Table 1
Many countries forbid all these three types of cloning by law. However, there was some news of an Italian embryologist named Dr. Severino Antinori (in diagram 10 below) to have successfully initiated a pregnancy through reproductive cloning unfortunately no one can be absolutely sure that he had successfully did it.
Diagram 10 Diagram 11
Dr. Severino Antinori Dr. Brigitte Boisselier
Rumours did not stop there as Dr. Boisselier (shown in the above diagram) the chief executive of Clonaid revealed to the world the first ‘cloned’ baby was born on the 26th December 2002. This created suspicions and questions arose that demanded answers! Scientists are sceptic about this ‘cloned’ baby nicknamed Eve. Is it possible that this baby is a clone of her 31 year old mother? A replica? A copy? But wouldn’t that mean that Eve is her ‘mothers’ twin sister? This is a very confusing situation and questions like these are just one of the few examples of what people around the world is pondering about.
- Morality
Table 2
- Advantages
Table 3
- Disadvantages
Table 4
- Purpose
The main purpose pf this report is to find out whether it is possible to clone human beings. If so, what are the effects and the benefits of human DNA cloning? Also, it is to find out what the publics view of this issue whether cloning should be legalized. How are the public of DNA cloning?
- Research methodology
50 questionnaires would be carried out. This will then be analyzed according to each question. It is to find out how aware are the students of cloning and whether they have heard of the human genome project.
- Findings
50 people participated in the survey which was carried out, which 15 participants were female and 35 were male.
Diagram 12
Question 1 result:
Diagram 13
As shown in diagram 13 above, about 60% of the participants are not aware of DNA cloning. These participants proceeded immediately to question 4, whereas the other 40% continued onto the next question.
Question 2 result:
Diagram 14
Diagram 14 shows which sources of the media have they heard of cloning before. As can be seen from the above pie chart, 10% said others which included in a biology class and in a movie.
Question 3 result:
Diagram 15
5 out of 50 participants believed that cloning is good in the sense of reliving the dead and for medical purposes. The others believed otherwise because they say it loses one’s individuality, uniqueness and of course the possibility of clone being exploited.
Question 4 and 5 results:
Diagram 16
The above diagram illustrates whether a person considers cloning or not. 38 out of 50 still would not consider cloning even though they needed a transplant. The other 7 participants changed their mind when they were put in a position where their lives are at stake.
Question 6 result:
Majority of the participants purpose to be clone is to live forever, to have a twin brother and for fun.
Question 7 result:
Diagram 17
4% believed that they are able to kill a clone because they are not important. Whereas the other 90% says it is murder! The remaining participants said they are able only if they were forced to or the clone is evil.
Question 8 and 9 results:
Diagram 18
The above diagram questions on the morality of cloning and whether it should be legal. This shows where most of the participants stand whether it is for or against.
Question 10 results:
Majority of the participants disagree with human cloning. They believe that this should not be practiced for medical purposes or otherwise and therefore should be banned. Human being cannot clone everything although there are still some issues of morality. Despite this, there quite a number of the participants who agreed on human cloning and should be practiced, this is because it is beneficial for the human race. Also, they believe that humans are able to extend their life expectancy through cloning.
- Conclusion
In conclusion, human being should not play god and create a human clone as this is against nature. There is awareness among the public of human cloning and they have given their opinions through the survey. Cloning as a whole is absolutely absurd and should not be done therefore scientists should just forget about cloning even though it gives benefit to humans. It all comes down to how humans are going to use the technology if it was done.
- Recommendations
From the results shown, not a lot of people are aware of human cloning. So, the public should read more newspapers or find more information about this in the internet for example. They should try to catch up with the latest news in the human genome project. Although majority of the participants are against human cloning even if they have limited knowledge about it, this is because they act from their own personal view or religious point of view. If they had a broad knowledge of human cloning, the results would have turned out differently.
The number of participants is small so there is a less significant result and they show some unreliable results. To get a fair and unbiased result, it would be best to have more participants involved and be more specific. Specific in this case is to ask the public as a whole and ask those who are in the medicine profession to compare whether scientists or doctors feel the same way as the public regardless of their profession. Also, it would be best to have an interview with a person who is involved in the human genome project.
For the publics best interest, there should be a lot of open talks before the public is to judge on human cloning. The scientists involved should also be more honest and of course where progress is made, they should inform the public so that they could decide for themselves whether this technology is beneficial to humankind or not.
If the public is against human cloning, a petition could be done or even a demonstration to stop human genome project. This type of action would pressure the government and force them to ban cloning because of ethics, moral, religion and of course human rights.
Creating clones would cause more damage because it contributes to an increase to the world’s population and therefore would be crowded. To avoid this from happening the scientists and government should think twice before they proceed with this because the question is if human cloning is successful, does it really benefit the human race? This question remains unanswered until the day a living proof is made. As for the first baby cloned named ‘Eve’ is concern there is no proof that she is a clone of her ‘mother’ because no DNA tests are carried out yet.
Reference list
AS Biology text book by Margaret Baker, Bill Indge, Martin Rowland
Bibliography
AS Biology text book by Margaret Baker, Bill Indge, Martin Rowland
Appendix
Appendix 1
Human DNA cloning questionnaire
Aim: To investigate how aware the public are with the above topic and what their opinions are.
Sex: M □ F □
Age: 15 – 20 □ 21 – 26 □ 27 – 32 □ 33 and over □
- Have you heard of DNA cloning?
Yes □ (proceed to Q.2) No □ (proceed to Q.4)
- Where have you heard of DNA cloning?
Newspaper □ Magazine □ News (i.e. TV) □
Internet □ others, please specify □______________________________
- What is your opinion on DNA cloning?
Good □ (why?)_____________________________________________________
Bad □ (why) _______________________________________________________
- DNA cloning is a process whereby another copy of a living thing is made. It started with plants then continued onto animals. However, there are some who say that one day humans can be cloned. If you were given a choice would you want to be cloned?
Yes □ No □
- If you met a terrible accident and needed transplant immediately, would you consider cloning?
Yes □ No □
- If you decided to clone yourself, what would your main purpose be?
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
- You decide to clone yourself but you’re facing a situation whereby you have to kill your clone, are you able to?
Yes □ (why?)_______________________________________________________
No □ (why?)_______________________________________________________
Maybe □ (why?)____________________________________________________
- Is cloning ethical or not?
Yes □ No□ Don’t Know □
- Should cloning be legalized?
Yes □ No □
- What do you have to say to human DNA cloning?
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
THANK YOU FOR YOUR CO-OPERATION