Cloning Essays (437 words) - Cloning, Molecular Biology, Genetics

Cloning Cloning Today During my interview with my grandmother I asked her what she thought of cloning. she responded by saying that it was not right and should be stopped. on the other hand i have a different opinion. I think that cloning should be continued and furhter researched for we might be able to have different organs and substances produced in these clones. Below is the step that were taken to clone the adult sheep named Dolly. Part 1: An Improbable Goal Scientists hoped that cloning healthy, mature sheep, rather than just creating lambs from embryonic cells, could produce a highly specialized sheep with large quantities of proteins in its milk. The proteins are believed to help treat diseases such as emphysema, hemophylia and cystic fibrosis. Part 2: The Perfect Timing For years, scientists could not synchronize the growth of the egg and the cell. If one was off- synch, abnormal chromosomes would soon transform in the nucleus and thereby kill off the embryo. Dr. Wilmut achieved near perfection in the timing by putting the cells into hybernation; of the 277 eggs they began with, 247 lived through the process. Timing the growth in other species, however, has proved to scientists that cloning mature animals is extremely difficult; in the case of mice, they've concluded it can't be accomplished. Part 3: Jump-start from a Jolt Though it has become a standard procedure in cloning, scientists are not sure why an electric pulse sent to the two cells causes them to meld together and activates development in the egg. They are learning, however, the shock doesn't fully mimic the activation process of a sperm, which could explain why just 29 of the remaining 247 cells live longer than six days. Part 4: Surrogate Motherhood Despite the fact that the newly formed embryo is transplanted into the uterus of another ewe, scientists believe Dolly is a nearly exact carbon-copy of her genetic originating mother. In theory, that means an almost exact look-alike of John F. Kennedy Jr. could be produced by taking cells from his skin, melding their nuclei with any woman's egg that has had its nucleus removed and then planting the embryo in a surrogate mother. Part 5: A 6-Year-Old in 7 Months? Scientists are eagerly watching Dolly to see if she exhibits the characteristics of her mother, a 6-year-old sheep, or those of her own age, just 7 months. As animals and humans age, changes occur in their DNA - such as decreasing fertility and increasing susceptibility to cancer and other diseases. If she prematurely ages, clones of mature animals would be useless to the agriculture industry.