Cloning humans.  It's a bit different than sheep, and is a big leap in science.  Can and will it be done?  How will it help or affect our society?  And, the most important: How will they do it?
    Most of these questions are unanswered; however, I can enlighten you when it comes to how they plan to clone a human.
   
    It came as a shock when Scottish scientists at the Roslin Institute announced that they had cloned a sheep.  It's quite likely that, in ten years or so, we will be even more surprised to hear that a human clone has entered the world. 
    Until just recently, human cloning was only a type of magic performed in movies, but now it is something that is becoming a real possibility.  Sheep, mice, and cows have been cloned, so why stop there?  Some countries have set up a ban against cloning, but it is still legal in many countries.  It will cost a great sum of money-up to $100 000 - but some people will spend this kind of money so that they may be written down in the history books for contributing to cloning.
    Many critics say that cloning is a very dangerous thing that may create major problems in the replicates.  The cloning success rate of only about 3% has raised queries about the morality of cloning a person. 
    In January of 2001, a small group of scientists led by Panayiotis Zavos, a former Kentucky teacher, and Italian researcher Severino Antinori said that they planned to clone a human within two years.  Around the same time, the New York Post wrote a story about an American couple who would pay $500 000 to the Las Vegas based Clonaid for a clone of their perished baby daughter.
    These scientists might just be looking for recognition in the science field.  Whatever their inspiration may be, chances are we'll see a report about the first cloned infant on the 6 o'clock news by 2005.  Scientists do have current techniques for cloning, but it is rare that the clone will make it through birth.
    If cloning continues, scientists plan to use a procedure called somatic cell nuclear transfer, which is how dolly the sheep was cloned.  (for more information on the procedure, check out the Cloning Dolly page for a word description or the diagram below for a quicker understanding.)  If the procedure is a success, then the mother will give birth after the regular amount of time to a clone of the subject.  But, the success rate is only one or two embryos out of 100.

   Some scientists think that cloning will come someday, but what are their reasons for wanting to clone humans?  There are many options that would make people want scientists to clone.
    Cloning doesn't have to involve replicating an entire human.  For example, scientists could create a human repair kit.  Scientists could clone our cells and fix genes that cause diseases.  In fact, the British government passed some principles to let cloning of human embryos to conquer diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.
    The population may be slow to accept cloning, and the first step to help decide will likely be therapeutic cloning.  This is the steps in which a person's DNA is used to flourish a cloned embryo.  Instead of putting this embryo into a substitute mother, its cell are used to grow what are called stem cells.  Stem cells can be utilized as a human repair kit.  Stem cells can grow 'backup' organs like the heart, liver, and skin. 
    Therapeutic cloning has 5 steps:

  The DNA is taken from a sick person.

   This DNA is then put into an enucleated donor egg.

   The egg will then divide like a normal fertilized egg and creates an embryo.

   Cell stems are taken out of the embryo.

   Any type of tissue or organ can be grown from these stem cells to aid the ill.

    Others may see cloning as a way to help a couple with infertility problems, but they want to have a child that resembles or has attributes of one or both of the parents.  Zavos says that there are already hundreds of couples in line to pay about $50 000 for this option.  The scientists told these people that the cells of the father would be injected into an egg, and the egg would be put into the female's uterus.  The child would look like the father.
    Another option for cloning would be to bring a deceased family member back to life.  Your great grandmother could be recreated if a piece of her DNA was available.  In a way, you might end up being her parent!  This brings up many ethical problems.  One American couple has had trouble coping with their infant daughter's passing, and will pay $500 000 to Clonaid to recreate their daughter using preserved skin cells.

    One question that comes up is:  If Bill Gates was to be cloned, would his clone have the same IQ and photographic memory as the real Bill Gates?  Would the personalities be the same?  The answer is, likely not.  IQ's, memories, and personalities are created by a mix of both genes and environment.  His clone would have the same genetic foundation on which to build these characteristics, but it would take years of environmental sway to shape the clone to be like Bill Gate's traits.  If the clone was raised in a suitable environment, the clone might end up to be smarter, with better memory, and more impetuous than the original, or the replica might end up to be a regular kid.  Genes contribute to about half of the IQ, and half is due to the environment one is in.

   Do you think cloning is a good idea?  Compare your answer to others on the Other Opinions page of this site, or send your opinion to my guestbook.