Is Human Cloning Acceptable In Today's Society Section: Technology Essays
When I asked Dr. Harry if he would clone an animal, he said he would in order to help experimental data to be statistically significant. Dr. Harry said that human cloning for medical reasons should be attempted but the problems will be with the public perception. As the majority said, he believes that cloning humans for personal reasons is a misuse of the scientific findings. I asked Dr. Harry to give me a statement about the future of genetic cloning and he explained his detailed work with embryo transferring. With an embryo transfer, a fertilized egg is removed from the fetus of one female and replaced in another fetus. As the interview ended, Dr. Harry stated, "With my experiences with embryo transfers, the limitations will make cloning a very difficult process."
In an article from the The Baltimore Sun written by Jonathan Bor and Frank D. Roylance, the author bring up interesting points about how cloning can be used to produce pharmaceuticals and how genetic diseases can be studied. "One of the most exciting prospects is the creation of barnyard animals that are living factories of pharmaceuticals." For example, the milk of cow can be made to produce certain compounds, which could include "cancer-fighting interferons or clotting factors that are needed by hemophiliacs." One problem with testing pharmaceuticals is that the experimental data is not extremely precise because of the variation of subjects in which are tested. If certain cloned subjects were tested, the experimental data would be more precise because of the loss of a variable. The other aspect of cloning that can be extremely helpful in the medical field is the ability to make exact copies to observe.
"There is interest in producing exact copies of animals that carry genetic diseases that would give scientists better models to watch the ways human diseases progress." So much could be learned from the cloned subjects "that have inherited diseases that plaque humans (Bor and Roylance 1A). The possibilities are endless when cloning is applied to the medical field and the future of medical technology. In an article from The Washington Post written by Michael Laris, scientists want to use cloning to keep the endangered giant panda from becoming extinct. "Scientists at China's most respected research institute are attempting to clone a giant panda, making the creatures the focus of a biting debate on the merits of cloning as a strategy for saving endangered species."
As the debate of human cloning for medical use continues, the cloning of endanger species is also becoming an issue among scientists and animal activists. Some researchers do not agree with the cloning of the endanger species of pandas. "Pan Wenshi, a Beijing University biologist doubts pandas can be cloned because basic elements of their reproduction process still baffle researchers." The problem is that "a fertilized panda egg will float around for six to 16 weeks before implanting itself in the uterus." By trying to clone pandas, the population will "propagate a narrow set of genes rather than increase the hereditary diversity needed to ensure the panda's natural survival."
Although many scientists disagree with the cloning of the panda, they still hope that more research can effectively produce a way to clone pandas, which will take them off the endangered species list (13A). As technology advances in the future, the process of cloning individuals whether human or not will probably get more efficient. There are so many possibilities that can emerge from what is known today but there is no way to tell what will be effective and what will not be. By analyzing the progress of cloning, the medical field will one-day be able to use cloned animals to aid in medical research. They may also be able to use human clones to produce organs that can be transplanted with little or no complications. The major problem with human cloning though is if it will be accepted into today's society. With many complications, the task at hand will be difficult to accomplish but as technology has proven, the possibilities are endless.
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