Before the 19th century - where science and technology had a major breakthrough - would you have believed that replicating an exact version of a living organism is possible? Well, it is now.
The 19th century is known for many things; the development of typewriters, cameras, electrical batteries, telephone, aspirin, and many more. Especially in the field of Biology, scientists were able to formulate cell theory, the theory of evolution, laws of heredity, and the foundations for modern embryology where they discovered ways to derive embryonic stem cells from early embryos in 1981. These findings are in many ways detrimental to the discovery of cloning - especially human cloning.
Author: Yebin Yun
Eitor: Jiho Jang
Human Cloning: How Does it Work?
In order to understand how cloning works, we first have to understand mitosis and meiosis - the mechanism for organisms to replicate and reproduce. If you are a biology student, you may already know the purpose, function, steps, similarities and differences of these two.
With the help of technology, cloning DNA or cells is simply done by combining the proteins that act as replicators and a gene for them to copy. Contrarily, cloning multicellular organisms is not that simple. Multicellular organisms reproduce by meiosis, which involves recombining genes from one organism (egg) with the other (sperm). However, cloning aims to create an embryo without any genetic recombination.
According to the 2015 review in the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, the initial experiments about cloning were conducted using somatic cells (cells that have a specific function) and stem cells (cells with unlimited potential to become any type of cell). Scientists removed the nucleus of a somatic cell and inserted it into an egg cell that has had its genome removed. Then, electricity is given to the fused cell. This creates an embryo, which is implanted into a surrogate mother through in vitro fertilization. This is called somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). If successful, this process will reset the somatic genome's epigenetics (the modification of gene expression), and result in a cloned embryo with an exact copy of the genome of the somatic cell without the epigenetic modifications. The process seems to be quite straightforward, but the egg cell requires specific conditions in which it differs by species.
Eve - the First Ever Cloned Human, or is it All Just a Scam?
A baby girl named “Eve” was announced publicly to be borned on December 25th, 2002. She was the first ever human to be cloned. The mother of the baby was a 31-year-old American Jewish woman who was desperate to have a baby, especially as her husband was sterile. So, she provided her own cell sample and ova, and carried the embryo to term without the use of a surrogate.
Boisselier, the scientist who’s in charge of cloning the woman, revealed that Clonaid (the business organization that Boisselier is associated with) had already produced ten pregnancies. They claimed that Eve was the first successful birth, after five of the babies were miscarried in the first month. They said that they expected to produce four more clone babies by the end of February. Were those all prideful lies?
Boisselier provided no evidence to back up her statements. There was no baby, no parents, no DNA, no medical charts or raw data, no testimony from Clonaid doctors or technicians. She provided no information about where Eve was born, save that it was in the United States. She wouldn’t even narrow down which time zone it was in. Through aggressive legal charges and processes, the public was still unable to figure out if Eve really did exist. After some time, Boisselier claimed that “Eve” was in Israel with her parents hoping that the press would no longer hijack their privacy. There is a great chance that Boisselier leveraged false rumors about Eve to gain publicity. But the reality is; Eve remains to be a mystery.
Benefits & Drawbacks of Human Cloning
Why not proceed with developing human clones? I mean, we have all the tools and knowledge necessary, right? Well, the truth is, there is still unknown knowledge about human clones. Just like there is resistance to GMO (genetically modified organisms) - such as corn, papayas, potatoes, and pink pineapples - people are pretty resistant to clones, too.
Cloning humans bring heaps of ethical and moral considerations on the premises. Cloning humans could reduce the diversity of our genetic makeup, exploit women, turn us into possible commodities, alter our perceptions of individuality, and possibly change the whole concept of death. As fatal as the consequences are, human cloning also may bring hope for humanity. Cloning humans could help couples resolve fertility problems, lead us to new advancements in medical science inorder to cure diseases, allow us to explore the potential benefits of modifying genes, and make people more resilient to diseases. All this to say, human cloning will be the epicenter of change for humanity. The consequences following human cloning is up to our decisions. Can we use it for good, and for what purpose are we going to use it for?
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