This document summarizes research on the topic of cloning. It discusses what cloning is, the cloning of Dolly the sheep in 1997, potential applications and drawbacks of therapeutic cloning including using stem cells to treat disease, and the various ethical issues surrounding human cloning research. The document also notes that while some claims of human cloning have been made, there is currently no scientific evidence that humans have been successfully cloned.

1. PREPARED BY;
SONIYA RADHAKRISHNAN
BIOETHICS
RESEARCH WORK ON TOPIC;

2. Introduction
“To be or not to be…” In the last fifty years new forms of
technology have been the center of attention for every
human being. It seems that every day scientists come up
with some new, perhaps even controversial, and exciting
ways to improve the quality of life. These new technologies
affect every aspect of life, as we know it. One such
technology is the research being done in the area of
cloning. Cloning is the production of one or more cells,
individual plants, or animals that are genetically identical
to another cell, plant or animal. Although the first steps
forward in cloning have brought a storm of protest, the
experimental research should be studied to prolong the
existence of human life.

3. what is cloning?
The term cloning describes a number of
different processes that can be used to
produce genetically identical copies of a
biological entity. The copied material,
which has the same genetic makeup as
the original, is referred to as a clone.
Researchers have cloned a wide range of
biological materials, including genes
cells tissues and even entire organisms,
such as a sheep.

4. Cloning and Bioethics
Bioethics, which is the study of value
judgments pertaining to human conduct in
the area of biology and includes those
related to the practice of medicine, has been
an important aspect of all areas in the
scientific field (Bernstein, Maurice, M.D.). It
is one of the factors that says whether or not
specific scientific research can go on, and if it
can, by which rules, regulations and
guidelines it must abide by.

5. One of the most recent and controversial issues
facing our society today is the concept of
cloning. On February 23, 1997, Ian Wilmut, a
Scottish scientist, along with his colleagues at the
Roslin Institute and PPL Therapeutics, announced
to the world that they had cloned a lamb, which
they named Dolly, after Dolly Parton, from an adult
sheep (Mario,Christopher). The two share the
same nucleic DNA, but differ in terms of their
mitochondrial DNA, which is vitally important for
the regulation of the cell.

6. First cloned lamb ,Dolly

7. The media and the press ignored this fact,
and thus claimed that Dolly and her
'mother' were genetically identical, which
sparked a fury of outcry all around the
world. The technique of transferring a
nucleus from a somatic cell into an egg cell
of which the nucleus had been removed,
called nuclear transplantation, is an
extension of research that had been
ongoing for over 40 years.

8. Up until now, scientists thought that adult cells
could not be "reprogrammed" to behave like a
fertilized egg and create an embryo, but the
evidence obtained by Dolly's success prove
otherwise. The issues of cloning have been
around for a long time, starting with the
publication of Joshua Lederberg's 1966 article
on cloning in the American Naturalist. The
public's interest has been perked by many sci-fi
books, films, and movies including Aldous
Huxley's 1932 novel "Brave New World," 1973's
"Sleeper," the 1978 film "The Boys from Brazil".

9. The public responded to Dolly with a mixture of
fear and excitement, questioning the benefits and
the disasters that could happen in the future if
research was to continue. From a poll taken by
Maurice Bernstein, M.D., the results showed that
72% of the votes said that cloning should be
prohibited by law. They believe that cloning for
any reason would be an unethical and immoral
thing to do.

10. A common misconception of cloning is that it
is the instantaneous creation of a fully-grown
adult from the cells of the individual. Also,
that an exact copy, although much younger, of
an existing person could be made, reflecting
the belief that one's genes bear a simple
relationship to the physical and psychological
traits that make up a person.

11. Have humans been cloned..
Highly publicized claims, human cloning still appears to be
fiction. There currently is no solid scientific evidence that
anyone has cloned human embryos.
.

12. In 1998, scientists in South Korea claimed to have
successfully cloned a human embryo, but said the
experiment was interrupted very early when the
clone was just a group of four cells. In 2002, Clonaid,
part of a religious group that believes humans were
created by extraterrestrials, held a news conference
to announce the birth of what it claimed to be the
first cloned human, a girl named Eve. However,
despite repeated requests by the research
community and the news media, Clonaid never
provided any evidence to confirm the existence of
this clone or the other 12 human clones it
purportedly created

13. Human cloning

14. What are the potential application of
therapeutic cloning.
Researches hope to use embryonic stem cells,
which have the unique ability to generate
virtually all types of cells in an organism, to
grow tissues in the laboratory that can be
used to grow healthy tissue to replace injured
or diseased tissues. In addition, it may be
possible to learn more about the molecular
causes of disease by studying embryonic
stem cell lines from cloned embryos derived
from the cells of animals or humans with
different diseases.

16. This is one point that those against cloning are often
worried about. That the clone would have no soul, no
mind, no feelings or emotions of their own, no say in
how their life will be with their destiny
predetermined for them, and that each individual
clone would not be unique. They are also afraid that
the clone will not be treated like a person, more like a
worthless second copy, or a fill-in for what was there
but now is lost. Although the genes do play an
important part, its the interaction among a person's
genetic inheritance, their environment, memories,
different life experiences, and the process of learning
that results in the uniqueness of each individual
(Mario, Christopher).

17. The risks involved in cloning people as well as animals
are of a much greater magnitude than many people
realize. Our society needs to begin weighing in the
dangerous consequences before making any solid
conclusions, because cloning may wind up costing us
much more than we bargained for. The most beneficial
result that cloning can present is the ability to create
organs. But, we must realize the risks involved as
well. There would most likely be many failures before
there were to be even one success, and there is no
substantial evidence that this would even be
possible. So, the risks seem to greatly outweigh any
possible benefits

18. What are the potential drawbacks of
therapeutic cloning?
Many researchers think it is worthwhile to explore the
use of embryonic stem cells as a path for treating
human diseases. However, some experts are concerned
about the striking similarities between stem cells and
cancer cells. Both cell types have the ability to
proliferate indefinitely and some studies show that
after 60 cycles of cell division, stem cells can
accumulate mutations that could lead to cancer.
Therefore, the relationship between stem cells and
cancer cells needs to be more clearly understood if
stem cells are to be used to treat human disease.

19. Ethical issues of cloning.
cloning is a carefully regulated technique that is largely accepted
today and used routinely in many labs worldwide. However, both
reproductive and therapeutic cloning raise important ethical
issues, especially as related to the potential use of these
techniques in humans.
Reproductive cloning would present the potential of creating a
human that is genetically identical to another person who has
previously existed or who still exists. This may conflict with long-standing
religious and societal values about human dignity,
possibly infringing upon principles of individual freedom, identity
and autonomy. However, some argue that reproductive cloning
could help sterile couples fulfill their dream of parenthood.
Others see human cloning as a way to avoid passing on a
deleterious gene that runs in the family without having to undergo
embryo screening or embryo selection.

20. Therapeutic cloning, while offering the
potential for treating humans suffering
from disease or injury, would require
the destruction of human embryos in
the test tube. Consequently, opponents
argue that using this technique to
collect embryonic stem cells is wrong,
regardless of whether such cells are
used to benefit sick or injured people.

21. YEAR;2010-MARCH
Group no; 36