Koplin 1 Braydan koplin English 1010 Section .082 I.

Peterson 4/28/2013

Is cloning worth it?

This question and many others were born when Scottish scientists at Roslin Institute created Dolly the sheep in 1996. A lot of people think that cloning is bad they say it is playing god and we should stop all cloning. But not all cloning research is focused on cloning whole organisms such as an animal. There are three main areas scientists work with cloning, which in general is the proses of taking biological material and making an exact copy of the biological material. The first is recombinant DNA technology, then reproductive cloning, and finally therapeutic cloning. When you hear about cloning in main stream media they are mostly talking about one type of cloning which is reproductive cloning. This is the area were most of the scrutiny is as well because it makes an entire living copy of an organism. The aavs or American AntiVivisection society is a proud group in ending animal cloning. They claim that there is too much animal suffering in cloning in many different parts of the cloning proses. Also

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therapeutic or embryo cloning gets a good amount of scrutiny cause how the whole proses starts with a human egg that has started to develop and stem cells are extracted and the egg is destroyed. Recombinant DNA technology is just one gene that they make copies of so they have more material so there is more to work with. So we have to ask ourselves is cloning morally and ethically right to keep investing in cloning research? In the article Full benefits of animal cloning a good 50 years away released by Gate 2 Biotech a web page that is all about Czech biotechnology. They say after Dolly was born it triggered a massive investment in cloning research. The main driving force behind this is to find cures for cancer and other crippling diseases. So far there have been cows and goats that have had their cells worked on so there milk has human antibodies and other proteins that are expensive and time consuming to make in labs. They think just over the horizon is harnessing the stem cell, The powerful pluripotent cells that can differentiate into any kind of tissues. This would allow cures to be created with the patients own DNA and their immune system would not reject it. Gate 2 Biotech says there needs to be more research in the medical applications of cloning and not so much in reproductive cloning. The human Genome project released information explaining what the three areas are used for and what is trying to be achieved with each. Recombinant DNA technology is like the first step to understanding other related technologies like gene therapy, genetic engineering of organisms, and sequencing genomes. Gene therapy can be used to treat specific genetic conditions through adding virus that carry corrected copies of faulty

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genes into the cells of someone who is sick. Genes from different organisms that improve taste and nutritional value or provide resistance to particular types of disease can be used to genetically engineer food crops. Reproductive cloning can be used to develop faster ways to reliably reproduce animals with special qualities. Reproductive cloning could be used to repopulate endangered animals or animals that are difficult to breed. Therapeutic cloning one day could be used to produce whole human organs from on cell or just replace damaged cells for diseases like Parkinsons. this could get rid of the need to be on an organ transplant list and going through the horrible experience of chemotherapy to treat cancer. Crystal Miller-Spiegel writes about De-extinction where scientist are trying to bring back extinct species such as the wooly mammoth. She says, Given the imperfect science of cloning, de-extinction would cause animal suffering. Most animals born from these experiments would suffer serious medical complications or deformities, dying soon after birth or having shortened lifespans - which would not do well for conservation efforts. In order for de-extinction to happen animals would have to be kept in captivity to be egg donors or surrogate mothers. In the case of the wooly mammoth a female elephant would have to carry the clone for two years. If these revived animals survive, where would they go? Their original habitats have changed. They are not likely to survive, but, if they did repopulate, they would impact their environment in unpredictable ways. If the animals born through de-extinction are stuck in zoos and museums instead, what good is that? It is exploitation, not a solution.

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In Fast facts about animal cloning the aavs says that even after years of research 95% of cloning attempts fail. Birth defects, physiological impairments, illness, and premature death continue to be the norm, not the exception, with cloning. Large Offspring Syndrome, a typically fatal condition associated with a host of abnormalities, occurs in over 50% of cow clones, but in fewer than 6% of conventionally bred animals. Hydrops, another typically fatal condition in which the animal swells with fluid, occurs in 28% of cow clones, but very rarely otherwise. A high rate of late-term pregnancy loss, pregnancy complications, painful labor, and surgical intervention is unique to clone pregnancies. 67% of Americans disapprove of cloning animals for food. Nearly 90% of adults think the government needs to ensure that the ethical issues related to animal cloning are publicly discussed before allowing cloned animals to be sold as food. The expert European Group on Ethics concluded that there is no ethical justification to clone animals. Organ Cloning is a web site that has a few web pages explaining organ cloning, they say, Therapeutic cloning is the one scientists hope will be successful for organ cloning. How this would happen is by cloning there DNA and putting it back in the person it would then grow. In theory the new organ would be an exact match and eliminate the need for anti-rejection drugs that cause problems to the donor recipients. A different possibility would be genetically modified pigs that would have organs suitable for human transplant. The pig would be used because they are the closest match to humans out of the animals that have been cloned to date. The technical and moral debate

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over organ cloning will continue for years to come. It is almost certain that organ cloning will eventually become a reality in some countries. They continue with some pros and cons to cloning. Cloning would make it easy for internal organ replacement for patients waiting for a suitable organ donor with a decreased risk of rejection. If couples are having trouble having a baby they could choose what traits of theirs they want to pass down to their kid. And then there is genetic research that can be used in a lot of genetic diseases. Also we could create superior plants and animals to feed humanity. On the negative side of the spectrum genetic diversity is reduced and that could lead to lack of adaptation to our ever changing environment. Unethical people could breed individuals with certain traits. The most prevalent argument is cloning is like an act of god creating an embryo that grows into a human. As the research continues so will the debate. As we take in account all the positive things that could come out of cloning. They could out way the negative if more research is done. Maybe we need to look in to the medical applications vs. animal cloning. It would have a huge impact on how we treat a variety of diseases. But then again if we are living longer we are going to have a big population boost. And there already is a food shortage so we would need to make more food for everyone. Know we just need to decide if cloning is worth it.