Political Science Major
This website (and subsequent PowerPoint presentation) will discuss the topic of cloning plants and animals (including humans!). It will be divided into six main categories, which you will find below: What Is Cloning?, Plant Cloning, Animal Cloning, Human Cloning, Religious and Ethical Issues of Cloning, and To Ban or Not to Ban?
Before I begin telling you all these fascinating facts about cloning, I think it’s appropriate to give you some definitions. After all, you need to know what we’re talking about, right?
Cloning can be defined in a variety of ways:
1. Cloning according to Dictionary.com.
2. Creating a new organism or individual by copying the genetic material of only one original organism. (Brinton, 2)
3. A population of cells all descended from a single cell. (Hyperdictionary)
I will also have hyperlinks throughout the website, leading you to a dictionary site for any terms I feel may be unclear. Please, take the time to read over the definitions of these terms before my presentation, as I will assume you know what they mean during discussion.
Plants have been “cloning” (reproducing asexually in this case) since the beginning of time. The first known written reference to cloning can actually be found in the Bible—Romans 11:17, 24 for those of you who are curious (Salisbury, 1). People, too, have been cloning plants for centuries, using a different process. Sometime around 5000 B.C. this process involved merely planting the seeds of the “best” or “strongest” plants in a crop, so that the following year’s crop had those characteristics (MSNBC, 1).
#1. Apomixis
Many plants use a process called Apomixis. Apomixis is defined as "reproduction without meiosis, or formation of gametes." To break this down for you (it has been some time since basic biology!) this means that the plant, in our case, reproduces itself without forming reproductive cells (sperm and egg cells--also known as gametes) through cell division; essentially, the plant reproduces on its own (asexually) rather than through the joining of egg and sperm. Because these plants reproduce on their own, the resulting offspring are considered clones of the parent plant. Potatoes, sunflowers, most grass varieties, and many other common plants use this as their only means of reproduction. Many trees, too, use this process--there may be whole forests of trees that are identical clones of one another because one tree sprouted its roots and those roots formed new trees! (History of Cloning, 1)
Types of Apomixis
There are several ways that plants can use the process of apomixis (Asexual Reproduction, 1).
1. Stolon: A stolon is the aboveground branch, or runner, from which new plants can grow. Strawberry plants, for example, send out branches (called runners) and where those runners take root, a new strawberry plant is formed that is identical to the original plant (McGregor, 1).
2. Rhizome: A rhizome will use the same idea as the stolon—the runner—but rhizomes run them underground, and wait for them to take root as new plants. Asparagus and lily of the valley both reproduce through these means (Wikipedia, 1). Many of the common grass types—Bermuda grass, Kentucky bluegrass, creeping red fescue, to name a few—also use this means of propagation (Developmental Phases, 2).
3. Tubers: Tubers use underground stems to produce new plants from themselves. Potatoes are the most common tuber that reproduces this way (Asexual Reproduction, 2).
4. Bulbs: Plants can form underground bulbs, or bundles, which will form copies of the plant. Many garden flowers, such as crocus and tulips, reproduce this way. Garlic also replicates in this fashion (Asexual Reproduction, 2).
#2.
Cutting
The second way to clone plants is often the method used by humans. Humans have been using this method for centuries to improve their cultivated crops (Brinton, 2). Cutting is the process of using roots or stems to create a new plant (Brinton, 2). Usually the best way to do this is to cut a root or branch off a plant that you'd like to make a copy of and stick the cut branch/root in water, or soil. The cells in your cutting will divide and double in size approximately every six weeks until your cutting forms new roots of it's own, and begins to function as its own plant (How Do You Clone A Perfect Plant?, 2). When it is grown it will be an identical copy of the plant from which you took the original cutting.
Now that you know how plants clone themselves, and how humans can also clone plants, we must ask ourselves: why do it?
There are a variety of reasons that plant cloning is researched.
1. Better, Faster Varieties:
The Good: Through introducing the asexual reproduction to some crops, better, faster-growing quantities can be achieved. One example comes from pearl millet. In the United States, pearl millet is fed mostly as a cattle feed, but in many countries such as Africa, it is a staple of human diets. Cultivated pearl millet needs reproduced through sexual means, whereas it’s wild cousin reproduced by apomixis (Haire, 1). Scientists can introduce apomixis to cultivated millet through hybrids with wild millet, this food source will become easier to produce, and easier to produce the strongest aspects of.
The Bad: Scientists are having trouble locating the specific gene that causes a plant to reproduce through asexual means. Until this gene is found and understood, millet cannot be properly combined with it’s cousin, and made easier to multiply (Haire, 1).
2. Greater Genetic Variety:
By using cloning methods as opposed to sexual reproduction, only the strongest, hardiest plants can be used. This can eliminate problems like disease, weakness, or insect problems which allows humans to make their food supply healthier and creates only the most perfect fruits and vegetables for consumption (Cloning, 2).
One example of a plant disease that is being worked on right now using cloning is blackspot disease, which is a bacterium that damages pepper and tomato crops in Florida and other humid regions (Moffat, 3). Scientists have discovered the genes associated with tolerance to this bacterium, and are working to clone more pepper and tomato plants with these genes for farmers in humid areas.
3. Promote Dwarfism:
Another use for cloning in plants is to achieve dwarf plants. In many varieties, a shorter "dwarf" plant is desirable. Wheat and rice, for example, do best when they are short crops because they are less prone to damage from wind and rain, and it allows the plant to put more of it's resources into the grains, instead of into long stems (Moffat, 3).
(in the real world)
Recently, plant cloning has been used for a variety of creative subjects. Below are four examples of how plant cloning is being used in today’s world.
1. Date Trees (BBC News, 1):
After ending an eight-year war with Iraq, Iran found itself with a shortage of date trees. As many as 3.5 million of the fruit-bearing trees were destroyed in the fighting. Dates, which are a huge part of Iran’s exporting market, are known for their lengthy maturity. By using cloning, however, scientists have allowed Iran another option. Using one parent tree, scientists will begin cloning date trees, so that Iran can get back on its feet as soon as possible. Since date fruit trees often take eight to ten years to mature, scientists have also manipulated these cloned trees so that they will reach full fruit maturity in only four years. This cut of half the time will allow Iran to return to its date industry in a significantly shorter period of time.
2.Trees at Mount Vernon (Grow, 1):
Experts are cloning trees in hopes of replenishing the forests around Mount Vernon, home of our first President, George Washington. The huge forests around the property have been cut down in the past century, and those huge trees that remain were planted under the guidance of Washington. The experts’ goal is to clone these massive trees from Washington’s time, and replenish those trees lost over the last century.
3. Champion Tree Project (TERRA, 1):
The same experts who are involved at Mount Vernon started this project. The Champion Tree Project seeks to clone all of the truly giant, old trees in America. This project is a really great idea, and I encourage you to check out the link (above, linked as TERRA), if not to read the site, to check out the massive trees they’re working on.
4.Cloning The Oldest Tree (CNN, 1):
A group is trying to clone what they believe may be the oldest tree in the world. The tree is a bristle cone pine, which was age-dated by a core sample to be about 4,767 years old. The tree was dubbed “Methuselah”, which is Biblical, but in actuality, the tree would’ve predated Christ by almost 3,000 years (WOW!).
5.Self-Reproducing Corn (Charles, 1):
(Charles, 1) Scientists are working on trying to develop a variety of corn which will reproduce through asexual means. Currently, cultivated corn requires sexual reproduction. There is, however, one wild cousin to our cultivated corn that replicates through apomixis. By joining the wild and cultivated varieties of corn, it could be possible to make cultivated corn reproduce asexually. This new type of corn would be high-yield, would be easier to share amongst farmers, easier to plant from year to year, and would be less expensive than the corn we grow today.
(A Brief History of Cloning, 2)
While plant cloning has been happening for centuries, animal cloning is much more recent. The first of the big discoveries for animal cloning came in 1902 when Walter Sutton showed the world that chromosomes hold genetic information. This started a wave of experiments on genetic information, which leads us to the next big event: also in 1902, another scientist named Hans Spemann successfully divided a salamander embryo into two embryo cells. His experiment proved that embryo cells can be split and each will still retain all of the genetic information needed to form two new organisms. Hans Spemann continued his work and in 1928 he performed the very first nuclear transfer experiment (We’ll get into nuclear transfer shortly). Hans Spemann continued his work, and in 1938 proposed an experiment that, “transfers one cell’s nucleus into an egg without a nucleus,” which is the basic concept of cloning animals today (A Brief History of Cloning, 2)! After a lengthy rest period in the world of cloning, two scientists, Briggs and King, came out with information that they had cloned tadpoles in 1952. 1953 brought the discovery of the structure of DNA, and nine years later John Gurdon clones frogs from two very different cells. Finally in 1963 we have the coining of the word “clone” by a British biologist named J.B.S. Haldane. 1977 brings news of cloned mice from only one parent from the laboratories of Karl Immensee, and in 1979 he also announces he’s cloned three mice. This was an important announcement as it came at a time when many failed attempts to clone were beginning to convince the biology world that cloning a mammal was impossible (History of Cloning 2, 2). Between Imensee’s two discoveries, however, David Rorvik published a book in 1978 entitled The Cloning of a Man, which began the huge debate on cloning ethics. Finally by the 1980’s experiments with cloning were prevalent enough to make the Supreme Court rule that live, human-made organisms are patent-able. In 1983 a pair named Solter and McGrath fuse a mouse embryo and an egg with no nucleus, but they are unsuccessful in making a clone. 1984 brings us the first news of a technique called “twinning” (discussed later) by a Danish scientist named Steen Walladsen. 1990 beings the Human Genome Project, and in 1997 Dolly the sheep, the first animal cloned from an adult cell, is born. Richard Seed announces his plans to clone a human in 1997, and in 1998 a pair of scientists in Hawaii discover a new way to clone mice (known as the Honolulu technique later in the website). 2001 brings us the first attempt to clone an endanger species, an Asian ox called a gaur, which died two days after birth from an ordinary disease. For more cloning history please see this site.
There are two primary techniques used to clone mammals: “twinning”, and nuclear transfer. Under the heading of nuclear transfer, however, are two very different techniques for “prepping” the cells to clone, called the Roslin and Honolulu techniques.
1. Twinning:
"Twinning" is often referred to as the other natural way to clone, along with apomixis. Twinning results in identical twins, both in humans and in other species. During twinning, the fertilized egg splits for unknown reasons, and produces two identical organisms with the same genetic makeup (Biotechnology and the Consumer, 2). Related, though not entirely the same, is a process called "embryo twinning." While twinning ocurrs naturally, embryo twinning is often done by scientists. Embryo twinning occurs when a fertilized egg begins dividing. Let's say, for example, that the fertilized egg develops into a six-celled embryo. Scientists then seperate those six cells and plants each cell individually into six separate surrogate mothers. The result is six separate organisms which are all genetically identical (Three Ways To Clone Mammals, 1). Embryo twinning is the type of cloning which scientists do that deals only with embryonic cells (Biotechnology and the Consumer, 2). This process is often used in cattle, to produce many copies of a particularly good breeding combination.
2. Nuclear Transfer:
(Three Ways to Clone Mammals, 2) Nuclear transfer requires two cells, a donor cell and an oocyte (fancy word for egg!) cell. It helps if the egg cell is unfertilized, because it makes acceptance of the donor’s nucleus go more smoothly. The nucleus of the egg cell must be removed before transfer can begin. This gets rid of most of the egg cell’s genetic information, leaving it almost “blank” and ready to accept the new, donor nucleus. The donor cell is then forced into a stage called Gap Zero, or, G0, where the cell shuts down all processes, but doesn’t die. The techniques used to achieve G0 are the Roslin and Honolulu techniques, which will be discussed shortly. Once the donor cell is in G0 stage, the donor cell’s nucleus can be inserted into the dormant egg. The egg cell is then prompted artificially to begin forming an embryo. When this happens, the embryo is then transplanted into a surrogate mother and if all goes well, a perfect replica of the donor animal will be born. This type of cloning by scientists deals with adult DNA cells—the donor cells in nuclear transfer experiments generally come from adult mammals (Biotechnology and the Consumer, 2). Here is one diagram of nuclear transfer.
Both techniques described below are part of nuclear transfer. Roslin and Honolulu techniques are different ways to put the cells in G0 stage.
A.
Roslin Technique:
(Three Ways To Clone Mammals, 2) The Roslin technique is the one from which the sheep Dolly resulted. Because of this, the Roslin technique has gotten a lot more attention in the media. The Roslin Institute realized that unless the egg cell and the donor cell were in the same stage of the cell cycle, the egg cell would reject the nucleus from the donor cell. The donor cell had to be in G0 in order for the egg to accept it. To do this, they took the donor cell and "starved" it, giving it only enough nutrients so that it would shut down (G0 stage) but not die completely. They then placed the enucleated egg cell next to the starved donor cell and used an electric pulse to fuse the egg and donor cells together. The electric pulse also makes the egg think it's been fertilized, and the egg cell begins to develop an embryo from the nucleus of the donor cell it just received.
This technique is not perfect, though. Often when attempting this procedure, many pairs of egg and donor cells are needed. Case in point, to create Dolly they used 277 pairs of egg and donor cells, and only one (which resulted in Dolly) made it. The reason is believed to be that many cells do not survive the electric pulse. If the embryo survives, it is allowed to grow outside the body (in vitro) for about six days. Then it is placed in the oviduct of the surrogate mother, and then later transferred to that animals uterus. If all goes well, the resulting baby will be an identical genetic clone of the donor animal.
Here is a really good animation of this technique, please take a moment and watch it. Click Here.
B. Honolulu Technique:
(Three Ways to Clone Mammals, 3): In 1998, two scientists in Hawaii announced they had successfully produced three generations of cloned mice. This was a great achievement because mice had been known in the science world to be very difficult to work with, because their egg cells begin dividing instantly after fertilization, whereas many mammals eggs wait several hours, giving scientists a window to work in. The other major event connected to this Hawaiian team was that their success rate was also much higher than the Roslin Institute’s---Dolly required 277 tries, with only 1 success, the Honolulu team came out with three clones out of every 100 attempts! Instead of using the Roslin technique of starving the donor cell, the Honolulu team decided to use donor cells which were naturally in G0 stage for most of their being. These three types of cells were Sertoli cells (from the testes), brain cells, and cumulus cells (cells that surround the egg cell when it is contained in the ovaries). Sertoli cells and brain cells are always found in G0 stage, and cumulus cells vary back and forth between the desired G0 and G1. The scientists took these G0 nuclei and inserted them into enucleated mouse egg cells. Unlike the Roslin technique, the joined cells are immediately placed in the mammal to begin its growth. After six hours it was again removed, and placed in a special culture filled with a substance (cytochalasin B) that stops the cell from creating a polar body. The polar body is a second cell that takes half the genes from the egg cell and prepares it to receive sperm. Since cloning doesn’t require sperm, the polar body must be stopped so that the full set of genes is present. Once the polar body has been stopped, the cell is transplanted into a surrogate mother and carried until birth. The Honolulu technique is most successful with cumulus cells, so most of the mice cloned were done so from these cells.
*Here is an animation of the Honolulu technique, also. Click Here.
Here is a list and some information on some of the animals that have been successfully cloned to date.
1.
Sheep:
(Bioexchange, 1) In 1997 when news of the cloned sheep Dolly spread, the world was buzzing with thoughts of cloning. She was special in that she was the first mammal to be cloned using nuclear transfer and the Roslin technique--from an adult donor cell. Prior to this no one had been successful cloning with an adult donor cell--only embryo cells. Sadly, though, Dolly was euthanized in early 2003 because of a lung infection.
2.
Mule:
(Guardian Unlimited, 2)“Idaho Gem” is the first equine to be cloned. He was born May 14, 2003, and is an identical clone of his champion racing brother, Taz. Since then, the first horse has been cloned also.
3. Cat:
(Guardian Unlimited, 2) A kitten dubbed "CC" (CopyCat) is the first of the domesticated pets to be cloned.
4. Pigs:
(Guardian Unlimited, 2)Five cloned pigs were born on Christmas Day in 2001, and the scientists that created them call them “knockout pigs.” These pigs are an experiment, which steps closer to being able to “grow” organs for human transplant. When they cloned the pigs, they took away the gene to which human immune systems react badly.
5.
Cattle:
(Guardian Unlimited, 3) Though embryo twinning has been used in the cattle industry for decades, in 1998 a pair of cloned calves were born in Japan. The special nature of these cattle was that they were cloned using nuclear transfer---much the same technique used to create Dolly the sheep.
6.
Monkey:
(Guardian Unlimited, 3) ANDi (DNA backwards!) is the first rhesus monkey to be cloned. Scientists are still studying how to clone monkeys using nuclear transfer, however, and ANDi was created through embryo twinning.
7. Armadillo:
(Steane, 1) Scientists have discovered that when 9-banded armadillos breed, they routinely produce four babies which are identical clones of the mother.
8: Rats:
(Washington Post, 1) Rats were significantly more difficult to clone than mice because their eggs begin to change almost as soon as they leave the ovaries. Researchers in France, however, have finally been successful in cloning them.
9.
Python:
(Sherwood, 48) This is by far the most interesting of the cloned animals, I think. A python at the Arris Zoo in Amsterdam has cloned herself. While studying "Mary's" eggs, a curator discovered that about 40% of her eggs contained replicas of herself. Some snake species are known to reproduce without the need for sperm, but until Mary, no one had documented it in pythons.
10:
Gaur:
(Lanza, 1) The gaur is an Asian ox, which is the first endangered species to be attempted for cloning. The gaur cell was placed in an ordinary cow’s uterus to be carried to term. Sadly, the baby gaur died two days after birth, from an ordinary cow disease.
(Lanza, 2)
1. African Bongo Antelope
2. Sumatran Tiger
3. Giant Panda
There are many uses for animal cloning that scientists hope to achieve in the near future. Below I've listed a few of these goals, and I've divided them into two categories: Medical and Animal. Medical will contain predominately medical uses of cloning animals, for humans, while the Animal group will contain uses for the animals themselves.
Medical
(Medical Uses for Animal Cloning, 1)
1. Proteins:
Researchers have used cloning to insert human genes into animals, allowing those animals to produce proteins, which can help treat human diseases (i.e. diabetes). Researchers have been successful in creating a herd of identical cattle, which can produce human serum albumin protein. This protein is crucial to maintain fluid balance in humans, and is often given to patients who have lost a significant amount of blood. Other diseases such as hemophilia, cystic fibrosis, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s disease may also benefit from these animals which create proteins. Proteins are often only recommended for inherited disorders, however, and provide little relief to those with uninherited or non-genetic disorders. For more information on what proteins are, and how they help, go here.
2. Research:
Animal cloning allows scientists to create better models to study unexplained conditions, such as aging, or Parkinson’s disease. On the forefront of aging, researchers have discovered that cloning can sometimes create cells that thrive longer than normal. While this is still being studied, it’s possible that these cloned cells would allow for a longer lifespan, and organs that would last longer.
3. Organs:
Another potential use for animal cloning is perhaps one day producing genetically altered animals which contain organs that would be compatible with the humans. Xenotransplantation would alleviate some of the pressure on getting organs from humans for transplant. Pigs are at the forefront of these experiments, because they are cheap, abounding, easy to breed, and their organs are about the same size as human organs. Researchers must find a way to deal with the genetic differences between pigs and humans before this type of transplant can actually happen. For more on xenotransplantation, go here.
Animal
1. Livestock:
Through cloning, livestock can be created which are immune to many diseases (Lazaron BioTechnologies, 3). This would lower the amount of drugs in our meat products (like antibiotics in chicken!) The quality of meat could also be improved, creating pigs and cattle with more lean meat and less fat. It would also be used to create milk cows which produce more milk than the average dairy cow (Future of Cloning, 1).
2. Endangered Species:
Using cloning can provide the world with more of the animals now listed as endangered. Cloning could also help vary the genetic codes of those endangered species with very few remaining. In some cases, like the Giant panda, hopes are that cloning will allow a viable way to breed these animals, which are shy to breed in captivity.
3. Aid Animals:
(Lazaron BioTechnologies, 3) Hope is that cloning can help create more Seeing Eye Dogs, and search and rescue animals. Though the Seeing Eye Dogs would still need to be trained, it would provide the organizations, which deal with these animals with a steady, same dog to work with over and over. Search and rescue dogs are often chosen for their scenting skills, and researchers hope that it would be passed on through cloning.
4. Research:
(The Benefits of Animal Cloning, 1) By using cloned animals for research, fewer animals will be necessary. Because cloned animals are genetically the same, using these animals will provide a standard base for all animals testing.
(Bren, 28)
There are many great uses for animal cloning, but one must remember it is still a relatively new process. Because it has yet to be perfected, there are several dangers of cloning.
1. Birth Weight:
Mammals born from cloned cells often have a much higher birth weight than a baby born of a normal sexual reproduction. For example, a normal baby cow can weight up to 90 pounds at birth, but there have been documented cloned births as large as 150 pounds!
2. Gestation Period:
Cloned animals tend to remain in the womb longer than naturally conceived ones, which, along with large birth weight, often makes for difficult births for the surrogate mother. Cesarean sections are often used in cloned births.
3. Invasive Procedures:
While cloning itself is a non-invasive procedure, the removal of oocyte cells from the surrogate mother is often a painful ordeal.
4. Survival Rate:
The survival rate of cloned fetuses is very low, which makes the pain in #3 all the less worth it for the animal. Those fetuses that do survive are often plagued with health problems such as heart and lung diseases.
5. Mind-Boggling Possibilities:
There are also several sci-fi type scenarios to be concerned about. For example, scientists are attempting to clone a woolly mammoth from a cell taken from a frozen mammoth that was found. They will attempt to plant the mammoth cell in an Asian elephant. It is a low possibility that it will work, because scientists believe the cell is damaged from being frozen and thawed over 20,000 years (Animal Cloning and Preserving Endangered Species, 1). But think about it---a woolly mammoth???
While researching the cloning of animals, it is inevitable that you'll find sites about cloning your pet. When Dolly was created, people began to enquire about having their favorite cat or dog cloned. All of the pet-cloning sites provide freezing for cells from your pet, until cloning methods for domesticated animals has been perfected. Such sites as www.savingsandclone.com, www.animalcloningsciences.com, and www.perpetuate.com/index.html all offer cell-freezing services in hopes of cloning pets one day. What will this procedure cost, you ask? Well, at www.animalcloningsciences.com the estimated "gene banking" (this is the cell freezing) price is $595 (Animal Cloning and Big Business, 1). That does not include the cloning when (and if!) the procedure is perfected in your lifetime. That's $600--just to freeze your dog's cells. So maybe you have a bigger pet--a horse or a cow you'd love to replicate. What will that cost you? Well, a cloning company called CloneConsult estimates it will cost you about $2 million to clone your favorite cow. Yes, $2 million (Animal Cloning and Big Business, 1). If you'd like to check out more of what these people have to say, I recommend www.savingsandclone.com. There you will find the story of the "Missy Project" ---the first people to come forward with a lump sum of money for somebody to figure out how to clone their dog.
Human
cloning is a hotly debated topic in today’s world. For my take on this
controversial subject, I’d like to first arm you all with some knowledge about
it. First off, know that human cloning if ever perfected, will most
likely be done with nuclear transfer. I talked extensively about this process in
my Animals section, please feel free to go back and review that section now.
There are two types of human cloning that should be considered.
1.
Reproductive Cloning:
Reproductive cloning occurs when an organism is created from another organism, and they are genetically identical (King, 1). This is the case with Dolly the sheep, for example. In layman’s terms, reproductive cloning would be creating a child from a single human being.
2. Therapeutic Cloning:
This type of human cloning is the type that has gotten the most news time in the past few years. Therapeutic cloning involves cloning human embryo cells to get totipotent cells from them (King, 2). Totipotent cells are sort of the precursor to specialized cells—they can be turned into any type of cell. Normally, these totipotent cells are used by the newly created embryo to produce the tissues and cells that the new life form would need to survive (King, 2). In respect to cloning, these cells would be used to create new nerve cells, heart cells, and so forth, to help ailing patients. “Stem cell” is the trigger phrase associated with therapeutic cloning, and stem cells will be discussed in detail next.
Stem cells are a form of totipotent cell. They are created in a newly formed embryo, before specialization tasks are given out to the cells. This makes the stem cells easy to manipulate—they will turn into any type of cell they are triggered to. There are two types of stem cells used in cloning.
(Embryo Stem Cell Picture)
1. Embryo Stem Cells:
Embryonic stem cells are totipotent cells taken from a newly formed embryo. This is the type of cell that holds the most promise for researchers, because these cells are “fresh” and have not been given any type of direction yet. This makes it much easier to assign them tasks, such as forming nerve cells, or heart cells or even creating another human being. The big controversy surrounding embryonic stem cells is that researchers want to create embryo’s, take the stem cells after 10 days of growth, and allow the rest of the embryo to die (Zanondella, 1). Many people feel the embryo is a life and should not be discarded so quickly.
2. Adult Stem Cells:
Adults, too, have stem cells throughout their lives. Adult stem cells help repair damage to the body. Where embryonic stem cells are totipotent, adult stem cells are believed to be multipotent (which is more limited as to what they can become) (What Are Stem Cells?, 1). They are believed to be slightly less flexible than their embryonic counterparts. For this reason, the embryonic cells are greatly desired, but, adult stem cells are more widely availabe, and with significantly less controversy. Adult stem cells are also often limited in number, while embryonic stem cells can multiply fruitfully (Goho, 1). For example, one embryo would create enough neurons (nerve cells) to treat 10 million Parkinson's patients (Goho, 1).
Recently researchers have discovered that there may be more problems with stem cell cloning than originally thought. Studying mice, scientists have discovered “serious abnormalities” which strengthens the argument against using stem cells to clone humans (Recer, 1). The mice appeared to be normal at first, however there was genetic evidence that during embryonic and fetal development the genes did not work properly (Recer, 1). The theory now holds that those animals that are closest to normal make it to birth, but researchers are wary to say that any of the cloned mammals are completely normal (Recer, 1). The problem is not with altered genes, per say, but with how the genes make proteins. Basically, the “biological blueprint” is fine, but the way the blueprint was read and carried out is wrong (Recer, 1).
1. Paralyzed Rats To Walk:
(Goho, 1)
By creating nerve cells from human embryonic stem cells, and planting them in a paralyzed rats, researchers have been able to allow these rats to walk again. The researchers who conducted the experiments are confident that human patient trials could start as early as two years from now. Concerns about rejection of stem cells has also prompted researchers to experiment with giving patients bone marrow stem cells first, in an attempt to allow the body to recognize these new cells and not try to destroy them.
2. Baby Teeth May Be A Source Of Stem Cells:
(Zandonella, 1)
Researchers have discovered that baby teeth contain stem cells, which can be harvested after the child loses the tooth. So far, scientists have discovered that these stem cells can develop into tooth-forming cells, neural cells, and fat cells. Researchers also discovered that these stem cells promote the growth of bone, and may play a role in the formation of adult teeth.
3.Embryonic Stem Cells Turned Into Eggs:
(Westphal (3), 1)
For the first time scientists have been able to duplicate an egg cell in a test tube, using a stem cell. This is a major achievement because it opens the door to creating human eggs in large numbers in culture dishes, instead of relying on donors. This new development could also help in research of infertility, menopause, and help to perfect the process of cloning.
4. Stem Cells Can Become Normal Sperm:
(Westphal(2), 1)
Researchers are attempting to create sperm cells outside the human body, using stem cells. So far, the only way production is working is if the cells are planted in testicular tissue and allowed to go through meiosis in the body. Within three months of being inserted into the tissue, the stem cells had formed sperm cells. The next step is being able to artificially inseminate a stem-cell-egg-cell with this artificial sperm.
5. Amniotic Fluid Could Hold "Ethical" Stem Cells:
(Bhattacharya, 1)
Researchers are currently trying to find out if stem cells are present in the amniotic fluid that cushions a baby in the womb. They’ve discovered that amniotic fluid contains a special protein, called Oct-4, which is present in stem cells, and keeps them in their “youthful” (and changeable) state. The next step is to actually find the stem cells in the fluid.
6. Greater Potential of Adult Stem Cells:
(Westphal (1), 1)
Scientists have discovered that some adult stem cells (MAPCs--multipotent adult progenitor cells) may be just as capable of becoming all types of cells as their embryonic counterparts. This would allow the person the cells came from to receive any kid of regenerative tissue their body would need without fear of rejection. Another type of adult stem cells, MSC's, can only make certain types of tissues, but they have shown they don't cause any type of immunity reaction if they are transplanted from person to person. This would allow for more uses of adult stem cells and perhaps scientists wouldn't feel as tightly bound to the embryonic stem cells if adult cells were just as capable.
Since no one has yet to actually clone a human being, many of the uses listed below for such technology are speculative.
1. Rejuvenation:
(The Benefits of Human Cloning, 1)
Someday, human cloning may be able to reverse the aging process.
2. Reverse Heart Attacks:
(The Benefits of Human Cloning, 1)
Cloning would allow scientists to clone a person's healthy heart cells and inject them into area's of the heart which had damage done to them.
3. Repair/Replace Organs and Tissues:
(The Benefits of Human Cloning, 1) Stem cells could be used to grow skin for burn victims, brain cells for brain damage victims, spinal cord cells for paralyzed people, and hearts, lungs, and kidneys to replace ones that don’t function properly. In addition to being able to replace these organs, cloning would allow doctors to replace them with organs that would not be rejected by the body, since the cells would have originated from that person (Human Cloning: Practical Uses, 1).
4. Treat Diseases:
(The Benefits of Human Cloning, 2)
Diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, diabetes, degenerative joint disorders, Down's syndrome, cystic fibrosis, and Tay-Sachs disease which are all genetic disorders could be cured.
5. Infertility:
(The Benefits of Human Cloning, 2)
Cloning could help infertile couples or non-traditional couples (gay/lesbian) have children that are genetically related to them.
6. Leukemia:
(The Benefits of Human Cloning, 2)
Cloned bone marrow would provide leukemia patients with the “healthy marrow” they need, and could be cloned to suit their genetic makeup.
7. Cancer:
(The Benefits of Human Cloning, 2)
Cloning may allow scientists to understand why cancer switches cells into “overload” and why those cells are prone to it.
While there are many good reasons for going forward with human cloning research, there is always a bad side to go with the good. Below are some problems/concerns that are raised involving human clones.
1. Reborn:
(Human Cloning:Practical Uses, 2)
Parents who've lost a child can have that child cloned and begin again.
2. Black Market Embryos:
(Human Cloning: Practical Uses, 3)
Stolen or discarded embryo’s could be sold on the black market to infertile couples for much less than a doctor would charge them.
3. Catalog Children:
(Human Cloning:Practical Uses, 3)
Companies could create a child, take photographs of it, and a short description, and allow couples to "shop" for the one they like. The same cells which created that model child could then be implanted into the mother and she could have one of her own.
4. Cloning The Dead:
(Human Cloning:Practical Uses, 3)
Cells need only be frozen before the death of a loved one and they could be regenerated through cloning. The same would go for famous (and infamous) people.
5. Family Dynamics:
(Human Cloning: The Process, 1)
In a world that is already struggling to deal with stepfamilies, cloning could create a whole new section of relatives.
6. Cloned Child's Age:
(Human Cloning: The Process, 5)
Researchers are concerned that if a 30 year old woman is cloned, the resulting child's genes will be 30 years old when it is born, thus leading to diseases which would show up early, that would normally show up in middle age in a sexually conceived child.
7. Resource Distribution:
If/When human cloning does become available, it will inevitable be incredibly expensive. It could be allowed only to those that can afford it. In the case of therapeutic cloning, where many diseases can be cured, this would be a huge problem.
Above I have presented both the good and the bad predictions for what our world will hold in store for us when human cloning becomes possible. But before I begin my discussion of the ethical and religious issues surrounding the topic of cloning, I’d like to show you the myths about human cloning, according to those who favor it.
1. Cloning Makes A Xerox Copy Of A Person:
(Pence, 1)
Well, genetically, yes. The clone will have the exact same genetic structure as its donor parent. However, every single person is different in personality, how they are raised, and so forth. So just because the clone may resemble another person physically, or genetically, does not mean they will be exactly like their donor.
2. It Would Reduce Biological Diversity:
(Pence, 1)
Even if people begin using cloning to create new life, there will still be a huge number of other people creating life the normal way, through sexual means. With six billion people on earth, diversity is not something we are in any danger of losing anytime soon.
3. Cloned People Wouldn't Really Be "People":
(Pence, 2)
It is accepted today that no matter where you come from you are still a person. A cloned person would still have been born, raised by a parent or parents, gone to school, and formed a life like everyone else. There is no reason to think a cloned person would stand out in a crowd. They would look and act just like naturally conceived people.
4. Cloned People Could Be "Grown" For Their Organs:
(Pence, 3)
Just because these people would be cloned doesn’t mean that it would be okay to “farm” them for organs. This would not happen. Another variation of this is the concern that a dictator could form an army all identical to him. This, too, would never work because each person is an individual, and must be raised and trained like any other child. Being a clone doesn’t make you a zombie willing to do the commands of your donor.
5. Scientists Are Evil And Only Want To Clone For Bad Reasons:
(Pence, 3)
Scientists are just people like you and me. Many of them have families and children of their own. These people want to clone for the good it will bring to the world. They are not trying to perfect the technology to use it against us, or one another.
6. Human Cloning Is Only For Bad Purposes And Bad People:
(Pence, 3)
Cloning is just another scientific tool—it is another way to create children, or, study disease, or help the ailing. It is not an inherently evil act. People take too much to heart from what they read in science fiction novels. Cloning is not as scary as many people would like us to think.
Many of the good and bad scenarios explained are the extremes of the scale—we may never see any of these occur.
To differentiate between religious and ethical aspects, please note that religious arguments about cloning are usually rooted in the individual scriptures of each faith. Ethical arguments on the other hand, are based on generalities for behavior that are not associated with any one religion. The key is that ethics usually vary by culture not by religion.
Religion
I thought it might be interesting to see the stand taken by a few religions on the issue of cloning. Below I’ve chosen four religions that are relatively common in the United States. Please remember that these are only generalizations taken from statements made by these different religious groups about cloning. You may be one of the following religions and think something entirely different!
1. Roman Catholic:
(Human Cloning: The Religious & Ethical Debate, 2)
The Roman Catholic Church gives the opinion that “’every possible act of cloning humans is intrinsically evil’ and could never be justified.” The Church gives a few specific traditions, and examples for this opinion:
Cloning violates the Catholic belief that all men were created in the image of God. Since cloned beings would be created as a mirror image of a person who has already been created, instead of being uniquely created “by God”, Catholics are against it.
The Catholic Church is also concerned that humans will “violate the sanctity of life” by viewing clones as less than equal.
The Southern Baptist faith has expressed that they, also, support the Roman Catholic view on cloning. Many other types of Christians have also turned their back on cloning, mostly because of a fear that a cloned human being would somehow create problems with the human definition of a soul, which is unique to each person. Some Christians are concerned that cloned beings would retain the same “soul” as their donor.
2. Judaism:
(Human Cloning: The Religious & Ethical Debate, 3)
The Jewish faith gives the opinion that, “cloning humans could conceivably be justified in some circumstances, however few they may be.”
Judaism says that man and God are in a partnership, and, while man is obligated to take care of what he creates, he is also given the ability to create to improve his lot in life. Jewish scholars take this ability to create and transform that into cloning.
Jewish scholars also believe that the mere potential of violating some human “code” is not enough to ban cloning altogether. They believe the technology can in fact have benefits.
Rabbi Elliot Dorff: “The Jewish demand that we do our best to provide healing makes it important that we take advantage of the promise of cloning to aid us in finding cures for a variety of diseases and in overcoming infertility.”
3. Protestant:
(Human Cloning: The Religious & Ethical Debate, 5)
Followers of the Protestant religions generally agree with both the Jewish and Catholic faiths. They see potential, but they understand the fears that the Catholic Church acknowledges.
They believe that children should be “conceived in a martial union between opposite sexes” and therefore see cloning as wrong for reproduction.
They also oppose cloning because it allows humans to choose genes, not God. This is the “playing God argument one hears so often.
They fear children will turn into “science projects.”
4. Islam:
(Human Cloning: The Religious & Ethical Debate, 6)
Islamic thinkers fall into three categories on the topic of cloning.
The first group believes, as Dr. Maher Hathout says, that there should be, “no limits on research because knowledge is bestowed on us by God.”
The second group is concerned with how cloning will affect kinship, which is a large part of the Islamic religion. They are, for the most part, not opposed to cloning, and some even view cloning as better than adoption in that it “would not rob a child of his roots.”
The third group worries also worries that cloning will affect kinship ties, and they are concerned because the child would not have a biological mother and father.
Ethical
While there are many ethical arguments for all types of cloning, human cloning has been the hot “topic” lately, and I chose to focus this section on that. Many of the problems I’ve listed above for potentially cloning humans’ covers the most general aspect of the ethical arguments against cloning. On the other hand, the list of possible uses, or benefits, represents the side that is for cloning. For the ethical aspect of my paper, I’d like to pose a few scenarios for you. Please read them, and think about your opinion of them. We will discuss some of them in class.
1.
An infertile couple, wanting a child of their own, uses cloning methods to achieve this. The donor cell is taken from the brother of the infertile female, and the cloned egg/nucleus combination is placed inside the infertile mother, and she gives birth. If the donor is the brother of the surrogate mother, is the cloned child the mother’s brother? Or her son? Does the infertile female’s brother have any “right” to the child?
Does this affect how you think about cloning? Are you worried that cloned children would create a new family system? What do you think?
2.
A man works in a chemical facility for 25 years. At a recent visit to his doctor, he is told that he has developed cancer, and it is beginning to spread throughout his body. The doctor suggests using cloning techniques to combat the cancer cells. When the working-class man asks his doctor about this procedure, the doctor warns that it is very expensive. Through research the man discovers that he absolutely cannot afford cloning treatment for his cancer, and he dies a slow and painful death.
How would you feel if one of your loved ones had a terminal illness? One that could be cured, except for the cost? What would you do?
If that man could afford the treatment, would you agree to using cloning to combat things like cancer? Why? Why not?
3.
A pair of homosexual males has decided that they want a child. Their relationship is strong, and stable, and they are financially able to care for a child. They enlist the help of a close female friend, and use cloning to create an embryo that contains cells from one of them. The friend gives birth, and the two men are given a child that is related to them (at least one of them). This provides this so-called non-traditional-family with a child.
What do you think about this scenario? Do you think cloning us a good way to allow homosexual couples to have children biologically related to them? What would you want, if you were in that scenario?
4.
A young couple has a beautiful 10-month old baby girl. She is healthy, and perfect, and they love her dearly. One night while returning home from a friend’s, the couple and their child are in a terrible car accident. Mother and father have minor injuries, but the child has severe brain damage from the accident, and after a few days in the hospital, she dies. The family is given the option of taking some of their child’s cells and cloning her.
If you were a part of the couple in the scenario, what would you do? Would you clone your precious baby girl? Why? Why not?
*A similar scenario to the one above would be the decision to clone any loved one that has died—perhaps your grandmother was a great woman, and she did many things in her life. To honor her, you are given the option of cloning her and raising a child genetically identical to her.
Would you? Why? Why not?
Since the cloning of Dolly the sheep in 1997, there has been a flurry of governmental and international activity in regards to cloning. There have been countless debates about whether or not cloning research on humans should be banned. Below are some of the organizations that have banned cloning, and some that are still allowing it, though mostly in moderation.
Europe
19 European nations have signed bans pertaining to human cloning. Those 19 are (Human Cloning: Ban Cloning?, 4): Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Moldova, Norway, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Macedonia, and Turkey.
Of those that declined:
Germany said that their own laws (created after the Nazi genetic engineering experiments) are more strict than the ban (Human Cloning: Ban Cloning?, 4).
Britain said it is still open to ALL forms of new cloning technology (Human Cloning: Ban Cloning?, 4).
Canada
Canada, as of the writing of this paper, is still struggling to pass a ban on cloning. The bills have been sent to the Parliament, but, have not yet been voted on (Bueckert, 1).
Australia
In 1998 Australia also announced that they were considering a ban on human cloning, and since then therapeutic cloning has been banned (Human Cloning: Ban Cloning?, 4).
United States
As of March 28, 2003, the United States House of Representatives has passed a bill that makes it illegal to clone humans. The Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2003 would ban all human cloning, including “cloning to create a pregnancy, or for medical purposes” it also makes “receiving or importing cloned human embryos” a crime (US House Votes to Ban Human Cloning, 1).
United Nations
In 2003, the United Nations voted in a narrow 80-79 with 15 abstentions to delay a decision on a treaty that would ban cloning, until 2005 (Pearson, 1).
There’s one last thing I’d like to leave you with before I end my website. It’s a link to the website of Clonaid. Clonaid is the work of the Raelians, which have been in the news lately for supposedly cloning a human being. No one has any proof that they have, and the Raelian movement is a bit…bizarre. They believe that, essentially, people are the result of an ancient attempt to clone, done by aliens. Clonaid is the first company created that claims it can clone humans. It didn’t particularly fit my goals of the website, but it is a news hot topic, so here is their information.
Plants
“Asexual Reproduction Lab.” Nov. 9 03. http://www.uwc.ca/pearson/biology/asex/asex.htm.
“Biology of Cloning: History and Rationale.” BIOSCIENCE, Aug. 2000.
Brinton, Donna M., Holten, Christina., Nooyen, Jodi L. “Chapter 3: Cloning.” Language and Life Sciences: A Forum Electronic Journal. Nov. 9 03. http://exchanges.state.gov/forum/journal/cloning.htm.
Charles, Daniel. “Corn That Clones Itself.” Technology Review. March 2003.
“Cloned dates bear fruit for Iran.” BBC News. Nov. 28, 1998. Nov. 9 03. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/223814.stm.
“Cloning.” 11/9/03. http://www.k12.hi.us/~d030d148/cloning.html2
“Cloning.” Biotechnology and the Consumer Nov. 9 03. http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/epic/internet/inbac-bec.nsf/vwGeneratedInterE/h_bk00446e.html.
CNN. “Cloning Trees: California’s Oldest Tree Cutting Collected for Cloning.” October 2002. Nov. 9 03. http://www.crystalinks.com/cloningtrees.html.
“Developmental Phases – Vegetative Rhizomes and Stolons.” Nov. 9 03. http://forages.orst.edu/projects/regrowth/main.cfm?PageID=38.
Grow, George. “Cloning Trees at Mount Vernon.” Aug. 22, 2001. Nov. 9 03. http://greennature.com/article64.html.
Haire, Brad. “Scientist Searching Genes In Self-Cloning Plants.” Georgia Agricultural Stations. Nov. 8 03. http://www.uga.edu/discover/educators/readings/read46.pdf.
“History of Cloning.” Nov. 9 03. http://library.thinkquest.org/20830/Frameless/Manipulating/Experimentation/Cloning/longdoc.htm.
“How Do You Clone A Perfect Plant?” Nov. 9 03. http://wywy.essortment.com/plantsclonesho_rvca.htm.
McGregor, Caroline. “Clones.” Scientriffic. Nov. 9 03. http://www.csiro.au/scientriffic/pdfs/ST18clones.pdf.
Moffat, A.S. “Can genetically modified crops go ‘greener’? Science. Oct 13 00.
“MSNBC: Cloning Timeline.” MSNBC. Nov. 9 03. http://www.msnbc.com/modules/cloningTimeline/.
TERRA. “Champion Trees.” Nov. 9 03. http://www.championtrees.org/champions/index.htm.
Animals
“Animal Cloning and Preserving Endangered Species.” Nov. 9 03. http://www.uwm.edu/People/dlichuck/Animal_Cloning2.htm.
“Animal Cloning and Big Business.” Nov. 9 03. http://www.uwm.edu/People/dlichuck/Animal_Cloning3.htm.
Bren, Linda. “Cloning: Revolution or Evolution in Animal Production?” FDA Consumer. May/Jun. 2003.
“Cloned Animals.” Guardian Unlimited. Nov. 9 03. http://www.guardian.co.uk/gall/0,8542,627251,00.html.
“Clones and the Future of Cloning.” Lazaron BioTechnologies. Nov. 9 03. http://www.lazaron.com/lazaronllc/clonandfutof.html
“Cloning Techniques.” Nov. 9 03. http://home.hawaii.rr.com/johns/techniqu.htm.
“Dolly, cloning’s poster child, dies at age 6.” Bioexchange. Feb 14 03.
11/9/03 http://www.bioexchange/com/news/news_page.cfm?id=16305.
“French Researchers First to Clone a Rat.” Washington Post. Sept. 12 03.
“Future of Cloning.” Nov. 9 03. http://library.thinkquest.org/20830/Manipulating/Future/cloning.htm.
Kolata, Gina. Clone: The Road to Dolly and the Path Ahead.” 1998.
Lanza, Robert, P., Dresser, Betsy, L., Damiani, Philip. “Cloning Noah’s Ark.” Scientific American. Nov. 19, 00. Nov. 9 03. http://www.sciam.com/print_version.cfm?articleID=0002AB9E-F4AA-1C72-9B81809EC588EF21.
“Medical Uses for Animal Cloning.” Nov. 9 03. http://www.uwm.edu/People/dlichuck/Animal_Cloning1.htm.
Sherwood, Matthew. “There’s Something About Mary.” Popular Science. Jun 2003.
Steane, Richard, G. “Cloning.” Nov. 9 03. http://web.ukonline.co.uk/webwise/spinneret/genes/clones.htm.
“The Benefits of Animal Cloning.” Nov. 9 03. http://www.arts.arizona.edu/art444x/spring_03/projects/nagel/animal.html.
“Three Ways to Clone Mammals.” Nov. 9 03. http://www.humancloning.org/threeways/htm.
Humans
Bhattacharya, Shaoni. “Amniotic Fluid May Hold ‘Ethical’ Stem Cells.” New Scientist. Jun. 30 03.
Bueckert, Dennis. “Anti-cloning Bill May Die In Senate.” CNEWS. 10/29/03.
Nov. 17 03. http://www.nature.com/nsu/031103/031103-15.html.
Goho, Alexandra. “Stem Cells Enable Paralyzed Rats to Walk.” New Scientist. Jul 3 03.
“Human and Animal Cloning: Fact Sheet” Nov. 8 03. http://www.brightminds.uq.edu.au/thesource/science/Cloning.pdf.
“Human Cloning: The Process” Nov. 9 03.
http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~jones/tmp352/projects98/group1/how.html.
“Human Cloning: Practical Uses.” Nov. 9 03. http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~jones/tmp352/projects98/group1/practical.html
“Human Cloning: The Religious & Ethical Debate.” Nov. 9 03. http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~jones/tmp352/projects98/group1/ethic.html.
“Human Cloning: Ban Cloning?” Nov. 8 03.
http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~jones/tmp352/projects98/group1/gov.html.
King, Tim. “Cloning Technology Explained: the benefits and drawbacks.” The Future of Cloning. Jun. 18 2002.
MacKinnon, Barbara. Human Cloning: Science, Ethics, and Public Policy. 2000.
Pearson, Helene. “UN Blocks Human Cloning Ban: Vote Postpones Cloning Resolution for Two Years.” Nov. 17 03. http://www.nature.com/nsu/031103/031103-15.html.
Pence, Gregory E. “The Top Ten Myths About Human Cloning.” HumanCloning.org. Nov. 9 03. http://www.humancloning.org/myths.php.
Recer, Paul. “Scientists Find Flaws in Stem Cell Cloning.” Chicago Tribune. Jul. 6, 01.
“The Benefits of Human Cloning.” Nov. 8 03. http://www.arts.arizona.edu/art444x/spring_03/projects/nagel/human.html.
“U.S. House Votes to Ban Human Cloning.” Nov. 17 03. http://www.bioexchange.com/news/news_page.cfm?id=16741.
Westphal (1), Sylvia Pagan. “Greater Potential of Adult Stem Cells Revealed.” New Scientist May 17, 03.
Westphal (2), Sylvia Pagan. “Stem Cells Can Become ‘Normal Sperm.’” New Scientist. May 7 03.
Westphal (3), Sylvia Pagan. “Embryonic Stem Cells Turned Into Eggs.” New Scientist. May 1 03.
“What Are Stem Cells?” Nov. 9 03. http://www.nature.ca/genome/03/d/20/03d_25_e.cfm.
Zandonella, Catherine. “Baby Teeth Revealed as a Source of Stem Cells.” New Scientist. Apr. 21 03.