Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Cloning: Do We Need More of You?


Cloning is the copying of an already existing individual. We are not just talking about a physical appearance similarity however, but a complete, exact genetic copy. But what most people do not realize is that there are clones amongst us in our day to day lives. Twins anyone? Now, I hope I’m not the only one when I say I wish I had a twin. Would not it be entertaining to fool people into thinking you are someone you really not?

However, what if your twin didn't have any responsibilities and were there simply just to be there in case you needed them. Wouldn't that be nice? I’d probably try and convince my clone to do all the things I wouldn’t want to do. But enough of that, let’s get some facts in here.

There are different ways of cloning. According to Human Genome Project Information website there is a type called reproductive cloning, recombinant DNA technology or DNA cloning, and therapeutic cloning. The understanding of these is critical to take a stance on the topic. DNA or recombinant DNA technologies cloning both refer to the same process: the transfer of a DNA fragment of interest from one organism to a self-replicating genetic element. If you didn’t follow exactly what that meant it means that you take the DNA you wish to replicate and put it into a foreign host cell to grow. This is done when scientists study genes.

Now on to reproductive cloning, which refers to the technology a scientist would use to generate a human or animal that has the same DNA as another that is existing or was once existing. With this may bring up Dolly in your mind. However you may not know who that is either. Dolly was a sheep that was the first mammal to be cloned. Now, on to therapeutic cloning.

Therapeutic cloning is also called embryo cloning and is the production of human embryos for research use. This isn’t done because scientists want to clone humans but to help save us by harvesting stem cells. Stem cells are used to study a human’s development and to treat disease. So who wouldn’t mind having some therapeutic cloning done.

Now, where will society stand...? Is this a good idea or bad?

This opens many doors for us to improve our way of life in the future but also any good technology can be used badly. In the future this could help us fight disease and make it possible to live longer, wouldn’t that be nice? But let’s hope this doesn’t get over board and make it possible for someone to make an entire army of killing machines all looking like the same individual, no one wants that.

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The two sites on cloning alone are free from bias and are government or education based sites so they are pretty accurate. The article on Dolly is for the general public and is probably a little biased. Overall, I believe these sites are quality sites and are there to create a better understanding of cloning.

"Cloning Fact Sheet." Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Web. 15 Sept. 2010. http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/elsi/cloning.shtml#whatis
"Dolly the Sheep." Science Daily: News & Articles in Science, Health, Environment & Technology. Web. 15 Sept. 2010. http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/d/dolly_the_sheep.htm
"What Is Cloning?" Learn.Genetics™. Web. 15 Sept. 2010. http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/tech/cloning/whatiscloning/

17 comments:

  1. No one wants an army of killing machines? I beg to differ. There are many nations on the planet that would love the idea of a clone army much like the ones in Starwars. I bet back in WWII the Germans and the Japanese wouldn't mind owning their own clone army. Both nations did experiments on humans. There's also Russia, Iraq, Israel, North Korea, etc.

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  2. I agree with tentsi's comment--of course there is always someone who wants to take the latest scientific and technological advances and use them in ways that may be unethical, immoral, dare I say even evil. That begs the question: what is a scientist's responsiblity when it comes to the potential ethical or unethical uses of his or her advancements? Should such considerations be made before research is done? Should they impact what research is done? Or is the scientist merely working as an impartial experimenter, leaving these kinds of difficult questions for her culture and society to figure out?

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  4. I think cloning is a tricky thing. The process is very complicated it seems to me. Also from what you said it could be dangerous in a way especially if people want to use cloning in negative ways. It also could be a good thing from what you mentioned about the researching part of it. There also though could be some risk in that. I really believe overall from what i read and know that cloning is a very tricky thing that i think the world needs to be careful with.

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  5. Dear Jessica,
    First, let me warn you about wishing for a twin. It’s not all fun and games as it sounds. My grandmother was an identical twin, and she tells of stories of having to be dressed identically to her sister and having to spend the entirety of her life correcting people who mistook her for her sister. The first time might be funny, but after a while. . .
    What I would be more interested in is self-replicating, being able to create some sort of temporary doppelganger that would allow me to be in two places at once for periods of time.
    Being able to create stem Cells that could save lives and heal disease would be a fantastic thing. However, what keeps scientist from doing this already is our society’s inability to come to a consensus about what is life. Many believe that the embryos the scientist will create and possibly destroy would be the beginning of human lives. This leads to the question, is it really OK to kill others in order to save ourselves?
    Then again, I could be wrong and usually am. All I ask is that one listens to all sides and thinks before moving to act.
    Thank you for your time and ideas,
    -Jesston

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  6. Cloning overall sounds like a really dangerous thing to do. If people are using cloning in negative ways there is no telling what could happen to our society. I think that cloning is a very interesting topic because it has always been looked upon as science fiction and now it might be becoming more of a reality which is really wild when you think about it.

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  7. I agree with Colby that cloning is extremely dangerous. It's potential is very exciting however. I would love to have my own twin and agree with Jessica that it would most certainly make life a lot easier on how quickly homework, chores, work, and other tasks were done. Especially if I didn't even have to do it!

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  8. I am 100% positive cloning will become a very easy process to undertake with the continuing advancements in science and especially in technology. However, the role scientists play and the purpose for which their advancement is used are completely unrelated. A scientists is a person who undertakes the task of combining previous knowledge to discover new ideas and concepts to further our thirst for understanding. The purpose for how it is used is left completely open. To restrict who is allowed to know fact undermines the motives the scientist had in discovering it in the first place. Also as history shows with the the atomic bomb, by the time we realize what negative potential the results hold....its too late.

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  9. I agree that when dealing with the cloning of humans it can only bring about negative actions.The world is already overpopulated and there is no need for us to add exact copies to the world. I believe that the cloning of animals has the possibility to be beneficial to humanity. It could allow us to increase production of food allowing us to feed more people.

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  10. I think its really weird that we can start cloning. It almost reminds me of Frankenstein or somebody trying to "play God" by creating life. Its great that we can replicate cells to fight disease, but I would hate it if we could start cloning people. Everybody would lose their identity!

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  11. After reading the "Risks of Cloning" section off the cloning fact sheet it kind of brings your imagination back to reality. The health of a cloned individual is usually poor. Scientist have yet to produce a clone with long-term survival even if the individual seemed strong. I think everyone could agree that it's more a matter of when they can improve or perfect this science than if.

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  12. The idea of cloning freaks me out, just a little bit. Well, not all cloning mostly reproductive cloning freaks me out. It reminds me of the latest Dick reading we had to do. He didn't seem to keen on his love being cloned a bunch of times. It seems like a dangerous thing to dabble in until they get all the technology down pat.

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  13. I also agree with tentsi there is a large potential for cloning to go awry, but not only by creating a clone army. We have enough problems with identity theft today that allowing someone the capacity to make an exact replica of another human being could be catastrophic. Someone could clone you without your knowledge, then teach them to take advantage of your identity.

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  14. I feel that cloning something could only lead to problems. If someone carries a disease and is cloned, doesn't their clone also have it? Could the disease then mutate to become a super-germ?

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  15. Cloning doesn't really seem like an impending threat. First off, we're already looking at over population, so theres no need for a labor force or any new large bodies of booming population. Secondly, the idea that someone would actually build a clone army is kind of naive. The idea that a clone would be an empty vessel is wrong, they'd have a mind of their own just like any other human. You'd also have to spend billions engineering the army then waiting years for them to grow up to become a reasonable threat. Look around the world, there's plenty of people who are willing to be manipulated into killing each other , who in fact are not clones. We've never needed copies of ourselves to ensure wide spread acts of homicide. What it would ultimately come down to is money and the most likely outcome of cloning technologies would be people paying to have individual organs cloned and not a whole person. that'd significantly more expensive and entire into a moral debate. Even in that case though, we have even shrinking telomeres on the ends of our chromosomes which presents another set of problems. Basically, cloning is lame.

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  16. I think cloning could bring about major changes in our world, good and bad. It could get really confusing when you are interacting with a clone because you wouldn't ever be sure if that was a real person or their clone. There is also the possibility that things could go wrong in the process of cloning and the clone could turn out to be a negative addition to our society. However, cloning might be beneficial to cancer research or other medical research.

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  17. I don't see cloning as much of a dangerous decision as much as I see it as an ethical issue. You never know what will actually happen to the clone once it is alive. The questions about the clone's well-being are a huge stopper in human cloning.

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