Cloning

The ethics of 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. I will begin by first defining exactly what cloning is. Then, I will give specific physical locations of my investigation and name the principal stockholding groups. Next, I will explore the pros and cons of human cloning and provide enough information of both sides of the arguments in order to make an informed decision on whether human cloning is ethical or not. Then a brief explanation of what questions are concerning to individualizes in cloning humans. 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.

The first thing that must be cleared up is what is cloning, and what a clone is. Many different groups and organizations define it differently. To use a specific definition, the American Medical Association (AMA) defines 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). But human cloning may be divided into two categories: reproductive cloning and therapeutic cloning. In reproductive cloning, the cloned embryo is implanted in a woman's uterus, where it potentially results in pregnancy and the birth of a cloned human being. Therapeutic cloning, on the other hand, allows scientists to create an abundant source of stem-cells for research purposes.

The cloning we will concentrate on most is; the method of a produce 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. (Please refer to the illustration on the next page for understanding) 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.

Method of Nuclear Transfer in Livestock

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 is very active. There is still much for scientists to learn about cell differentiation and how it works. To clone an organ, a stem cell must be produced and then used to 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 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 did, with different experiences and different opportunities. Genetics does not solely define a person and the personality.

This all began, in 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). Scientists accomplished this by using frozen mammary cells taken from a sic-year-old pregnant ewe and fusing them with an enucleated egg. In other words when you cut yourself, new skin grows over the wound because skin cells are 'programmed' to produce new skin. This is vital while you are healing or growing and even means we can grow some cells - such as human skin - in the laboratory. In contrast to this, a newly fertilized egg contains 'stem' cells, which are capable of becoming any of the hundreds of different types of cell in the body - skin, muscle, brain cells etc.

The challenge faced by Dolly's creators was to take a fully programmed adult cell and return it to this state - or de-program it if you would. The trick to fusing the cells is giving a small electric current to the Petri dish on which the egg cell is. This stimulates the egg much like a sperm would. And usually takes the genetic material from the cell and becomes a zygote. They let this zygote grow into an embryo, and then transplant the embryo in a recipient ewe, acting as a surrogate mother (Wilmut). Before this, cloning was thought to be impossible, but now there is living proof that the technology and knowledge to clone animals exists. Questions began to arise with in governments and scientific organizations and they began to respond. Are humans next? 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. A whole new concept in ethics was created when the birth of Dolly was announced.

The public responded to Dolly with a mixture of fear and excitement, questioning the benefits and the disasters that could happen in the future if research was to continue. From a poll taken by Maurice Bernstein, M.D., the results showed that 72% of the votes said that law should prohibit cloning. They believe that cloning for any reason would be an unethical and immoral thing to do (Bernstein).

There are a great number of possible medical benefits through cloning and its technology. The possibility through cloning technology we will learn to renew activity of damaged cells by growing new cells and replacing them. So in other words, the capability to create humans with identical genetic makeup, to act as organ donors for each other. The benefit of studying cell differentiation at the same time that cloning is studied and developed. Sterile couples will be able to have an offspring with either the mother's or father's genetic pattern. There are not just potential medical benefits, but potential harms and disadvantages. They include the possibility of compromising individualities and the loss of genetic variation. A "Black Market" of fetuses may arise from desirable donors that will want to be able to clone