Think of a world where infertile, childless couples can go to a medical clinic, purchase cell replacements for malfunctioning cells in the reproductive system and, thus, bear kids; a world where people afflicted with degenerative diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s Disease can replace their damaged cells and be cured again; a world where the crippled can get the much-needed cells to revive their spinal chord and walk again.
Those amazing medical and scientific feats are only the tip of the iceberg when the potential of human cloning is concerned. Developed to its extreme, human cloning can make disease and sickness, maybe even physical suffering altogether, a thing of the past.
There are two basic kinds of human cloning and, separately, each offers us a deeper insight as to the vast possibilities of this burgeoning new science. In reproductive cloning, a cloned embryo is implanted in a woman’s uterus from where, theoretically, a normal baby develops that is genetically identical to the DNA donor. The second type of cloning, therapeutic cloning aims to provide replacement organs or tissue for people. The cloned embryo contains DNA taken from the transplant patient to ensure that the cloned organs are compatible with the person’s immune system.
In the past decade, human cloning has taken great strides. To many, the biggest and most visible accomplishment in this arena was the successful cloning of two mammals: Dolly the Sheep in 1996 and Snuppy the dog in 2005. After six years, Dolly died in 2003 from non-cloning related conditions. Meanwhile, Snuppy, Time magazine’s “Invention of the Year” in 2005, is alive and well.
In 2004 and 2005, Korean scientist Hwang Woo Suk, who headed the team that created Snuppy, shocked the science world when he announced that he had successfully cloned human embryos in his laboratory in Seoul. However, it was discovered that Hwang had fabricated evidence to back his scientific research. Following a thorough investigation, through, a panel of scientists pronounced that Snuppy was a legitimate clone and this achievement stands.
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