This technique is mostly used to develop food crops that grow faster and more resistant to environmental hazards than regular crops.
Secondly we have reproductive cloning which is used to generate a new animal or organism that has the identical DNA of a current or previously existing animal. This goal is achieved through a process called “somatic cell nuclear transfer” (SCNT) where scientists excerpt genetic material out of a healthy nucleus of an adult donor cell and replace it with the DNA of the object which is to be reproduced.
The newly created artificial cell is then brought to cell division through a special mix of chemicals and electric stimulation. When the cell has reached a suitable embryo ale stage it is transferred into the uterus of a female host where it develops normally until the day of birth. This type of cloning raised public interest in 1996 when Scottish scientists created the clone sheep “Dolly”.
Last but not least we have therapeutic cloning or “embryo cloning” which is technically the same procedure as reproductive cloning just with the difference that the embryo is not raised by a female host. Therapeutic cloning is mainly practiced in research concerning diseases of human beings that can not be healed at the moment like Alzheimer, Parkinson or AIDS. Scientists therefore create human embryos to extract healthy stem cells which are thought to replace the infected cells of the patients.
As we can see cloning is a very wide field of research in modern times. Nevertheless we have to ask ourselves makes sense to practice cloning, especially therapeutic cloning evokes an ethical discussion if it right to clone human embryos for scientific research.
As Hamlet would say “To clone, or not to cone that is the question”.
Cloning has definitely brought the human race much information about diseases, mutations and gene disorders but there are also many factors that speak against it.
Even though I think that cloning will play a major role in the future of science it is not a perfect research method at the moment.
Cloning is extremely expensive and does not work very efficiently at this stage. “Dolly” for example was the only successful clone out of 276 tries and many clones die within a short period of time without being able to diagnose from which reason.
As we can see cloning is not a perfect science up to now and the risks are too high to try and clone humans or other animals. However in the future maybe there will be a time when this technique will become efficient enough that we can use it with the utmost carefulness and responsibility.
