Cloning- Legal or Not?

Cloning isn't an issue that is slowly destroying our planet. But it's something different. What is cloning? Cloning is a method that scientists use to make an exact genetic copy of another living thing. Now here's the main question. Should cloning be legal or not? I think it should be legal because it helps scientists figure out how diseases form and develop, they could study medicines on animals to see how they react to it, and they could clone specific animals to produce food products faster and cheaper.  But, do you agree or disagree with me?

The first ever clone was created by a Scottish scientist names, Dr. Ian Wilmut in 1997. He cloned a 7-month old sheep named, Dolly. This question may be wandering in your head right now. Why did Dr. Wilmut want to clone a sheep? Well it's a perfectly practical answer. There are enough sheep in the world, but, scientists can put medicine into the sheep's milk so that they can produce medicine faster. Smart, right?

But when you think about cloning, don't think about the movie Jurassic Park. It's totally fictional! Even though scientist can duplicate living things, it's quite impossible that they could clone extinct dinosaurs. Scientists have not found a very well preserved DNA this old. And they probably never will. So hopes are pretty down on that.

There are some other animals that have been cloned. Most of them will seem useless to you. But once you learn why they do, you'll think that scientist are pretty darn smart.

• Mice. Another dirty creature that people try to get rid of in their houses using poison, traps, etc. So you may wonder, why in the world do scientists want to clone this animal? Well here's the reason. Scientists use special mice, which they have injected some kind of chemical in during the process of cloning, so that they can study how diseases like cancer develop and progress.
• Cows. Scientist clone cows because they will be able to produce much more milk and meat than before. By cloning these animals, farmers could produce more milk and meat quicker and cheaper.
• Monkeys. Scientists clone monkeys to help develop new medicines for humans. And why do they do it on a monkey? Well, it's because monkeys are the closest animals to humans. If you've ever heard of the theory that humans developed from monkeys, than this should make sense.They will also know how the human will react to the medicine since monkeys are quite alike.

As you can see, cloning helps us in many ways that we may not have even known. Did you know that cloning is also related to most of our food. Take a look at this story.

For a long time, farmers have used a method called breeding, to grow crops that are precisely perfect.(mainly on tomatoes)How do they do this, though? Well, they mix different kinds together to produce redder, larger and tastier tomatoes!

Also, scientists have used animal genes and put them into a vegetable or fruit. For example, I've never heard of a tomato that can survive the cold, freezing weather. But I do know that Arctic Flounders can survive it! So, they put the flounder's genes into the tomato and there you have it, .an anti-freezable tomato! You may have heard what GMO is and this is exactly it.

I hope that you learned something from my post today! I know that I did! Please share your opinion on cloning and tell me if you think it should be legal or not.
Thanks and have nice day!

Anuja

Resources:


http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/edexcel/genes/reproductionandcloningrev1.shtml

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/edexcel/genes/reproductionandcloningrev2.shtml

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/edexcel/genes/reproductionandcloningrev3.shtml

http://www.rowingmachinesource.com/price/under-500/231404+13630.cfm

http://www.wikianswers.com

http://www.amnh.org/ology/