Artificial cloning in animals and humans making its way through the world.

The word “artificial cloning” is used to refer to organisms that were biologically duplicated in controlled environments or laboratories, this process involves various kinds of biological processes, and cellular processes, especially DNA. Using “nuclear transfer” scientists can make identical copies of DNA from a living organism, the process involves “nuclear transfer of donor nuclei into recipient oocytes whose own nuclear was removed” (L. Keefer, 2015). Although this process results in high expenses and inefficiency limiting their production to very few cloned organisms. Plants, which reproduce asexual and contain identical DNA, inspired the concept of reproducing live organisms or cloning living beings. Scientists considered how to recreate the same thing in more complicated species and began testing with animals at the beginning of the 1950s. The most important case in science history is the cloning of a sheep named Dolly Garcia (2015) argues “I illustrate how the birth of this sheep captures a dramatic redefinition of the life of science”. Referring to the fact that we humans are uncertain of the course that cloning will or must follow, and that the definitions that we currently have may change. Cell-nuclear transfer, the same experiment from which Dolly was born is being used to treat genetic diseases, these experiments have the potential to save those suffering from incurable diseases, such as genetic diseases. There is recent proof of these benefits according to (“New Tech, 2019), “He Jiankui’s claim to have altered the genes of twin girls to prevent them from contracting human immunodeficiency (HIV)”. This quote highlights the advantages of ADN cloning. Yet, different people interpret cloning in different ways it is right to create and modify the DNA of living organisms it is a debate between scientists and people from private organizations, although most of these people and me included believing that artificial cloning of DNA is what we should see as a pathway towards better health. 

Animals’ artificial cloning especially their DNA is amazing and completely possible, scientists had successfully replicated the DNA sequence of a live being, but more importantly, how people reacted to seeing this scientific achievement and experiencing a transformation in the way science saw life. It was not right for some people to use animals in experiments where they had no idea what treatment the animals were subjected to. These studies were very expensive, and there was a high risk that the experiment would fail, resulting in the loss of all investments. This risk slowed research, and scientists had few opportunities to clone domestic animals.

To clone an animal was necessary to implement an experimental process called Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer (SCNT), This highly complicated process that works beautifully took several years of research and is the result of numerous years of pioneering research. The objective of this process was to extract an unfertilized embryo or stem cells and join them so that they could be transferred to an incubator where the fetus could grow and develop normally. But L. Keefer, 2015 questioned, “When is a cell’s fate set, and how plastic is that fate?”. She questions how real this cloned embryo was, whether it was an unnatural change or a creation of the human being. This was a concept that was raised in the 1950s to see if a living organism could be cloned, but the results were not particularly encouraging the cloned cells replicated but did not expand in mass, which was a difficulty for creating a healthy clone. The large percentage of plasticity (cells containing plastic or ingested chemicals) meant that the fetus did not move as it should, but pioneering studies on frogs in the 1950s and 1960s demonstrated that the cells they had can reproduce regularly and with a low percentage of plasticity mentioned by L. Keefer, 2015.

Referring to (L. Keefer, 2015.)study, the most significant case emerged, and how revolutionary how artificial cloning was perceived, I am referring to the successful cloning of Dolly the sheep. This experiment was done in Edinburgh. The embryo from which Dolly was born was created by inserting an embryonic nucleus from an adult sheep and stem cells from the same into an egg, resulting in the stem cells retrieved from the mamma being genetically cloned. Since the experiment was successful, it was time to present Dolly as the greatest human creation in genetics, the debate began “Dolly’s public presentation in February 1997-6 months after her birth-sparked intense debates about the limits of cloning technology and its potential use in producing exact copies of human beings”. Several debates developed following Dolly’s presentation to the public, questioning the limits and repercussions of cloning animals people took opposing positions, with some supporting the project and others wondering if it might benefit someone. Yet, this occurrence inspired researchers, and the research center where Dolly was born is regarded as the most important center of science and animals. In Dolly’s honor, a museum was constructed where you can observe the complete cloning process.

The scientists went through this process to research how humans might profit from these findings, particularly the cloning of human and Genetic genomes. This can help people in overcoming chronic and even inherited disorders. But it is also one of the most controversial topics, even more so than the case of the cloned sheep in 1997, because religion plays a role in the question of cloning the human genome. Some individuals believe that doing these kinds of tests is tantamount to playing God, but others believe that it is feasible that these experiments will save us from diseases. There is also controversy about when a fetus should be called “a person.” Some argue that if the fetus is less than 6 weeks old, it is not considered a person, but others argue that a human is a human since the egg was fertilized.

From the famous and important case of Dolly the first sheep cloned using the nuclear transfer, which was led by the Scottish and their research, This type of experiment inspired and motivated the scientists to move further. Employing the biological discoveries that occurred from Dolly’s cloning and applying them to people, scientists were excited about changing human DNA. The results of these experiments improved the treatment of patients with terminal or genetic diseases, and they were also able to improve and cure patients with blood and drug problems. All of this is possible because of clustered regularly by interspaced palindromic repeats (or CRISPR), which resulted from Dolly’s cloning experiments. Many people were shocked to learn that an animal had been cloned, but when they heard that humans could be cloned, they began to question the ethics of cloning. The argument developed in 2013, and various experts give their opinion and references like The New Atlantis (2015) “Declared the author Wesley J, Smith on National Review Online; The great cloning debate is about to begin”.

But there was very little information and debate regarding the ethics of human cloning, and publications and television began to silence this debate until there was no information about it. The dispute ended, and the definition of cloning changed. It was no longer considered cloning, instead being a form of asexual reproduction that was not completely artificial because cells from two different beings were used and fertilized to produce a new being. Human stem cell cloning is currently the best system for improving people’s lives. And what was earlier considered a debate over whether or not it was correct. Is currently met as one of the most effective ways for humans to fight diseases as mentioned in The New Atlantis (2015) “Cloning human organism become an important research tool for experimental embryology, and in recent years it has been defended by some prominent cloning scientists.”

In conclusion, artificial cloning involves the duplication of organisms in controlled environments through various biological and cellular processes, especially DNA. While the process is costly and inefficient, it has the potential to provide significant benefits, including the treatment of genetic diseases. The cloning of Dolly the sheep marked a significant milestone in science and prompted a redefinition of the way we view life. However, opinions on the ethics of cloning and the modification of DNA vary among scientists and private organizations. Nonetheless, many believe that artificial cloning of DNA is a promising pathway towards better health. As technology continues to advance, it will be interesting to see how the debate around cloning evolves and how it will shape the future of medicine and biotechnology.

REFERENCES

Garcia M. “Animal breeding in the age of biotechnology: the investigative pathway

behind the cloning of Dolly, the sheep”. September 2015.

New Tech, New Threats, and New Governance Challenges: An Opportunity to Craft

Smarter Responses? “Biotechnology”. Aug. 1, 2019

The New Atlantis. “Special Issue: The Threat of Human Cloning Ethics, Recent

Developments, and the Case for Action”. Summer 2015

L. Keefer Carol “Artificial cloning of domestic animals”. July 21, 2015