Development and Advancement of Science - Research Paper Example

Cloning An Analytical Report Introduction With the advancements and expansion of technology science has been able to achieve new wonders. These improvements and discoveries in science have allowed the human race to explore and learn more about the world. One such phenomenon is Cloning. Cloning has been one of the greatest leaps in technology that man has ever dreamed of. The word clone is originated from the Greek word which means sprout or branch. A Clone is a group of genetically identical cells. Cloning is the creation of an organism that is in an exact genetic copy of another. This means that they have similar genetic material i.e., DNA. (learn.genetics.utah.edu, 2007) Hans Spemann first envisioned cloning with differentiated cells by nuclear transfer technique in the year 1938.He conducted experiments on cloning organisms by extracting the nucleus of differentiated cell and inserting it into an enucleated fertilized egg, which he called the 'fantastical experiment'. (library.thinkquest.org) Cloning is a form of asexual reproduction which involves creating genetically identical genes or cells, plants or animals. The procedure of cloning is done by taking a gene from the animal or human and then putting that gene in another animals or human organisms. Scientists found out that cloning can also make identical twins by using a method called embryo splitting. T.A.Brown, a scientist, states that there are five basic steps of cloning A piece of DNA that contains the gene to be cloned is put into a DNA molecule called a vector to produce a recombined DNA molecule. The vector transports the gene to the host cell. In the host cell, the vector multiplies and makes many identical copies of itself and also of the gene. When the host divides, copies of the recombined DNA molecule and the gene are now said to be cloned. After many cell divisions, a clone of host cells is produced. Each cell has at least one copy of the recombined DNA, and the genes are cloned. (library.thinkquest.org) In July 1996, a team of Scottish scientists had the first cloning success. Dolly was the first ever cloned sheep. Therapeutic cloning is practiced to clone things such as organs and tissues for patients in need of them. Reproductive cloning is practiced for the purpose of actually producing a human that is genetically identical to somebody else. Human cloning is the creation of a genetically identical copy of an existing, or previously existing human, by growing cloned tissues from that individual. The term is generally used to refer to artificial human cloning; human clones in the form of identical twins are commonplace. Human cloning is amongst the most controversial forms of practice. One of the most ethically questionable problems with human cloning is farming of organs from clones. (Pence, 1998) Disadvantages of Cloning 1) Cloning has not been perfect yet. The cloning of sheep Dolly had 276 failures before successfully cloning a sheep. With these kinds of figures we should not even go near trying to demonstrate cloning on humans. 2) Aldous Huxley in his book the "Brave New World" illustrates the future with people having total loss of individuality, creativity, and freedom. This is because if humans are cloned then there would be a lot of same people in the future. This would cause trouble because none of these clones will have anything in unique about themselves. (ethicscommittee.ca, 2006) 3) The replacement of dead people: Cloning can only produce genetically identified people. The clone can never really be a substitute for another person. This is a disadvantage because there will be a social threat to the people and there will not be an end to the human life. Also we have to ask if it is justifiable from the ethical side. 4) The threat to genetic diversity and evolution: Clones are like brothers and sisters. Therefore genetic diversity is more and more destroyed by cloning and diseases can be easily spread under equal people. Humans already destroyed the natural evolution process by inventing all kinds of medicines. (grin.com,2002) 5) Human cloning is not advisable because it will greatly affect more and social issues. There is always a risk involved in human cloning. Governments have prohibited the scientists from human cloning. 6) The society will be broken into two classes of humans i.e., the gene-enhanced and those who were created naturally. Also people with hereditary diseases are likely to be excluded from the society and to become outsiders because their parents could not afford to test their baby for those diseases before it was born. Advantages of cloning 1) The reversion of the ageing process: We can reverse our own age by using cloning. It is the exact copy from an existing cell but has the advantage that it is not as old as the model. If a person would clone his body cells and have these cells implanted into the body when he is older, this person could renew his body. 2) The production of organs: Many people need organ donors but there are often not enough available and the risk that the body rejects the new organ is high. Many patients with an implanted organ need to take a lot of medicine with side effects each day for the rest of their lives to make sure that their body accepts the organ. The clone shares identical genes to the model and thereby the chances of rejection are nullified. 3) The chance to have children for infertile couples: Cloning could help infertile couples to have children. The solution for this is called as "in vitro fertilization". It's guaranteed that this technique is successful. 4) The improvement of reconstructive and cosmetic surgery: Reconstructive and cosmetic surgery could be improved with the help of cloning. Up to today cosmetic surgery can be risky because the used materials are foreign to the body. But with the help of this technique every person could change his appearance without any risk. 5) The curing of diseases that are incurable: Cloning can be used to cure currently incurable diseases. We may also be able to cure cancer by cloning. Using cloning to inquire after such diseases can save many lives. (grin.com,2002) Conclusion So is cloning good or bad Similar to any other technology, cloning has its advantages as well as disadvantages. Human cloning is not advisable because of the facts that there may be a chance of dangerous tendency to outgrow human control and become destructive think we should allow therapeutic cloning since this could really help people. The production of organs and tissue by using therapeutic cloning is practiced when there is no donor organ for the patient who needs it and he would have to die without the organ. I think it is also justifiable to help infertile couples with cloning to give them a baby. I believe that cloning is not safe enough to use on humans as it leads to many controversies and it very badly affects the life of human beings. Looking at both the advantages and disadvantages I observed that the advantages will further aid development and advancement of science in many ways by curing the incurable diseases and also in cosmetic surgery field and the disadvantages show that it will greatly affect moral and social issues. Though human cloning will improve the science society and human race there is a far greater risk involved in cloning humans. Furthermore, with the active involvement of government prohibiting human cloning and the controversy surrounding this issue it is an unjustified procedure to practice. Therefore, unless technology has improved to perfect the cloning procedure as well as an understanding of the moral issues behind human cloning is observed there should be no human clone present in our society. References: 1) Learn.genetics.utah.edu,2007 Definition of the word cloning, http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/units/cloning/whatiscloning 2) Pence, Gregory E. (1998). Who's Afraid of Human Cloning, Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 0-8476-8782-1 3) Library.thinkquest.org, "An article on cloning", Found at: http://library.thinkquest.org/C0122429/history/history.htm 4) Ethicscommittee.ca (2006), "An article on ethics of cloning which shows the disadvantages of cloning", http://www.ethicscommittee.ca/disadvantage-of-cloning.php 5) Grin.com (2002), An article on cloning, Found at: http://www.grin.com/en/fulltext/enh/20633.html Read More