Adam Ismail
Intro to College Writing
Professor Winchell
Cloning Research Paper First Draft
Oct 24, 2011
Background on Cloning
Cloning has been around since the beginning of time. A clone is one living thing made
from another, leading to two organisms with the same set of genes (History of Cloning:
Cloning in Nature). An example of the following would be identical twins they are clones
due to the fact that they have the same identical DNA. This is also seen in plants in
which they self- pollinate and produce seeds and eventually more plants with the same
genetic code (History of Cloning: Cloning in Nature).
The discovery of cloned animals was discovered in 1800’s by a man named
Hans Driesch. Driesch’s animals of choosing for his cloning experiment were a sea
urchin because of the fact that they have large embryo cells. He took the 2 cell embryo
of the sea urchins and shook it in a beaker that was filled with sea water until the two
cells separated (History of Cloning: New Advances).
Advancements in cloning did not appear until 1951 until a group of researchers in
Philadelphia cloned a frog embryo. The scientists did not break off the cell of the
embryo they actually instead took the nucleus from a frog embryo and they used it to
replace the nucleus of an unfertilized frog egg cell, this is because when the egg cell
detected that it had a full set of chromosomes, it started to divide and grow (History of
Cloning: New Advances). This method is called a nuclear transplant and is still used
around the world today, however the method is slightly different now than it was in 1951
(History of Cloning: New Advances).
Technology in Cloning
Technology over time has started to become very high-tech and is still becoming more
and more technological efficient each day. As technology upgrades it allows scientists
to become able to study and research more in depth the process of cloning. There are
several different types of cloning technologies in the field today and they are,
recombinant DNA technology or DNA Cloning, reproductive cloning, and therapeutic
cloning.
The definition of recombinant DNA technology is “the transfer of a DNA fragment
of interest from one organism to a self-replicating genetic element such as a bacterial
plasmid” (Cloning Fact Sheet: Recombinant DNA Technology or DNA Cloning). A
plasmid is a self-replicating extra chromosomal circular DNA molecule (Cloning Fact
Sheet: Recombinant DNA Technology or DNA Cloning). The DNA that is under study
can be placed into a different host cell. In order for a gene to be cloned a DNA fragment
containing the gene is separated from chromosomal DNA using restriction enzymes and
then brought together with a plasmid that has been cut with the same restriction
enzymes (Cloning Fact Sheet: Recombinant DNA Technology or DNA Cloning). This
technology has been around since about the 1970s. Today it is a common practice in
labs that practice in molecular biology.
Another method of technology used in cloning is reproductive cloning which is a
technology used to generate an animal that has identical nuclear DNA as another or
passed existing animals (Cloning Fact Sheet: Reproductive Cloning). An example of
reproductive cloning is Dolly. “Scientists transfer genetic material from the nucleus of a
donor adult cell to an egg whose nucleus, and thus its genetic material, has been
removed (Cloning Fact Sheet: Reproductive Cloning). This process is called "somatic
cell nuclear transfer" (SCNT). Electric current or chemicals treat the reconstructed eggs
containing DNA from the donor this is because it stimulates cell division. When the
cloned embryo reaches its suitable stage to be transferred to the uterus of a female host
it continues to develop until birth.
Dolly or any other animal that are created through reproductive cloning are not
truly identical of the donor animal. This is because only the clones chromosomal DNA is
the same as its donor (Cloning Fact Sheet: Reproductive Cloning).
Embryo cloning or “therapeutic cloning” is the production of human embryos for
research. This process is not to clone human beings but to harvest stem cells this is
because it can be used to study human development and to help treat disease (Cloning
Fact Sheet: Therapeutic Cloning). Stem cells one day could maybe be used to replace
the original cells and help treat heart disease, Alzheimer’s, cancer, and other diseases.
However there is a negative effect to this process that causes a variety of ethical
concerns and that is when the egg is in the stage of development called blastocyst it is
followed by an extraction process that destroys the embryo (Cloning Fact Sheet:
Therapeutic Cloning).
Cloning in Animals
Animals have been cloned by scientists for many years, before Dolly in 1952 the
first animal to be cloned was a tadpole. Before Dolly animals were cloned and created
from embryotic cells. Since Dolly a number of different animals have been cloned by
scientists. Animals that have been cloned include sheep, goats, mice, cows, rabbits and
cats. All these animals were cloned and created using nuclear transfer technology
(Cloning Fact Sheet: What animals have been cloned?).
There are hundreds of different cloned animals in the world today that exist,
however the number of different species is limited. There have been attempts in cloning
different species that have not been successful. This is because of the fact that some
animals are resistant to somatic cell nuclear transfers than others (Cloning Fact Sheet:
What animals have been cloned?). Improvements in cloning technologies still may be
needed before certain species can be cloned properly. A question that many people ask
is if it is ok to consume cloned meat products. The answer is yes, in 2008 the Food and
Drug Administration came to the conclusion that meat and milk from cow, pig and goat
clones are just as safe to eat as the normal food e consume everyday (U.S. Food and
Drug Administration: Animal Cloning).
Cloning in Humans
Human cloning is one of the most controversial issues society has today. Human
cloning in simple terms is that it is an artificial process of making a genetic twin person.
“This means a person could literally become the parent of their own twin sibling or the
parent of anyone’s twin” (Phil for Humanity: Reasons For and Against Human Cloning).
Human cloning has already been banned in several countries around the world and this
has caused scientific researchers to be issued fewer supplies and has caused a
reduction in their research. A question someone may have to this controversial issue is
why should human cloning be allowed? One reason for the allowance of cloning in
humans is a couple that is not able to conceive a baby on their own and did not want to
adopt and had the money for cloning. Another reason for the allowance of cloned
humans is that it can help cure disease.
People also have the question, why should human cloning be banned? A reason
why some people want cloning banned is because it has a variety of negative effects.
One of them being the embryos are at risk of being killed. The harm caused to an
embryo can lead to harm caused to the cloned person throughout their life.
Should human cloning be allowed?
Pros
Cons

Help infertility problems in humans

Effects the natural process of
procreation

The process of organ transplants
could become much simpler

Genes modified to create smarter
clones.
Could help diminish diseases such
as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s

Clones could possibly not be
treated equal, causing a divide
between people

Humans should not be trying to play
god



Help prevent stroke and heart
disease
Replace or repair damaged organs
Work Cited
"Animal Cloning and Food Safety." U S Food and Drug Administration Home Page.
10 Sept. 2011. Web. 10 Oct. 2011.
"Animal Cloning." U S Food and Drug Administration Home Page.. 26 Apr. 2010. Web.
11 Oct. 2011
Baudoin, C., et al. "Dairy cattle exploratory and social behaviors: Is there an effect of
cloning?" Theriogenology 68.8 (2007): 1097+. Academic OneFile. 2 Aug. 2007.
Web. 13 Oct. 2011.
Brooks, Kathleen R., and Jayson L. Lusk. "U.S. consumers attitudes toward farm animal
cloning." Appetite 57.2 (2011): 483+. Academic OneFile. Web. 13 Oct. 2011.
Brophy, Brigid, et al. "Compositional analysis of dairy products derived from clones and
cloned transgenic cattle." Theriogenology 67.1 (2007): 166+. Academic OneFile.
Web. 13 Oct.
"Cloning Fact Sheet." Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Human Genome Project
Information. Web. 08 Oct. 2011.
Devolder, Katrien, "Cloning", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2010
Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.). 17 Sept. 2008. Web. 10 Oct. 2011
"Genome.gov | Cloning Fact Sheet." Genome.gov | National Human Genome Research
Institute (NHGRI) - Homepage. N.p., n.d. 17 March 2011. Web. 10 Oct. 2011.
"Timeline of Cloning History." Agnosticism / Atheism - Skepticism & Atheism for Atheists
& Agnostics. Web. 13 Oct. 2011.
"Why Clone?" Learn.Genetics™. N.p., n.d. The University of Utah. 2011. Web. 10 Oct.
2011.