It has not been that long since I last posted. Albeit, I recently encountered a topic that although controversial, will prove to be of utmost importance in the near future. Cloning has been the main theme of science fiction movies for quite some time. What if I told you though, that mother nature has also been able to produce clones? Identical twins are a clear example of the aforesaid. In the following, I will expand on this matter as best as I possibly can.

 

First of all, let us define the word "clone"(artificial that is). According to the Oxford Dictionary, a clone is "An organism or cell, group of organisms or cells, produced asexually from one ancestor or stock, to which they are genetically identical. They cannot be produced solely in a laboratory nonetheless. There is a need for a surrogate mother where the clone can grow. Case in point, Dolly the sheep was one of the first successfully cloned animals back in 1996. However, some abnormalities have been stated to take place by scientists. Even after the cloning process has successfully been concluded.

Even though, the process slightly varies depending on which organism scientists are working on, I am going to walk you through the basics. The first step to clone Dolly for instance was to remove body cells from a first female sheep's udders. Afterwards, the egg was taken from a second female sheep. Moreover, they took the nucleus containing the chromosomes from the first sheep. They also took  the nucleus from the second sheep's egg. Furthermore, they took the chromosomes from the first sheep and placed them into the egg from the second one. In addition, they were both pulsed with electricity for the embryo to come to live. What is more, the embryo was transplanted into a third sheep. Where it developed naturally. Despite the fact that three sheep were needed to clone Dolly, a different method could have been used.  Had the original sheep still been alive, the embryo could have been transplanted into her.

 

Why cloning nonetheless? Well, there are countless reasons why it would be beneficial for humanity in general to keep making breakthroughs in this scientific domain. Take stem cells for instance. Through the development and mastery of this process, organs could be made. Thus saving a considerable number of lives and ridding the need for transplants. On a different note, the quality of livestock in farming could be significantly enhanced as well. To illustrate my point I will say as follows: A farmer could clone a cow with a high yield of milk and keep making his farm progress. Among other  reasons would be: The possibility to bring back endangered or extinct species, cloning animal models of diseases to develop better treatments, etc.

 

Irrespective of what your opinion on this issue is, you cannot deny a simple fact. Not only has it proven already to benefit mankind in several different fields, it has also given scientists hope for a brighter future. Perhaps human cloning  in the foreseeable future would be a stretch. Be that as it may, we cannot disregard how helpful cloning would be for present and future generations. When it comes to the well-being of humanity, there is no religious or scientific belief that could possibly supersede them.

 

Sources:

- Oxford University Press.

- Ana Kuebler's YouTube channel.