Reproductive And Therapeutic Cloning

Cloning in its simplest sense is “to make an identical copy of” (“Clone”). However, while cloning is the act of replicating, the word cloning encompasses far more than simple duplication. Cloning involves a wide variety of processes that can be used to produce genetically identical copies of a biological entity. In terms of biology, cloning is the natural process of producing similar populations of genetically identical individuals when organisms such as bacteria, insects or plants reproduce asexually. Cloning occurs naturally in biology, however, recently scientists have been cloning artificially for medical purposes or even to revive extinct species. This cloning in biotechnology refers to processes used to create copies of DNA fragments (molecular cloning), cells (cell cloning), or organisms. This artificial cloning has lead to worldwide debate as its ethics are called into question. Although artificial cloning ethics are widely debated, the development of its very intricate mechanisms has opened a doorway to more beneficial uses of cloning. Long before ideas of molecular, cell, and organism cloning even began to form, plants, bacteria, and insects were cloning themselves through asexual reproduction. This type of cloning has been occurring naturally for millions of years. Asexual reproduction occurs in prokaryotic microorganisms and in some eukaryotic single-celled and multicellular organisms. These animals may reproduce asexually through fission, budding, fragmentation, or parthenogenesis (“Types of Sexual and Asexual Reproduction”). Since new genetic material is never introduced during asexual reproduction, when organisms go through the process they create genetically identical organisms to themselves, thus they are cloning of themselves. Another natural form of cloning that is common for mammals are identical twins, or monozygotic twins. Monozygotic twins form from a single fertilized egg. The zygote then splits into two parts after conception, resulting in the development of two individual embryos. The individual embryos come from the same egg and sperm, meaning that they have the same genetic origins ("Natural Cloning"). Genes can be turned off and on through gene regulation, so identical twins may not appear to be exact copies of each other, but their DNA is nearly exactly the same. Identical twins are yet another example of how clones do not always start in a test tube. Multicellular clones that are formed in a test tube, however, are slowly becoming more and more possible. Cloning on a small scale, with the replication of single cells and molecules has already been established, leading scientists to build upon the research like a platform. Molecular cloning is a set of experimental methods in molecular biology that are used to assemble DNA molecules and to direct their replication within host organisms. Molecular clones can be used to generate many copies of the DNA for analysis of the gene sequence, and/or to express the resulting protein for the study or utilization of the protein’s function (Tirabassi). Molecular cloning is an integral part …show more content…
This cloning involves the implantation of a cloned embryo into a surrogate mother to create a cloned individual. In contrast to the goal of therapeutic cloning, the goal of reproductive cloning is to create a new individual (“SCNT Animation”). One of the most successful cases of reproductive cloning was a cloned sheep named Dolly; she was the first mammal to be cloned from an adult cell. Dolly was part of a series of experiments at The Roslin Institute that were trying to develop a better method for producing genetically modified livestock (Palca). Once, artificial cloning of entire mammals was a thing of imagination, and now it is slowly but surely becoming reality. However, with the ever increasing research on SCNT, the ethical controversy and debate has also been …show more content…
Asexual propagation, for example, has been common practice in the horticultural world for hundreds of years (“Asexual Reproduction Cloning”). Yet people have been concerned about the newly emerging science of SCNT, and it’s role in therapeutic and reproductive cloning. People will likely hold onto their long-standing religious and societal values about human dignity, and it won’t change despite the breakthrough discoveries with cloning of all types. The use of cloning has been a long standing debate between medicinal benefits and ethical values, and it’s not likely to be solved soon. However, the ongoing controversy will not cease the development of new medicines possible through molecular and cellular cloning. Ultimately, the potential uses of cloning is constrained only by our