Tricia compares the advantages and disadvantages of cloning in her article (What Are the Pros and Cons of Cloning). In her opinion, people might see more benefits in cloning plants and animals than they do in cloning humans. Some of the advantages of cloning that she listed out in her article includes the point that cloning could help to reproduce plants and animals that are more disease-resistant. Besides, cloning can also be used to reproduce superior plants and animals with nutritional superiority to address the world hunger issues. In addition, cloning can also save those nearly extinct plants and animals.
However, efforts to genetically engineer or clone plant and animal species could result in a lack of DNA diversity which might lead to their extinction. The author thinks that genetic variation is the key factor to keep certain species in survival from unpredictable disease. Besides that, potential cost in cloning animals is another disadvantage of cloning. Due to the high failure rate, cloning animals is much more expensive than reproducing animals by other means. Furthermore, some people feel greatly reluctant to eat cloned meat as it might lower the value of the animal that was cloned.
According to the author, there are potential benefits and drawbacks in cloning of humans too. Advantages include the possibility of cloning vital organs for transplantation, which is believed to be able to nullify the organ rejection issues. There are also suggestions to clone children for couples who are unable to have their own children or for those people who lose their children at a very young age. However, the method of cloning which involved fertilized embryos is considered unethical and morally repugnant. People feel that the idea of cloning humans is against the religious beliefs of some religions.
In the article of Peter Hutch (Disadvantages of Cloning), he pointed out that it is impossible to clone someone’s personality even though it is technologically possible to clone 2 people that look alike. This is because one’s personality is unique and is based on his life experiences. He added that an abnormal baby would be produced as a side effect from mutation of genes. Furthermore, genetic material used from the adult might continue to age so the genes in a new born baby clone could be 30 years old or more on the day of birth. Similar to Tricia, he also discussed about the ethical issue of cloning with evidence that the Christianity and Judaism community do not support the destruction of embryos as well as the creation of humans artificially.
Peter also manages to give some advantages of cloning in his article. He mentioned that the genes of cows and sheep can be modified so that they will produce large amounts of pharmaceutically important proteins in their milk, such as insulin and factor VIII to treat haemophilia. On the other hand, genes of pig can also be altered so that they produce a component of the human immune system’s regulatory proteins which will make pig's organs more suitable for transplantation in human body.
Generally these 2 articles gave useful information about cloning technology. However, it does not give us a conclusion on whether we should adopt cloning in the future. Scientists have to make the most appropriate decision.
Vocabulary
1. Repugnant – objectionable, or offensive, distasteful in a high degree.
2. Mutation – A change of the DNA sequence within a gene or chromosome of an organism resulting in the creation of a new character or trait not found in the parental type.
3. Transgenic animal – A transgenic animal is one that carries a foreign gene that has been deliberately inserted into its genome. The foreign gene is constructed using recombinant DNA methodology. In addition to a structural gene, the DNA usually includes other sequences to enable it be incorporated into the DNA of the host and to be expressed correctly by the cells of the host.
4. Hemophilia – Any of several hereditary blood-coagulation disorders in which the blood fails to clot normally because of a deficiency or abnormality of one of the clotting factors. Hemophilia, a recessive trait associated with the X-chromosome, is manifested almost exclusively in males.
5. Cloning – The process of making a clone, a genetically identical copy. Cloning can refer to the technique of producing a genetically identical copy of an organism by replacing the nucleus of an unfertilized ovum with the nucleus of a body cell from the organism.
References
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-the-pros-and-cons-of-cloning.htm
http://www.articlesbase.com/diseases-and-conditions-articles/disadvantages-of-human-cloning-461241.html
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