Premium Essay

Animal Cloning

In:

Submitted By loganward1
Words 1742
Pages 7
Animal Cloning and Experimentation | March 22
2011
| Is Cloning Animals Ethical? | Carli Mapes PHI 110 |

A question that has plagued scientific and philosophical minds for many years is whether the experimentation and cloning of animals is ethical. This same question has caused more questions to arise again and again; such as, should we exploit animals for our own benefit? Do our rights override that of animals, and if they do, should we be allowed to decide the fate of these animals? Furthermore, what are we to do with these animals when we have cloned them or when we have finished our experimentations on their cells? Are these clones really animals, or are they just scientific facsimiles? Because there are no clear-cut answers to these questions, opposing opinions are argued, sides are taken, and even organizations are founded to address this issue. Many of the reasons for justifying the cloning of animals are wrong and benefit only the ones who have sought them in the first place; for example, some companies want to use the cloned animals for its own selfish, personal gain. W. R. Grace Company sought to have prized animals cloned and sold at high prices.1 Racehorses were an ideal animal to clone because of its superior breeding and intellect. The price of the racehorses’ sperm alone sells for a hefty sum so its clones would sell for even more. What these companies do not understand is that each clone is not exactly the same as the original animal. There is a 0.5 percent difference in each and every cell of the clones2, and there are thousands of cells in a horse’s body. This seemingly infinitesimal difference adds up to a sizable difference, and could affect the way the horses run or behave. The horses would also be cared for, treated, and raised in different ways which in turn could affect their nature and their abilities; in the end, there

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Animal Cloning And Biomedical Research

...The debate over animal cloning will have an effect on our world for generations. When a whole organism is replicated from one single cell taken from the parent organism and in a genetically duplicate way, it is called animal cloning. Meaning the cloned animal is an exact duplicate of its parent, and has the exact same DNA. Other instances of cloning are when asexual reproduction in some particular organisms and the growth of twins from a solitary fertilized cell. However, now with the advanced biological technology, artificially recreating the process of animal cloning is a possibility. Pros and Cons: Some cons of the animal cloning process are a large percent of cases, birth defects occur like animals being born with two faces. Sometimes...

Words: 696 - Pages: 3

Free Essay

Sheep Cloning

...Morgan Cloning in the Cattle and Sheep Industry Most farmers and ranchers use cloning as advancement in their program. Cloning can offer farmers advantages by the farmers selecting the animal that has passed down the most superior genetics and that has performed the best in everyday environmental settings. Also, it can give them advantages on selling high-quality meat and dairy products for the dairy cattle producers. Ranchers has the advantages by hand picking the highest quality in the sires or dams genetic makeup by making an exact replica for breeding purposes in the commercial industry and/or the stock show industry. Cloning of cattle and sheep does not harm the animal in any shape or form but it may put a little environmental stress on them due to all of the handling and testing of the animal. When you clone an animal this doesn’t mean you are changing the animal by altering their genetic makeup or genetically engineering them, it just means you are getting an exact replica of that particular animal you have chosen. When an animal is cloned, it alters their immune system somehow and where they do not get sick as often and they become parasite resistant so you spend less money on veterinary visits. Another important reason why cloning is in the livestock industry is for strict breeding purposes so the cloned animals can breed and produce animals for meat purposes. Cloning has been part of our world for over three or four decades. Hans Dreisch performed...

Words: 1745 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Family

...Advantage of cloning 1. Human cloning * Heart attack Treatment Dr. Richard Seed, one of the leading proponents of human cloning technology, suggests that it may someday be possible to reverse the aging process because of what we learn from cloning. Human cloning technology could be used to reverse heart attacks. Scientists believe that they may be able to treat heart attack victims by cloning their healthy heart cells and injecting them into the areas of the heart that have been damaged. Heart disease is the number one killer in the United States and several other industrialized countries. Today, heart attack is the number one killer in the developed as well as developing countries. Scientists believe that by cloning healthy heart cells and injecting them in to the damaged heart area, they can treat heart attacks. * Plastic, reconstructive, and cosmetic surgery. Because of human cloning and its technology the days of silicone breast implants and other cosmetic procedures that may cause immune disease should soon be over. With the new technology, instead of using materials foreign to the body for such procedures, doctors will be able to manufacture bone, fat, connective tissue, or cartilage that matches the patients tissues exactly. Anyone will able to have their appearance altered to their satisfaction without the leaking of silicone gel into their bodies or the other problems that occur with present day plastic surgery. Victims of terrible accidents that deform...

Words: 1051 - Pages: 5

Free Essay

Cloning: Right or Wrong?

...Running Head: CLONING RIGHT OR WRONG? Cloning Right or Wrong? Should the cloning of humans be legalized? Diane Lentz English 215 Strayer University Online Cloning Right or Wrong? Should the Cloning of Humans be Legalized? Scientists have been cloning animals from embryonic cells for decades (Cowen, 2001). With the introduction of Dolly, the first animal cloned from mature tissue, the issue of cloning has reached a fevered pitch. Individuals for cloning and those against are taking their battle to new arenas, such as congress. The battle will continue as research progresses. The process of cloning and the information compiled from cloned animal experiments are as important as the benefits and complications as well as the ethical and legal ramifications of it, which are at the core of the modern day debate. In 1997, a sheep named Dolly gained national recognition. Dr. Ian Wilmut, a Scottish scientist from the Roslin Institute, introduced her to the world as a genetic copy of her mother. Animals, as humans, receive half of their DNA from their mother and half from their father. This creates a unique individual. It took scientists 277 tries to succeed in creating Dolly. While Dolly has the same DNA as her mother, they are different in many ways. Human twins share the same DNA but have different personalities due to life experiences. The process Dr. Wilmut used to create Dolly is called “nuclear transfer...

Words: 1677 - Pages: 7

Free Essay

Cloning

...To Go the Star Wars Rout: Cloning David Rodriguez College Of Southern Nevada Professor Phelan To Go the Star Wars Rout: Cloning Cloning occurs when you copy a living creature. Two clones have the same genes, small structures with information in them that tells them what the body of a living thing should look like and how it should behave. You get the genes from your parents. Many people think that cloning is only done by scientists in laboratories, but, in fact, cloning also occurs in nature. Animals have billions of cells. The nucleus of such a cell has genetic information called DNA. All the nuclei of an animal have the same information. But each cell only uses a part of this information in order to work properly. The other part of the DNA is not active. But because a single cell holds all the DNA of an animal, scientists can make physical copies of an animal from only one cell. They transfer the nucleus of an animal’s cell into an egg cell of another animal. This egg cell has the same genetic information as that of the donor animal. The cell then grows into an embryo. Scientists must then activate the DNA that was not active in the parent cell. Otherwise a full organism would not develop. Clones do not behave in an identical way – this is because they live in different environments. Researchers have found out that identical twins that carry the same...

Words: 1210 - Pages: 5

Free Essay

Cloning

...2010 Cloning Human, animal, and plant cloning is one of the most controversial subjects in modern science. There are many good arguments in favor of cloning, as well as many against it. In my opinion, plant and animal cloning could be very efficient to society by way of creating more food, but I also view it as unethical. In this essay I will discuss many pro’s and con’s of cloning. Cloning can help the human race in many ways, but is it necessary? One way it can help us is by the cloning of plants and animals. In doing this, we could create more food and genetically engineer the food to maximize its health. "Commercial livestock cloning could inundate the food supply with novel products that have not been safety tested."(Mendelson). Most scientists who oppose the idea claim that cloned animals usually have birth defects, and have not been properly tested for safe consumption. Although this could be true, with the rapidly advancing technology in today’s world it probably will not be long until cloning is perfected, and the animals pass all tests. However, is the cloning of animals really necessary for us to survive? Those who are on the more ethical side of the matter believe that God has and will continue to provide us with plenty of plants and animals to survive on. Thus, the argument can go back and forth depending on your beliefs and personal ethics. Ultimately the answer to the question is what you make it. Another way cloning can benefit us is by the cloning of human...

Words: 1082 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Research

...Purposes of Gene Cloning To study genes in the laboratory, it is necessary to have many copies on hand to use as samples for different experiments. Such experiments include Southern or Northern blots, in which genes labeled with radioactive or fluorescent chemicals are used as probes for detecting specific genes that may be present in complex mixtures of DNA. Cloned genes also make it easier to study the proteins they encode. Because the genetic code of bacteria is identical to that of eukaryotes, a cloned animal or plant gene that has been introduced into a bacterium can often direct the bacterium to produce its protein product, which can then be purified and used for biochemical experimentation. Cloned genes can also be used for DNA sequencing, which is the determination of the precise order of all the base pairs in the gene. All of these applications require many copies of the DNA molecule that is being studied. Gene cloning also enables scientists to manipulate and study genes in isolation from the organism they came from. This allows researchers to conduct many experiments that would be impossible without cloned genes. For research on humans, this is clearly a major advantage, as direct experimentation on humans has many technical, financial, and ethical limitations. Importance for Medicine and Industry The ability to clone a gene is not only valuable for conducting biological research. Many important pharmaceutical drugs and industrial enzymes are produced from cloned...

Words: 5354 - Pages: 22

Premium Essay

Persuasive Essay On Cloning

...What is cloning? As the future arrives, scientists at Wake Forest University have said that they figured out how to construct bone, muscle and cartilage through printing. They are still able to sustain blood flow enough to provide away for cells to stay alive. These printed body tissues will soon be safe for human implants. From people creating cloned body parts it is helping the community and helping people that need these body parts. Cloning can help things but there are also other effects that can happen to the thing that is being cloned and other causes that come from being cloned. There are many animals that have died earlier then they should of from being cloned. Although scientists have debated whether or not Dolly the sheep died because...

Words: 482 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

What Is Cloning

...What is Cloning? Clones are organisms that are exact genetic copies. Every single bit of their DNA is identical. Clones can happen naturally—identical twins are just one of many examples. Or they can be made in the lab. Below, find out how natural identical twins are similar to and different from clones made through modern cloning technologies. How Is Cloning Done? Many people first heard of cloning when Dolly the Sheep showed up on the scene in 1997. Artificial cloning technologies have been around for much longer than Dolly, though. There are two ways to make an exact genetic copy of an organism in a lab: artificial embryo twinning and somatic cell nuclear transfer. 1. Artificial Embryo Twinning Artificial embryo twinning is a relatively low-tech way to make clones. As the name suggests, this technique mimics the natural process that creates identical twins. In nature, twins form very early in development when the embryo splits in two. Twinning happens in the first days after egg and sperm join, while the embryo is made of just a small number of unspecialized cells. Each half of the embryo continues dividing on its own, ultimately developing into separate, complete individuals. Since they developed from the same fertilized egg, the resulting individuals are genetically identical. Artificial embryo twinning uses the same approach, but it is carried out in a Petri dish instead of inside the mother. A very early embryo is separated into individual cells, which are allowed...

Words: 8659 - Pages: 35

Free Essay

Cloning

...Cloning Should cloning be funded by the government? I for one believe the U.S. Government should fund cloning because cloning can cure disease, endangered species could be saved and we’re taking steps towards immortality. The U.S. Government should fund cloning because cloning can cure disease. Cloning has been proven to recreate cells that may not function correctly. ACT’s Dr. Robert Lanza predicted that work like his will revolutionize the field of medicine, providing novel treatments for Alzheimer’s, diabetes, heart disease and Parkinson’s. A tiny cluster of cells, smaller than the head of a pin, holds the key to curing fatal diseases, even to growing spare body parts, says Lanza, director of medical research at the labs. (Cloning) The U.S. Government should fund cloning because cloning can save endangered species. Organisms can reproduce with a “clone” to make offspring. When an endangered species can’t reproduce fast enough to stop extinction scientist believe cloning can save species. Imagine it is the year 2050, and only 30 cheetahs are left in the world. Tireless efforts to help the animals reproduce in the wild have failed and the species could soon die out. But there is a lifeline, and it's in the freezer. Scientists turn to thousands of cell samples collected from cheetahs over the years since 2002, and one by one each of these animals is reincarnated with the help of cloning. This vision is anything but fantastical. If all else fails, such as habitat preservation...

Words: 334 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Arguments Against Cloning

...Imagine cloning a cell 37.2 trillion times until there’s a whole person. Today, scientist have come extremely close to making this possible. Scientist haven’t been able to clone an adult human yet, but some have managed to successfully been able to clone a human embryo. Cloning will allow people to increase the amount of livestock and crops key to mankind’s survival, cure who knows how many diseases and even bring people back to life from a simple DNA cell. But even though all these things could be possibly, people are still against it. The idea that is going to change the world all started in 1885 by a German scientist named Hans Spemann. According to Utah Genetics, Spemann was the first person to split an embryo and went on to win a Nobel...

Words: 821 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Arguement Paper

... Therapeutic cloning has the potential to treat several degenerative diseases, thereby defective genes could be replaced and help improve the lives of millions. However, cloning in the human sense has had a difficult start. DNA cloning has permitted the development of modern biology, in particular within the last forty years. In this time frame the world has passed from theories to actually cloning genes. Subsequently, The University of Utah Health Sciences did a study on the history of cloning: Mitalipov and colleagues were the first to use somatic cell nuclear transfer to create a human embryo. …In this experiment, researchers took a skin cell from a patient and fused it with a donated egg cell. Key to the success of the experiment was the modification to the culture liquid in which the procedure was done and to the series of electrical pulses used to stimulate the egg to begin its division. Following the cloning controversy of 2004–2005, in which South Korean scientists falsely claimed to have used somatic cell nuclear transfer to create embryonic stem cell lines, the scientific community demanded much stronger evidence that the procedure had actually been successful. (Learn. Genetics) Subsequently, many states in the US began to prohibit the use of therapeutic and reproductive cloning. Regardless, cloning should be decriminalized, with the stipulation that serious regulations be put into place. People, often too caught in the moral implications of cloning never take the...

Words: 1610 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Why Is Cloning Wrong

...Morality of Cloning Cloning, is it morally right or wrong? That is the question many have been debating for years. Cloning an animal, or even more so a human, may seem, taboo. Ask yourself, what are moral standards built upon? Religion? Or do they come from ourselves? Most of today's moral standards are built upon Christianity, one of the worlds biggest religions. Many people believe that God made us to reproduce sexually, between a man and woman only, and that cloning is playing God and going against his will. Other religions too, have spoken out about cloning. Religion has been a main issue for the scientific community for many decades and will continue to be so. Many other subjects such as abortion, and assisted suicide have been a controversial...

Words: 1433 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Ethics

...readings involved stem cells, cloning of animals, the debate of human cloning, and gene therapy. Some terms that were new to me included: nascent, which basically means to be born; hubris which means full of pride; meliorist, which is a human’s effect on societal improvement; and the term despotism, meaning complete power or authority. In the reading on the President’s Council on Bioethics the council agreed that reproductive cloning was unacceptable. However it was not unanimous on therapeutic cloning. Majority of the council recommended a four year moratorium on research cloning and the remaining members recommended regulations of cloned embryos in research. A moral case for cloning for biomedical research is to provide possibilities of treating diseases. Research is limited to fourteen day old embryos that would be created to provide a good service for life and medicine. A moral case against cloning refers to embryos being treated as raw material solely to fulfill our own needs. There is also great concern of possibly causing harm to society by crossing reproduction margins and/or ruin to nascent human life. The four year moratorium hopes to provide some firm policies on cloning and allow time for a well researched and judicious decision to be attained. The central moral issue from the case of Dolly, the cloned sheep, is whether it is morally acceptable to clone for the purpose of advancing in medical solutions as opposed to cloning for the purpose of reproduction...

Words: 1008 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Genetic Engineering

...The Science and Ethics of Genetic Engineering Research & Position Paper Table of Contents DNA Fingerprinting/ Genetically Modified Foods --------------------------------------------------- p. 3 Gene Therapy/Cloning------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ p. 4 Stem Cell Technology------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ p. 5 Position Paper------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- p. 6-7 Bibliography-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- p. 8-10 Evaluation Rubric----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- p. 7 DNA Fingerprinting DNA fingerprinting are tests that help to identify and analyze a person’s DNA. The term “fingerprinting” is used because finger prints, like DNA, vary from person to person and no two people have the same DNA or fingerprints. So, when scientists identify a person’s DNA, it can only be linked back to one individual and can help to obtain information about that specific individual. DNA fingerprinting can be done through many different ways. Some ways are through blood samples from a vein or heel, saliva samples, skin samples, or hair samples. The purpose of DNA fingerprinting is to help link family members together, find things that cause diseases, to help aid in crime scene investigations, and to...

Words: 2310 - Pages: 10