Cloning Clinic
Dateline: 01/15/98
Wow! I have a small hiatus and cloning still tops the news. For background information, see How do you spell breakthrough? D-O-L-L-Y! and Biological Ethics: Cloning Revisited. Sometimes I think that the cloning issue resembles the Energizer bunny: it keeps going and going and going.
The new impetus started with last Tuesday's interview with Dr. G. Richard Seed on National Public Radio (NPR) about his proposed clinic for cloning humans. He plans to use a method very similar to that which produced Dolly. Interestingly enough, Dr. Seed is trained as a nuclear physicist with a degree from Harvard. He has had previous experience in the reproductive biology field but no formal training in the area.
Let's take a look at how the procedure might occur. For instance, let's take three hypothetical women, Pat, Nicole, and Pam.
Pat is to be cloned. Cells from her body are to be removed, placed in culture, and deprived of nutrients. For reasons not quite understood, the total genetic code of the cells becomes active. The nucleus of a cell is then removed.
Nicole provides an egg whose nucleus has also been removed. The nucleus from Pat's cell is then inserted into the egg cell. An electric shock provides stimulus for the egg to start dividing.
Pam, the "surrogate," then carries the developing embryo. Once born, the baby would be an exact genetic duplicate of Pat.
Again, we are presented with the implications of science. Some scientists who work in similar areas, such as Alzheimer's therapy and organ replacements made from merged animal and human DNA, worry that the public backlash from the Seed announcement will affect other cloning areas as well. Technically speaking, these other processes aren't cloning per se, but the popular media has lumped most genetic alteration techniques in the cloning category. The central question remains: should we be "cloning around?"
For many years we have cloned plants for food production and gardening. We've also used genetic engineering techniques on livestock. In some ways, human cloning represents the next logical step in this process. Do the benefits outweigh the risks? We could have improved organ transplants without body rejection, new treatments for a variety of illnesses, and a host of other improvements to the human condition. Conversely, we could also have parents attempting to produce "perfect" genetic offspring, legal implications from the status of clones, etc.
What do you think? Come over to the the Biology Forum and share your thoughts. Let your voice be heard! Until next time...
For additional information see:
Cloning
Information on human cloning, nuclear transfer, a cloning time line and more.
