Genetic Cloning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Genetic Cloning - Essay Example Human cloning is a controversial that elicits diverse reactions from all quarters and almost every member of the human race. The issue of cloning has caused much debate since the firs cloning of a live sheep in Scotland in 1997 (Allison, 2009). This is concerning ethics and authority to participate in the events leading to the creation of a new human being from the originally born one. This topic is crucial to the existence of human beings as it may be used to either improve their lives or degrade them. Genetic cloning takes place using embryonic stem cells, which is a concept that became known in the late 1990s with the isolation of the initial human embryo stem cell. This isolation works because embryonic stem cells can differentiate and form any human cell ranging from blood cells to skin cells, and it is from this that the idea to create perfect human beings first came into play. This is especially with potential use of stem cells to crate different organs and ensure that humans no longer suffer from conditions that can be healed through genetic cloning. The most popular means of cloning research done in the world today and from the 1970s is that of recombinant DNA technology, which entails replacement of molecular DNA fragments with those that are favourable to the host. This in human cloning is generating concerns in creation of super humans in that they select the best traits needed in humans and use recombinant DNA technology to fix these genes in host DNA (Bliss, 2012). The main way in which this technology has been used is through In-vitro fertilization that was discovered in the late 1970s, this has been used to date to eliminate undesirable traits in children and allow parents and scientists to pick out the traits, and conditions they would like to have their children. This is especially helpful I eliminating genetic conditions that parents may have in that the embryo is microscopically examined for signs of genetic disorders such as Tay - Sachs dis ease and Sickle Cell anaemia. Besides this, the creation of designer babies can be done after the child is already born, which is similar to vehicle maintenance through application of cannibalized parts from other vehicles. Children born with defects that were not detected during the genetic engineering process can undergo maintenance from selected genes from other children and genetically cloned parts. Genes, in this case refer to molecular units in a cell containing genetic information of heredity (Kaplan & Rdgers, 2003). This can be evidently seen in the case of Charlie Whitaker from the UK who was born with Diamond Blackfan anaemia, which prevented him from making his own red blood cells (Mclean, 2006). From this, genetic cloning allowed a designer baby to be made by correcting his situation at a young age by transplanting cells from his younger brother’s umbilical cord. This is indicative of some of the latest developments in human cloning to create designer babies throu gh curative measures. The key idea in designer babies is anchored around four key concepts and these are prevention of genetic diseases, promotion of conception of healthy children, correction of defects before a womb rejects an embryo and elimination of potential organ transplants. Another type of cloning is somatic cells nuclear transfer, which involves transfer of the nucleus of a