Animal cloning

Introduction

Dolly the Sheep was a phenomenon that spread through the world like wildfire. She was born on July 5, 1996 and was the first mammal to be effectively cloned from an adult somatic cell. Dolly was such an amazing discovery because before her creation there was no evidence that distinguished animal cells could form entirely new organisms. It was not easy to create Dolly however, and took 277 tries. Other laboratories at that time were unable to produce a clone or even results similar to Dollys. Dolly was so influential and renowned because she ''shattered theory in science, a cloning expert at the University of Missouri. People thought clones were impossible because of the complexity involved, and the failures that had happened in the past. With a great number of skilled biologists and scientists going into the study of cloning, the field has started growing. Yet, it is a timely and delicate process that has many pros and cons. When a scientist clones an organism, it is as if he is taking life into his own hands and peoples morals and religious views come into play. Yet, cloning can be very beneficial to society, saving the lives of people with incurable dieses that destroy limbs with therapeutic cloning, and making organ transplant waiting lists obsolete.

Discussion

There are many different types of ways to clone, and many things that can be cloned. The most popular form of cloning and the one the media is often talking of is reproductive cloning. The three main types of cloning are recombinant DNA technology, reproductive cloning, and therapeutic cloning. Recombinant DNA technology is better known as DNA cloning or molecular cloning, and is used to transmit DNA fragments from a single organism to a self-replicating genetic element as bacteria plasmid(Brown,20). This process has been in use since the 1970s and is most popular in molecular biology labs. To start Recombinant DNA technology, better known as molecular cloning, DNA from either a plant, animal, or human is taken and fragmented, or broken apart.(Howe,207) The DNA is then inserted into a foreign cell or cells that can speedily reproduce, so that many copies can be made in a diminutive amount of time. The DNA that needs to be cloned is then inserted into a diminutive, self-replicating circular molecule of DNA called a plasmid, that is apart from the chromosomal DNA. When the new plasmid and bacteria come into contact with each other the newly introduced segment will duplicate with the rest of the plasmid. Reproductive Cloning is used to create animals that are genetically indistinguishable using somatic cell nuclear transfer. This process is a very complicated and tedious one that required the removal of the nucleus from a somatic cell and from an egg cell. Once the nucleus is removed from the somatic cell it is inserted into the enucleated egg cell and then the somatic cell nucleus is reprogrammed by the host cell. The egg now contains the nucleus of the somatic cell and will start dividing ...