Human Cloning 4

Should cloning for human benefits or even human cloning itself be allowed in society today? That is a question we must ask ourselves. Less than two years ago, an event in genetic history changed the world’s perspective on \"Reproduction\" and added to the world’s conscience a new element to the study of Biology. This event immediately caught my interest and intrigued me. It was the birth of a unique sheep named Dolly. Dolly was a clone sheep born on February 12th 1997 and this sheep doesn’t have a father or mother. Dolly\'s existence stuck like super glue onto the world’s mind and refused to let go. The world started pondering the true potential of cloning and how it could affect mankind. The world considered the possibility of human cloning, the advantages and the disadvantages. Ever since the birth of sheep called Dolly is a question that ceased to world’s mind: Should human cloning be a part of our society?

The first attempts at artificial cloning were started as early as the beginning of this century. The first implantation of a nucleus into an egg cell occurred in 1952 by Robert Briggs and Thomas J. King in Philadelphia. Briggs and King transferred the nuclei of Leopard Frog\'s eggs. However, the cloning attempt was unsuccessful and the egg cells did not develop. Successful nuclear transfer of the embryo cells did not occur until the 1970\'s, when a scientist named John Gurdon repeated Briggs/Kings\'s frog implantation. The Oocytes of the frogs successfully developed into tadpoles. Major breakthroughs in cloning technology came in the 1980\'s and 1990\'s. In 1994, Scottish scientists Dr. Ian Wilmut and Keith Campbell cloned \"Megan and Morag\"; the world\'s first cloned sheep. Soon afterwards, Dolly was also cloned. Presently, scientists who believe that cloning should be allowed are striving to perfect nuclear transfer technology in hope of harnessing its many advantages. There are, of course, other scientists who are against cloning.

At that...