Searchin’ for the Sand

           Genetic cloning is a very controversial issue in science. A clone is something that is exactly the same in every aspect as another. A genetic clone is a plant, animal, or other organism that is genetically identical to its parent. The most popular recent genetic clone was the clone of Dolly the sheep. Dolly was successfully cloned with no errors. Genetic cloning is seen in bad ways and in good. There is a large dispute between whether it should be allowed in society or be an illegal matter. Using the pros and cons of this issue, there is serious talk about how to handle this powerful capability.

            Genetic cloning is centered on the genes in an organism. Genes are strings of chemicals that help create proteins for your body. They are located in the nuclei of a cell and are on long coiled chains called chromosomes. In each cell, there are multiple strands of DNA. DNA determines virtually everything about an organism, and a clones DNA is exactly the same as the originals DNA. There are two main ways to genetically clone an organism, artificial embryo twinning and somatic cell nuclear transfer.

            Artificial embryo twinning is the easier way to clone of the two. This way is the imitation of a natural creation of twins. The natural way to produce twins happens just after fertilization of an egg cell by a sperm cell. This fertilized egg is called a zygote. Twins are formed when the zygote tries to divide into a two-celled embryo. The two cells separate and they continue to develop on their own, resulting in two embryos and eventually babies. The babies are genetically identical because the two cells they once were came from the same zygote. Artificial embryo twinning is the same thing, but there is no mother. This type of reproduction happens in a Petri dish. By manually separating an embryo into individual cells, the cells grow and develop by themselves. The embryos are then put into a mother where the embryos develop into babies and are delivered. Just like the natural twinning, are genetically identical because they came from the same zygote.                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

           Somatic cell nuclear transfer is more complex then artificial embryo twinning, but still results in a genetic clone. Somatic cells are any cells that are in your body except for the reproductive cells, sperm and egg cells. The difference is that somatic cells have two sets of chromosomes, and the reproductive cells only have one. To complete this type of clone, you would first isolate a somatic cell. Once the cell is isolated, you would transfer the nucleus from that cell into an egg cell where the nucleus had already been removed. After those two steps are completed, the egg cell should act as a fertilized zygote. Then it should be placed into a mother, where it would produce into an embryo, then delivered by the mother.                                                                                                                           

             The list of pros and cons about cloning is virtually endless, but a lot of them are important. A good thing that comes with genetic cloning comes from the ability to further explore life’s creation, to learn more about the biology of organisms. Enzymes can be produced for use in industrial processes. Genetic cloning is risky, but it only has minimal risk. All of technology has risk, ex. cars and planes. There are a lot of things that people don’t like about cloning as well. Things that could happen with genetic cloning could never happen in nature, and genetic cloning is just unnatural. Some scientists say that cloning would cause problems with evolution. Religious people don’t like the idea of scientists “playing god.”

            Other big issues related to genetic cloning are stem cell research and the human genome project. Stem cells are cells that can be formed into any other kind of cell, and are used to cure illnesses. Scientists say that the discovery of stem cells is the greatest find in the biological world since antibiotics. The human genome project was a 13 year project where scientists had these goals:

•  identify all the approximately 20,000-25,000 genes in human DNA,
• determine the sequences of the 3 billion chemical base pairs that make up human DNA,
• store this information in databases,
• improve tools for data analysis,
• transfer related technologies to the private sector, and

• address the ethical, legal, and social issues (ELSI) that may arise from the project.

Just like genetic cloning, both of these issues have there pros and cons in which people agree and disagree with them.                                                                                                    

            As you can see, genetic cloning and genetic study have come a long way. Scientists now know a lot more about biology with the study of cloning. There will always be disagreements and controversial issues, but genetic cloning is an important part of science.

Personal Summary

I am personally on the fence about genetic cloning. Genetic cloning definitely has things that I agree and disagree with. Overall, I think that this issue is fine by me. Genetic cloning is just another great way to further improve people’s knowledge of science. I agree with the information that was given about how it is just a minimal risk to experiment with cloning. I disagree in that it would mess with evolution, because all cloning is, is a twin, and there are nothing wrong with twins. I also don’t believe that cloning is “playing god”, cloning things are just experiments. Human cloning is different. To clone a human, you would need a very good reason why, and be for a good cause. I agree with the creation of stem cells because they are purely for health. If scientists can cure an illness using stem cells, I’m all for it. All of this connects to Frankenstein due to the construction of the creature. There are disputes to who the creature’s parents, family, and caretakers are. Who is really responsible for the creature? The same question could be asked with a genetic clone. The creature could also be compared to a human clone in that the creation is human, and they both have control over themselves. Overall, I believe that genetic cloning really isn’t a big theme in Frankenstein, but can certainly start a good discussion.