In this final part of the series, we wrap it up and provide a list of sources for further reading. We also touch on the possible benefits and ethics of human reproductive cloning.
Despite difficulties, it is likely that continued research will yield improved methods of animal cloning and that cloning techniques and technology will continue to improve rapidly. Already, animals have been cloned from both adult and embryonic tissues. Along the way, the technology has advanced from embryo splitting to nuclear transfer and electrofusion to the Norwegian microblade technique.
Other benefits of animal cloning will eventually be derived. Herds of pharmaceutical-producing animals will benefit those with certain diseases. The creation of transgenic animals with cells encoding human proteins may revolutionize human organ transplantation. Cloning will bring genetically superior livestock and will aid in the preservation of endangered species.
Then, too, perhaps it's only a matter of time before we see the first cloned humans.
In October, 2001 Advanced Cell Technology became the first company to clone a human embryo. Using the “Honolulu Method” (Ryuzo Yanagimachi, himself, was working for Advanced Cell Technology by this time), they got several embryos to the four- or six-cell point. Despite several claims of success, no living human clone has been so far verified.
What will a Cloned Human be Like?
Lee Silver, a geneticist at Princeton University, in an interview (Morrel) said, "When that first cloned child is born, not only will no one know that he or she is different, no one will know that he or she is a clone. People will probably say things like, 'You look just like your mother,' and she'll smile. But no one will know, at least not until the kid is sixteen and decides to sell her story to the tabloids for a million dollars."
Human cloning, when the techniques are perfected, will produce a child that is biologically the closest possible relation to the DNA donor. Said Silver, "It's instinctive, I think, to want to have a biological child. That's what cloning offers -- a chance for some people to have what they thought they never could have: a child of their own."
Sources
“An Easier Way to Clone?” Science Illustrated, November/December, 2008: 74
Butler, D. "French Clone Provides Support for Dolly." Nature, March 12, 1998: 113
Campbell, et al. "Sheep cloned by nuclear transfer from a cultured cell line." Nature, March 7, 1996: 64-66
Cibelli, Jose B., Lanza, Robert P., West, Michael D. “The First Cloned Human Embryo.” Scientific American, Nov. 24, 2001
New Zealand Rare Breeds Conversation Society, Enderby Cattle Today
Infigen, Inc. "Cloning technology in the dairy and beef industries."
Morrel, V. "A Clone of One of One's Own." Discover May, 1998: 82-89
Ross, A. Salon Magazine Dr. Frankenstein, I presume?
Sinha, G. "Got Milk?" Popular Science October, 1998:74-77
Tortura, G. J. and Grabowski, S. R. Principals of Anatomy and Physiology. HarperCollins, New York: 924, 960
Wilmut, I., et al. "Viable offspring derived from fetal and adult mammalian cells." Nature February 27, 1998: 810-813
Weiss, R. "Last Cow of Rare Breed is Cloned in New Zealand." The Washington Post. August 20, 1998.
Remembering Dolly: The History, Promise, and Future of Cloning
It was a different time and a different world. Dolly the sheep's soulful eyes reached out to us and ignited a world-wide controversy about cloning. More than a decade has passed, but has much changed? Here we'll look at the past, future, and possible promise of animal and human cloning.