No one knew much about the scientific world of cloning until 1997, when Scottish scientists cloned the first animal, a sheep named Dolly. Cloning basically means the copying of genetic material in one of two ways; blastomere separation or somatic cell nuclear transfer. With blastomere separation, the embryo is split soon after fertilization, and the resulting organisms are identical twins. This type of cloning can happen naturally or scientifically, resulting in multiple births. On the other hand, somatic cell nuclear transfer can only happen in a lab. In this process, scientists empty the nucleus of an adult egg

identical twin" (Vere, 5). Regardless of whether the genetic code is unique, the abuse of any human being is a crime. Secondly, a living person should not be cloned without their written, informed consent. One thing that should remain under control is the automatic "copyright" to ones genetic code. A person should be allowed, in their will, to specify whether or not they wish to be cloned after their death, and under what circumstances (Vere 6). Another important law that must be implemented is that human clones should only be implanted and carried to term by a voluntary mother. The growth of a fetus outside of a woman's body, although still yet to be accomplished, is wrong and should be prohibited. And finally, all human cloning

embryos from fertilization to birth, regardless of how the research is funded" (NBAC 54-55). The Catholic Church believes that man was made in God's image, and clones are made in the image of existing people, therefore violating human dignity. Perhaps the biggest religious question that remains to be answered is if "it will be possible to clone the human soul, along with the human" (NBAC 4), although Vere argues that "there is no reason to assume that sexual reproduction is a prerequisite for ensoulment" (Vere 1).

cell, and transfer genetic material into it

scientists could clone healthy cells, and fix mutated genes that cause life-threatening diseases. A process commonly known as therapeutic cloning is most likely the first step in that direction. Stem cells, which are "unprogrammed" cells that have the ability to grow into any type of cells, are harvested from cloned embryos. These stem cells become the repair kit; they can be grown into any type of replacement organs such as hearts, livers, and skin (howstuffworks.com). Therapeutic cloning starts with the DNA being extracted from the sick person and then inserting it into an enucleated donor egg. Once that happens, the egg divides naturally and forms an embryo. The stem cells from this embryo are removed and grown into replacement organs or tissues to treat the sick (howstuffworks.com). Human cloning is also very appealing to scientists and doctors because it can aid couples with infertility problems. Couples have always been able to adopt, but cloning will offer them the chance to have children with at least one parent's biological characteristics. Hundreds of couples are already lined up to pay about $50,000 for the chance at having a child they can really call their own (howstuffworks.com). The last major reason people are advocating the cloning of humans is to recreate deceased relatives. Couples who have lost their children are lining up to clone them, using preserved samples of DNA. The Las Vegas based firm Clonaid, has one couple that has already agreed to pay $500,000 to clone their dead infant daughter, using her skin cells (howstuffworks.com).

Thus far, human embryos have been cloned successfully, although the embryos did not live past a few hours. On November 28, 2001 Clonaid announced that it had successfully created cloned embryos which had made it to the six-cell stage. This announcement came one day after the Massachusetts-based firm Advanced Cell Technologies revealed their same achievement. But unlike Clonaid, who intends to use its cloned embryos for impregnation, Advanced Cell

Although cloning has been a major scientific advance, it has not been without its drawbacks. Failure has claimed about 98% of cloning efforts, the embryos either die during the gestational period or shortly after birth. Clones that do make it through the crucial first months wind up suffering from chronic or even fatal genetic irregularities: "Some clones have been born with defective hearts, lung problems, diabetes, blood vessel problems, and malfunctioning immu

Some common words found in the essay are:
Ethan Hawke, Cell Technologies, CellNEWS Sheep, Catholic Church, CellNEWS Dolly, Steven Vere, , Dolly Cloning, God Kass, Las Vegas, human cloning, human dignity, cloned embryos, somatic cell nuclear, cell nuclear, somatic cell, vere 3, human clones, nuclear transfer, proper legislation, genetic material, cell nuclear transfer, national bioethics committee, bill introduced senators, advanced cell technologies,
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