Essay Sample on Animal Cloning

Introduction

Cloning is a process that is utilized in the process of genetically producing identical copies of an animal, and the procedure can be conducted either naturally or artificially. The process often happens through the asexual replication of cells without making any recombination or genetic alteration. Some organisms that lack the cell nucleus rely on the procedure of binary fission for the cloning procedure to happen. Mammals and human do engage in the natural cloning process with the twins being produced through the splitting of an egg leading to the creation of two or more embryos that usually have identical or almost identical DNA. The artificial cloning process is categorized into three groups which are the therapeutic cloning that gives the embryonic stem cells that are used in an experimental process in the treatment of diseased tissues or the replacement of the damaged ones. The gene cloning gives DNA segments or gene copies while the reproductive cloning process gives copies of whole animals.

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A significant number of people in the world came to know about the cloning process when Dolly the sheep was introduced to the world in 1997, and after this, a significant number of animals like the rats, pigs, and horses among others were cloned. On December 22, 2001, there was cloning of a kitten that was called CC from the donor named Rainbow. However, the artificial cloning technologies existed even before the introduction of Dolly the sheep, and it can be noted that there exist two major ways through which the copy of an organism can be made genetically. There is the transfer of the somatic cell nuclear and artificial embryo twinning. The Artificial Embryo Twinning can be regarded as a low-tech procedure of having clones, and it follows the same pattern that the identical twins are made. The twinning process happens a few days when the sperm and the eggs join with the embryo containing a limited number of the unspecialized cells. The embryo then continues to divide on its own leading to the creation of complete and separate individuals who are genetically similar since they are obtained from the same egg (Keefer 8875). The twinning process is done in a petri-dish rather than through a mother, and after the separation of the individual cells from an embryo that is when they are implanted into a surrogate mother where they develop to maturity before they are born naturally.

The Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer is the strategy used in cloning Dolly the sheep, and the somatic cell is any cell in the body of an animal other than the egg and sperm. In mammals, these cells tend to have two chromosome sets and the cell DNA is held in the nucleus and the chromosome contains all the details and information that is required for the formation of an animal. Various reasons for the animal cloning include the desire to improve their value and, such improvements are observed in the case of improved food production and in the case of cows, they do have increased milk production (Loi, Pasqualino, et al. 794). In the case of meat producing animals, such as pigs and beef cattle, they tend to have increased meat levels. In some cases, the cloning process is done when it is noted that a given animal variety is doing well and the desire to ensure that the breed continues to serve the human for a long time, they are cloned. Some animals are resistant to diseases meaning that they manage to remain highly productive at a low cost of production. Such animals are cloned since they prove to be of great benefit to the farmers (Huang, Jiaojiao, et al. 45). It can be noted that the cloned animals do not have any adverse effect on the lives of a human being in comparison to the non-cloned ones. It is also hard to distinguish the food that has been obtained from both sets of animals, but in some instances, the genetic testing system that is used in the case of the determination of the genetically modified foods can be utilized to identify the cloned animal.

There have been defects that have been observed in the case of the cloned animals at the time of before and after birth. The scientist that are engaged in the cloning process has not looked at these defects in details considering that the cloned animals are not being developed for commercial purposes. Additionally, the interest on these failures has been limited for much of the focus has been placed on the success realized with the cloning process. The placental defects, cardiovascular problems, and increased birth size are some of the issues that are realized with the cloning process, and this means that there is the possibility of a good number of the body organs failing to develop well in the cloned animals. The cloning process poses dangers to the life of a mother of the cloned animal due to issues like the large size of the fetus making it difficult for the mother during the tie of giving birth. The cloning process has been challenged ethically for it is noted that it can lead to the cloning of human beings for it can be noted that there would arise enormous technical difficulties.

Works Cited

Huang, Jiaojiao, et al. "BIX-01294 increases pig cloning efficiency by improving epigenetic reprogramming of somatic cell nuclei." Reproduction 151.1 (2016): 39-49.

Keefer, Carol L. "Artificial cloning of domestic animals." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 112.29 (2015): 8874-8878.

Loi, Pasqualino, et al. "A new, dynamic era for somatic cell nuclear transfer?." Trends in biotechnology 34.10 (2016): 791-797.