Natural genetic reproduction is the genetic information that’s carried in chromosomes from both parents; it is then combined to form a fertilized egg. As soon as the chromosomes of a male and a female combine, the cells start to divide and create an individual.
Cloning can be used in many forms, for example, nuclear transfer; this involves removing DNA from an unfertilized egg, and injecting in the nucleus which holds DNA. Alternatively, if the cells are extracted from the cloned cells during very early stages, embryonic stem cells can be created, once matured, they can become any of the 200+ types of cells within the body.
Natural reproduction is the technique every mammal has been using for 100’s of millions of years. Fertilizing the egg cell within the uterus, and overtime, may divide and create clones, also known as twins.
Cloning creates perfect genetic reproductions from a single organism. However, when a mammal is cloned, sadly only 99.9% of the genetic material is exactly identical to its parent. This means, that each clone isn’t 100% the same which leads the mammal to possible defects or mutations.
Science being put to good use
Trials for revolutionary stem cell surgery in UK 'within a year'
It is believed that British patents could take the pioneering treatment, in which a patient's own cells are extracted and grown in a laboratory, in as little as a year. Heart disease patients in Britain could soon take part in a revolutionary stem cell surgery trial that could change the nature of heart surgery and ultimately end the need for transplants. Scientists have worked out a technique where human bone marrow cells are turned into human heart stem cells and then injected into the heart. [1]
Stem cells can be used to grow and repair any body cells within the body or be used to make new organs for ill patients.
Historical Content
In 1996, scientists produced the first cloned mammal, Dolly the sheep. She was created from a single cell from an unnamed adult sheep, but unfortunately the adult sheep died several years before Dolly’s creation. Some scientists thought it would be imposable to clone an adult sheep because, as the cells age, they specialise, becoming a particular cell, e.g. skin cell or a nerve cell. But the scientists who were working on Dolly, starved the particular cells of nutrients and this backed up the cells development; losing their specialised instructions, the cells were able to create new and different life, and one cell went on to create Dolly. [2]
Can scientists clone dinosaurs and other prehistoric life?
Theory 1:
Studies of cloning dinosaurs from prehistoric DNA has gotten scientists frantic, the theory of cloning dinosaurs from prehistoric DNA is said to be extracted from the bellies of mosquito’s that is preserved in amber, this may seem very possible when you first think about it, but it’s highly unlikely that scientists can find usable dinosaur DNA in a mosquito’s fossil. Furthermore, scientists would need a very specific specimen, and to find a female mosquito land in tree resin immediately after it has gathered the blood is highly improbable and chances are very diminutive.
Above all of that, the most common form of cloning used on animals today involves nuclear transfer. Scientists put the nucleus of one cell into a second cell of the same species after destroying the second cell's nucleus. There are no dinosaur cells or dinosaur eggs that could host new set of DNA. Researchers would have to find a different way to let the DNA grow into a living dinosaur. [3]
Theory 2:
In this theory, it involves finding DNA specimens in fossilized bones instead of in the bodies of insects. But the problem with this idea is that DNA is a complex and delicate structure. The process of fossilization involves replacing the organic tissue in an animal's bones with minerals. This effectively destroys the cells that may contain DNA. [3]
Mammoths
Mammoth fossils are significantly younger than dinosaur fossils. They're only about 30,000 years old. This difference in age gives the DNA much less time to decompose. But a mammoth cloning project would still require a perfectly preserved specimen. The mammoth's tissue couldn't have gone through cycles of freezing and thawing or been preserved at extremely low temperatures that could damage the DNA.
A second option for bringing mammals to life could be to use fossilized sperm to inseminate the eggs of a related mammal. The resulting animal would be a hybrid, with only half its genetic code from its male mammoth parent. [3]
Discussion
There some main points to consider during cloning experiments. Whether cloning affects the test subjects in anyway and whether it’s mental or psychical damage. Whether the process releases unknown substances that affects more other than the test subject for example, other people via radiation contamination, long term such as the environmental damage, or even a spread through the food chain as a contamination at a source or a disease that has spread rapidly affecting the wild life or finally, a slow progression of an undetected substance that’s new to our technology.
Questions involving and concerning the general public has arisen.
Is there evidence of a threat to the test subject, environment, the food chain or human beings?
- Cloned meat is scientifically identical to meat from traditionally bred animals, but do they have certain harmful chemicals?
- Well the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted cloned meat to be sold because they have tested them and seen that there can be differences, but companies contend that there are no differences.
And if we are unsure about the risks, what should we do?
- If you are unsure, worried or confused by the prospect of cloned food, it may be wise to take a step back and to understand some scientific principles of cloning and food safety. [4]
But should we take the risk, how do we know if there is a new substance in meat that could cause and allergic reaction?
- The cloned animal could not make a new allergenic substance or toxin in the absence of a mutation which could be caused in any cow. [4]
Conclusion
From all of the evidence and facts about cloning collected, I believe that Cloning should be allowed because it doesn’t pose any critical threat to today’s economy. Even future generations may benefit if we figure out how to mass clone. But we need to be careful if we do decide mass clone because, there may be one, just one odd defect or mutation that is present within the gene. It might take many years to perfect this science and if we start now at low levels, we could save or sustain our economy for future generations.
I think that for our generation, we should not experiment on humans too much because we could breed a new race of people who could be a serious threat to nowadays. Cloning animals is the start of cloning and I think that we cannot develop our skills too rapidly or there could be a chance of endangering the food supply.
Bibliography
[2] Craig Freudenrich, Ph.D., How Cloning Works? Discovery, 10/1/09,
I found this text to be reliable as I had researched the information I had gathered; I research it across a few sources, e.g. text books and the internet. Both searches concluded that the information I found out, proved the reliability as it said roughly the same as what I originally read.
[3] Tracy V. Wilson, Can scientists clone dinosaurs? Discovery, 11/1/09,
As I researched this, it showed me comments the public had arisen. They seemed to prove its reliability well as they added to what was being previewed and hadn’t changed the text.
References
[1] By Caroline Gammell, Telegraph 12/01/09
I believed this information to be very reliable because I had found it in the newspaper. A public source of information; classed not as a bias source, I believed it to be a good reliable text.
[4] Lee Silver, Scientific Blog, Will meat from cloned animals kill you? 28/1/09
This website was created by fellow scientists; they proved to give relevant information and information that made sense, scientific descriptions that proved to say the same on other reliable websites such as how stuff works and certain pages on Wikipedia.
