When people think of cloning, they think of the mad scientist type, sitting in
a tube and waiting 30 seconds for an exact copy to be zapped up. Well, that is
not exactly true. On TV, cloning is used for doing tasks that a lazy man
wouldn’t do, but in real life, cloning could be used for saving lives and
enhancing what we know about ourselves. If used correctly cloning could change
the world we live in today.
What exactly is cloning? Cloning is the copying of a being by using DNA to
create an exact replica of that same thing (The University of Utah). The
cloning process, unlike what is portrayed on TV, can take months to complete.
For example, if someone wanted to clone their dog, first they would take a cell
from the dog, and place the nucleus of that cell into an egg cell. Then, over
time it grows into an embryo. Once the embryo grows enough, it would be
planted into a surrogate mother. The embryo would then be born through
the normal birthing process. As a result, the same dog would have been
created twice (The University of Arizona College of Science).
The first cloning was done in Scotland. Scottish scientists
were able to create a copy of a sheep in 1996. They named her Dolly
(National Institue of Health).
Cloning has proven to be successful with animals. One of the advantages
with cloning is that it could help endangered species become less
endangered. In addition, cloning could be used to make a pet owner happy
with creating a copy of their beloved pet. However, there are
disadvantages that go along with the advantages. For instance, not all of
the clones are exact. They appear to be exact when first created but,
over time, they turn out to be a look-alike. Further, while people think
that it takes one attempt to create a clone, it actually takes several hundred
attempts to create a successful clone (The Advantages and Disadvantages of
Cloning).
To some religious groups, cloning has been thought of as unholy because of the
process in creating a copy of the same being. But, to some people, it is
thought of as helpful to the environment and the world. Also, because the
process involves taking DNA from another being and trying to create an exact
copy, sometimes it doesn’t come out right on the first try and can take
several hundred tries (Park).
Sometime in the future, cloning could become an advantage for the world because
of the power of creating an abundance of everything. While it could be
used to everyone’s benefit by ending hunger and possibly curing disease, it
could also be abused if there were no rules or regulation as to when cloning
would or would not be proper. Cloning animals has already changed the way
we think about cloning. If, someday, rules or guidelines can be
established to satisfy everyone’s interests, maybe cloning could become a
common occurrence.
National Institue of Health. "Cloning." 1 July
2011. National Human Genome Research Institue. 17 April 2012 <http://www.genome.gov/25020028#al-7>.
Park, Alice. "The Perils of Cloning." Time
Magazine (2006): 3.
"The Advantages and Disadvantages of Cloning." 24
January 2009. Method of Healing. 18 April 2012 <http://www.methodsofhealing.com/the-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-cloning/>.
The University of Arizona College of Science. "Cloning
Controversy." November 2007. Home-Made Stem Cells. 18 November 2012
<http://student.biology.arizona.edu/honors2007/group01/controversy.html>.
The University of Utah. "What is Cloning?" 2012. Learn
Genetics . 17 4 2012 <http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/tech/cloning/whatiscloning/>.
