In February 1997 Ian Wilmut and his colleagues at the Roslin Institute in Scotland announced a stunning news that they had cloned a lamb from the cells of a mature sheep. Although many animal cloning experiments have been performed in the past, they have succeeded only in cloning the cells of embryos. This latest experiment has been remarkable because it was the first successful attempt to clone a mature mammal, producing an exact physical replica of the adult animal.

In what is considered a normal reproduction of mammals is when a sperm and an egg fuse naturally, eac

Duprau, Jeanne. Cloning. San Diego, CA: Lucent Books Inc., 2000.

On the other hand, defenders of cloning see it as beneficial. "Most of the knowledge that exist regarding the feasibility of transferring genes has been gained through gene cloning and recombinant DNA (DNA from one source that has been joined to DNA from another source)" (Magill 510). By using this technology, existing products (protein products) can be made more efficiently, more cheaply and more safely. One example is the manufacture of the hormone insulin, which regulates blood sugar levels in humans; lack of this hormone results in the disease diabetes mellitus. "Using recombinant DNA technology, the insulin gene was cloned and has been expressed in a vector such that the insulin made by this system is absolutely identical to human insulin made in the body normally. Also sickle-cell disease, muscular dystrophy, cystic fibrosis and hemophilia are examples of several hundreds of known genetic diseases that result from mutations in single genes" (Magill 509). In addition, not only will cloning be used to target genes but also it will speed xeno-transplantation (using organs from pigs to treat human patients). Animals could also be made resistant to some diseases--i.e., tse-tse fly.

h one contributing half of the material that makes up a genetically unique individual. However, the process that was used to create "Dolly" is quite different. This process is known as gene transfer in which a cell is mechanically fused from one animal onto an egg cell whose nucleus has been removed (enucleated egg cell). Since the egg cells do not have deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), the embryo created contain the DNA from only one source. As a result the embryo will develop into an exact physical replica of the animal from which the cell containing the DNA was taken.

Cloning does not violate human dignity. This could only happen if they were treated as a lesser being, with fewer rights. a cloned person is given the same liberty and rights as any other individual. Human cloning should be governed by the same laws that now protect human rights.

To ban or not to ban? This is the question that has many people even President Bill Clinton struggling with. The commission was sent to advise the federal government on the ethical questions posed by biotechnology research and new medical thera

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