Issues about cloning animals and personal response to cloning
Issues about cloning animals:
Personal response to cloning:
- To make a clone the process of trial-and-error is used, meaning that many attempts are made to finally reach a successful clone. This disadvantage of this process is that the many attempts before the successful clone results in many dead or deformed fetuses.
- Another disadvantage of cloning is that genetic diversity is lost. Genetic diversity is what keeps an entire species from being wiped out by a single virus as gene mutations occur naturally which help to explain why people are naturally different to each other. Genetic diversity allows some people and animals to have naturally stronger immune systems compared to others, if this diversity was lost due to excessive cloning there would be no mutations to allow some of the cloned group to survive a newly introduced disease.
- A lot of ethical concerns about cloning would make people protest against cloning which can been seen as a disadvantage of cloning. Ethical concerns include that cloning is unnatural and considered 'playing the role of god'. As well as ethical concerns humane treatment guidelines would apply to all clones. Clones would have the same needs as non-clones of their species.
- One of the main disadvantages of cloning is that cloning technology would have to be closely monitored so abuse of cloning would not occur.
Personal response to cloning:
- Having assessed both the advantages and disadvantages of cloning my opinion on the topic has changed. Before properly knowing about cloning I thought it should be supported and it was a great idea, however, after completing this project I have since changed my opinion on the topic and believe it should not be supported. I do understand the benefits of cloning and how it can help develop the medical world and develop healthier crops but I do not agree with the trial-and-error experiments they have/are conducting to get the procedure of cloning correct. Animals who are the product of cloning are more likely to suffer from developmental abnormalities and die either in the womb or at a young or have to live with this abnormality which can impair their normal living habits. My thought are if this is the result for animals then what will be the result for humans when researchers start cloning the human species? I am very much against human cloning.