Cloning
...ilar ways to produce similar yields at about the same time. It allows the farmer to select and grow high yielding crops. The main reason to clone plants or animals is to mass produce organisms with desired qualities, such as a prize-winning orchid or a genetically engineered animal -- for instance, sheep have been engineered to produce human insulin. If sexual reproduction (breeding) alone were to produce these animals, then it would run the risk of breeding out the desired traits because sexual reproduction reshuffles the genetic deck of cards. There are many benefits of cloning. A benefit of cloning is shown through the future of the medical field. Scientists predict that in the near future they will be able to clone healthy heart cells and inject them into damaged areas. Yet another discovery that scientists and doctors are anticipating is the cloning of cells and tissues. If doctors can take healthy cells and tissue from a patient’s body and use them to make organs, the chance that the body would reject the organ is drastically reduced, if not eliminated. Also with continued research in cloning procedures, scientists predict they will be able to find a cure for cancer and other diseases by learning how to switch cells on and off. Infertile couples could have children through cloning. Human cloning could make it possible for many more infertile couples to have children than ever before possible. Another benefit of cloning is cloning human organs or body parts. If a person has a dysfunctional liver or heart then they could get it cloned and get a brand new one. Other reasons for cloning might include replacing lost or deceased family pets and repopulating endangered or even extinct species or producing better farm livestock for human use (e.g. organs, material, human consumption). Cloning animals for research purposes is attractive to many scientists, because the experimental variation that often occurs with genetic differences is eliminated. Having a speedy method to breed favorable livestock has great commercial importance. Nuclear transfer may be the wave of the future to rapidly produce desirable stocks of animals. The improved generation and propagation of transgenic livestock becomes of interest to the pharmaceutical and medical world. Genetically altering farm animals by the introduction and expression of genes from other species proves to be a useful technology for the future. Hence people may be in support of cloning because of the many benefits including it can allow rebirth of deceased humans, cure diseases especially those related to genetics, and discover new data and ideas. It can prevent endangered species from disappearing as well as allow healthier human beings. It will allow doctors to research and determine the cause of spontaneous abortions as well as research rapid cell growth of cancer cells. New organs that genetically match the recipient may be produced as well as allow regeneration of nerve tissues and other damaged tissues, and further study in genetics, human body development, and medicine. Agricultural and livestock can also be improved where scientist can alter clone organisms with preferable better traits or ideal characteristics. A disadvantage of cloning technology is that it is very new and unstable. Success rate is slow. Therefore, cloning human beings and animals is dangerous. Cloning also produces populations of organisms that are identical to each other. There may be a loss of genetic variation, and the population is less likely to survive environmental changes since they are all susceptible to the same diseases. Another possibility is that the genetic material used from the adult will continue to age so that the genes in a newborn baby clone could be, for example, 30 years old or more on the day of birth. The ethical consider...