern was raised that when an animal was cloned over and over some genetic flaws would emerge.
However, the ABS team claims that they are able to repair or correct these flaws allowing them to clone at a mass rate. These cells can be used to make unlimited number of exact duplicates of the animal that they are derived from. (Daniel Pendick, August 16, 1997) The ABS team also claims a high success rate because half of the cloned embryos that are implanted in a surrogate mother end up with pregnancies. To date, 80 % of the implanted eggs have passed the crucial 90 -day period where miscarriages are quite high. After the 90 days the rate of miscarriages drops considerably. This new technology has an enormous potential for the cattle-breeding industry. It may also be used to clone good racehorses, as well as other animals used for meat.
For example, cloning will enable the dairy farmers to clone the cows that have the most desirable traits, such as a high milk production or tender meat. The new process could also speed the development of genetically engineered cows for example, those that produce pharmaceuticals in their milk. (Daniel Pendick, August 16, 1997) While using cloning, scientists are able to genetically alter the animals genes in large numbers so this will speed up the process. (Daniel Pendick, August 16, 1997) A study presented at a meeting of the International Embryo Transfer Society in Boston suggests that cow egg cells and cloning may also come to the rescue of many endangered animals. Cloning could possibly be the technology that preserves these endangered animals for future generations. Much like they have done with human cloning, scientists plan to use cow eggs that have been stripped of their nuclei and fuse them with a cell from the endangered animal. In studies where this has successfully been accomplished, the scientists found that the embryos went through the early stages of development. The one problem with the plan is that the rarer the species, the harder it is to get an egg to use as donors for the cloned genetic material.
However, with close management of the endangered animals eggs can be extracted before the animals become extremely rare. The scientists are not completely sure if the eggs, once they have completely grown in the test tube, will attach itself onto the uterus of the animal, or abort. This is something scientists hope will not happen, but it is something they must be prepared for and must continue to research. According to Tanja Domingo The results look encouraging, but at this point we have many more questions than we have answers. (Philip Cohen, January 24, 1998) Hopefully, these methods of breeding will decrease the number of animals on our list of endangered species. (Philip Cohen, January 24, 1998) Cloning humans is a controversial issue among the scientist community as well as among lay people. This controversy may cloud the positive contributions cloning can provide. Richard Seed may not win a place in history for cloning humans, but someone probably will. (Philip Cohen, January 17, 1998) Richard Seed a Chicago physicist, shocked the world when he announced he was going to open a cloning clinic.
Seed is seen as a vocal maverick, who is very unlikely to clone a human in the future. However, mainstream researchers are quietly testing and developing techniques on primates and human egg cells, which is bringing them closer and closer to cloning a human. Researchers who are involved with cloning the primates do not intend to start cloning people. Don Wolf of the Oregon Regional Primate Center in Beaverton, who works on the cloning of primates, understand[s] theres already a bit of a race among cutting-edge IVF clinics to get into this technology. (Philip Cohen, January 17, 1998) After Seed made his announcement commentators debated the moral implications, while the Roslin Team who cloned Dolly stressed health and safety objections. The Roslin Team was trying to impress upon Seed that out of the two hundred and seventy seven cloned cells only one survived.
This is the sort of information that people like Richard Seed dont seem to read, (Philip Cohen, January 17, 1998) Harry Griffin says. He also noted the many risks involved. Nuclear transfer technology is advancing rapidly and as this technology advances the unacceptable risks outlined by Griffin will diminish. If theres a line in the sand defining the risk, then it will be shifting all the time, (Philip Cohen, January 17, 1998) argues Don Wolf. Last year Wolf and his colleagues announced that they had cloned two rhesus monkeys from one hundred and sixty-six cells. The US Governments National Institutes of Health is sponsoring Wolfs work because it could lead to genetically identical primates who could help to standardize research into AIDS and other diseases.
You can make cloning against the law but I think people will try anyway, says Jon Gordon of Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, an expert on the production of transgenic animals. Theyll do it because if they do, theyll never be forgotten. (Philip Cohen, January 17, 1998) However, the concerns around human cloning should not stifle or prevent the legitimate research that is being completed on cloning that will lead to benefits for mankind. Laws must be developed to prevent human cloning for unethical reasons. Many laws being introduced to ban human cloning, and some [that are] already on the statute books, have loopholes that might allow cloner's to evade them. (Nell Boyce, May 9, 1998) Human cloning is not even explicitly prohibited by Britain. In the 1990 Human Fertilization and Embryology Act, which is one of the worlds most thorough attempts at regulating human reproduction. The Law bans all kinds of cloning except for the Dolly technique, (Nell Boyce, May 9, 1998) says Barney Wyld, who is a spokesperson for the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority located in London.
Anyone who wants to clone a person would have to apply to the authority for permission, which would be declined. In the USA, the government has been trying to pass laws to ban cloning. California has already passed such a law and twenty-one other states have considered banning cloning also. Even some federal bills have been presented to the Congress. According to Lori Andrews an expert in the legal aspects of reproduction at the Chicago-Kent College of Law, the recent developments in technology makes much of the legislation obsolete. California's Cloning Ban prohibits cloning which involves replacing a human eggs nucleus with that of another human cell.
This law does not mention the fusing of the human cell with a cow cell that has been stripped of its nuclei. If the same technique can be used to produce normal human embryos then these laws can be circumvented. Other loopholes surface because of the poor wording. In some state bills it says that it prohibits cloning of a genetically identical person, but eggs carry mitochondrial DNA in their cytoplasm so a clone created by nuclear transfer would not have identical DNA. Even an airtight law can be challenged. For example, an infertile man is challenging the California State law because in the constitution it says that every person has the right to reproduce.
Cloning is just another form of reproduction, and the clone would have the same rights as any person would, as is stated under the Human Rights Act. (Nell Boyce, May 9, 1998) In other words, laws must be developed that can protect not only humans but clones as well. In that way unethical cloning can be eliminated and cloning can be used to improve the human condition, rather than to harm it. (Nell Boyce, May 9, 1998) Other concerns are often raised about cloning. People are concerned that it is unnatural. This is not the case. Some organisms in nature only reproduce using cloning such as bacteria and yeast.
Some snails and shrimp also reproduce through cloning. In nature, sexual reproduction is the only way to improve the genetic stock of a species, therefore most asexual species tend to die off. However, at least one a shrimp called Artemis parthenogenetic has survived for at least 30 million years. Many more species, including the aphid, reproduce by cloning most of the time.
They only reproduce sexually every few generations. Another fear is that some lunatic could clone Hitler if human cloning were perfected. In theory, this is possible but the result would not be what was planned. First, some living cells from his body would be required.
Unless they was frozen or otherwise preserved soon after death the cells would probably be unusable. More importantly, because of differences in the environment of the womb and upbringing the cloned Hitlers would not act, think or even necessarily look like the original. A further concern is that people could be cloned without conscious brains so their body parts could be harvested with fewer moral qualms. This is not possible as whatever consciousness is, it doesnt reside in any one-brain structure or set of genes that could be easily removed from the clone before or during its development. Moreover, attempting to surgically or genetically erase someones consciousness is itself morally and ethically questionable.
It would also be hard to know if the technique worked. A person can look and behave like a mindless vegetable but have a very active mind as is witnessed by the paralyzed French writer, Jean-Dominique Baby, who dictated a 130 -page novel by moving an eyelid. Movies and futuristic novels have raised the concern of creating super warriors or super-intelligent people through cloning. Although possible, scientists do not yet know enough about human genetics to do much improving of people. Because of ethical concerns, geneticists are concentrating on finding the causes of genetic diseases and then curing them. While cloning makes it easier to meddle with human and animal genes, even before recent discoveries a considerable amount of genetic improvement of animals was already taking place and accepted.
For example, a thoroughbred horse is basically genetically engineered. Finally, the concern for the soulless clone has arisen. Since identical twins and various kinds of test tube babies who have already been born have what we call a soul, it follows that a clone would have one too. Cloning is a very controversial issue. However, in any controversial issue it is important to look carefully at the benefits as well as the deficits. Cloning can be the answer to the shortage of donor organs.
It can also be matched with the knowledge of mapping DNA to cure life-threatening diseases. It can be used to make breeding of animals more efficient and it can help us decrease the number of endangered animals. It is true that much more research is needed to make sure that the technology is safe, both physically and morally. It is also true that ethical questions must be addressed and that laws must be written to protect all the parties, including the cloned.
It is important not to throw out the baby with the bath water. With issues of ethics and safety addressed there can be no doubt that cloning can definitely be a benefit to mankind and animal kind. Bibliography 1. Cohen, Philip. Organs without Donors. New Scientist.
July 11, 1998. web 2. Cloning made easy. New Scientist. November 14, 1998. web 3.
Pendick, Daniel. Clones unlimited. New Scientist. August 16, 1997.
web 4. Boyce, Nell. You want to clone? Go ahead! New Science. May 8, 1998 web 5.
Cohen, Philip. Crunch Time. New Science. January 24, 1998 web 6. Cohen, Philip. Crossing the Line.
New Science. January 17, 1998 web 7. Frequently Asked Questions. New Science. web
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Research essay sample on Human Rights Act Genetically Engineered
