Cloning Humans

Scott Stewart

Definition and types Cloning is the production of 1 or more individual

plants or animals (whole or in part) that are genetically identical to an original plant or animal.

I’ll discuss two types: (1) Reproductive cloning (aka adult DNA

cloning) (2) Therapeutic cloning (aka biomedical

cloning)

Reproductive cloning Produces a duplicate of an existing animal Dolly and the Raelians DNA from an ovum removed and replaced with

the DNA from a cell removed from an adult animal

The fertilized ovum (called a pre-embryo) implanted in a womb and allowed to develop into a new animal

Very controversial: banned in many countries

Reproductive cloning

Therapeutic cloningInitial stages identical to reproductive cloningHowever, stem cells are removed from from the pre-embryo to produce tissue for a whole organ for transplant back into the person who supplied the DNA

Therapeutic Cloning 2

Totipotent and Pluripotent stem cells

Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer

Goals: Produce healthy organs, drug testing, experiments

Controversy Some concerns are held for all forms of

cloning, others are specific to one form or the other