What is Cloning?

            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/>.