Animal cloning was first successfully performed on a 6-year-old sheep named Dolly, in 1996. Researchers have been able to clone animals in many various ways. One way is to split embryos and then put them in a corresponding female organism. Another way is to take a cell, such as a skin cell, from the original animal that they want to clone, and then take the DNA from the original animal cell and insert it into the nucleus of a donor egg cell that has no DNA in it. Then they are put into a female womb to develop and hopefully create identical organisms.Not all clones are exactly alike, nor are they exactly like the original animal. Most turn out sickly and won't be able to develop into a healthy organism.
Benefits to cloning include producing a lot of animals with wanted characteristics, such as farm animals that produce things we need (like cows producing milk), testing new drugs and treatments, build up the populations of endangered or extinct species, and produce (almost) exact copies of pets that pet owners want to keep with them for a longer period of time. Risks of cloning would be the ethical issues about how far we should be able to go in interrupting the natural circle of life and that most clones turn out crippled in some way or can't grow up to be healthy organisms. A lot of people are against cloning because of how unnatural it is.
Although it would be understandable to dislike cloning because of ethical reasons, it might actually be a good idea, to some extent. Cloning humans shouldn't be able to happen, just because of how unethical it would be to do so. But cloning a lost pet or even K9's that were great at doing their job, would be an exception. Pet owners are always devastated when losing a close companion, and sometimes it's nicer to know that you might be able to keep your best friend with you for a longer time than what was originally going to happen. The new clone won't be exactly like the old pet, but it's the closest you can get to having your old friend back.
Works Cited:
"Cloning." National Human Genome Research Institute. National Institutes of
Health, n.d. Web. 24 Jan. 2016. <http://www.genome.gov/25020028>.
"Cloning Animals." BBC News. BBC, n.d. Web. 24 Jan. 2016.
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/add_ocr_gateway/
living_growing/cloningrev2.shtml>.
Stein, Rob. "Cloning Your Dog, for a Mere $100,000." NPR. N.p., 30 Sept. 2015.
Web. 24 Jan. 2016. <http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/09/30/
428927516/cloning-your-dog-for-a-mere-100-000>.
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| Cloning a dog |
Benefits to cloning include producing a lot of animals with wanted characteristics, such as farm animals that produce things we need (like cows producing milk), testing new drugs and treatments, build up the populations of endangered or extinct species, and produce (almost) exact copies of pets that pet owners want to keep with them for a longer period of time. Risks of cloning would be the ethical issues about how far we should be able to go in interrupting the natural circle of life and that most clones turn out crippled in some way or can't grow up to be healthy organisms. A lot of people are against cloning because of how unnatural it is.
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| Mice are used to test new treatments. |
Works Cited:
"Cloning." National Human Genome Research Institute. National Institutes of
Health, n.d. Web. 24 Jan. 2016. <http://www.genome.gov/25020028>.
"Cloning Animals." BBC News. BBC, n.d. Web. 24 Jan. 2016.
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/add_ocr_gateway/
living_growing/cloningrev2.shtml>.
Stein, Rob. "Cloning Your Dog, for a Mere $100,000." NPR. N.p., 30 Sept. 2015.
Web. 24 Jan. 2016. <http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/09/30/
428927516/cloning-your-dog-for-a-mere-100-000>.
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