Genetic Cloning Is Dangerous and Should Therefore Be Banned

Question: Describe about the Genetic Cloning Is Dangerous and Should Therefore Be Banned? Answer: Introduction Clones are considered as the accurate genetic copies of organisms. Each piece of individuals DNA is identical in clones. The two basic protocols involved in cloning are: artificial twining of embryos and somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). General background Plant cloning is considered as a common practice for hundreds and thousands of years, for example: growing plant from a cutting parent plant species. Animal cloning also has a history prior to 1960s. Nevertheless, until the victorious cloning of first mammal (sheep) in 1997, cloning of human had been thought unachievable. Though birth of this transgenic mammal sheep is the main technological and scientific breakthrough, it has also initiated ethical and medical concerns related with the possibility (Barber, 2013). After the sheep, many other mammalian species, mice, cows and pigs have been clones successfully. Clonaid, the human cloning company claimed that a human cloned baby was born in the year 2002, but scientific database has confirmed no human cloning thus far. Purpose: It is significant to have various copies of gene on hand to apply as samples for various experiments in lab to examine different genes (Brown and Brown, 2001). For instance these experiments consist of Northern blotting, Western blotting, and Southern blotting, where genes are labeled with fluorescent or radioactive chemicals and are applied as probes for identifying specific genes, which may be present in complex DNA mixtures. Cloned genes make it simpler to examine encoded proteins. Cloned genes can be applied for sequencing DNA that is the purpose of the accurate order of all base pairs within the gene. Thesis Statement Genetic cloning is safe and therefore should be allowed. Topic Sentence The benefits of genetic cloning in medicine Support idea The development in the area of biotechnology and stem cell research offers an incredible prospective in regenerative medicine and also in the treatment of genetic disorders (Lodge, Lund and Minchin, 2007). These developments are coming across various legal restrictions, ethical problems and scientific difficulties. Evidence for support idea Till date whatever researches have been performed on human disease originates from the study of animal models, for example: mice. Animal models are genetically engineered to bear disease causing mutations within their selective genes (Scheuner and Rotter, 2006). Building up these transgenic animal models is a time taking process, which requires several breeding generations and trial and error method. Cloning helps in time reduction required to make transgenic animal models and cloning will give rise to a population of genetically similar animals for further research study. Support idea Diabetes type I is an autoimmune attack that kills islets cells within the pancreas in early childhood and the result is lack of insulin or no insulin within the human system. It affects almost 0.5% of total population and is a rapidly increasing event. This complication is controlled by the hormone insulin but cannot be administered through mouth. This is because insulin is proteinaceous in nature and chances are high that it gets digested inside the stomach, hence this should be injected. Before the discovery of insulin by Banting and Best, in the year 1921, this disease was fatal (Rosenfeld, 2002). Evidence for support idea Prior insulin was extracted from the pancreatic cells of pigs, dogs and cows by difficult chemical processes. This in turn affects the price of the insulin as a medicine. Unfortunately because of its expensive nature, many families failed to afford it and they lost their closed ones because of this disease. To solve this problem researchers have applied a technology, where with the help of this technique, pig insulin can be converted to human insulin by deleting one amino acid, which identifies them and substitutes it with human version. Nevertheless, this process is also little expensive. Hence, the favored approach is the application of genetic engineering, where bacteria are used to make proteins (Vajo, 2001). The techniques applied in recombinant technology involve insertion of gene that codes for human insulin to a plasmid that sequentially carries this gene to a replicating Escherichia coli, a bacterium which produces human insulin. This actually helps to increase the quantity of insulin production, reduce cost and increase the availability. Topic Sentence The benefits of genetic cloning in agriculture Support idea Gene cloning offers immense contribution in the agricultural aspects. It develops pest and disease resistance in the crops and develops their nutritional quality. Evidence for support idea Insect represents major problems to the production of crops and storage. Many larvae attack maize, for example: European corn borer is one of the most serious pests (Heldman, Wheeler and Hoover, 2011). The bacterium bacillus thuringiensis produces a harmful toxin against the larva form of European corn borer. The insecticidal property is controlled by a unique part of the protein. Industries applied this concept to generate artificial genes, which was introduced to the maize embryos with the help of DNA coated particles bombardment technique (Rice, 2013). The DNA was generated applying cloning techniques (Arencibia, 2000). One thing should be kept in mind that gene effectiveness is very much depends upon where these genes are exactly inserted and most active crops should be selected after the development of the embryo. These generically cloned genes produce proteins that inhibit proteins, which interrupt enzyme activity inside the insect gut. Support idea The development of draught resistance in transgenic plants Evidence for support idea Number of genes have already been cloned, isolated and expressed within plants which are responsible for stress resistance (Drechsler et al., 2010). The level of abscisic acid (ABA) in plants greatly rises during water stress. It causes stomata closure thus diminishing the water loss level through the process of transpiration from leaves and activates the genes associated with stress response (Xiong, 2003). Increasing the abscisic acid sensitivity within the plants has thus been a most important target for developing the tolerance of drought. Topic Sentence Cloning in medical field helps to reduce the disease burden. Support idea Cloning technology is still under its infancy. Though the fertility rate is low yet coning technology offers immense benefits (Rosenfeld, 2002). It helps the researcher to understand renewed cell activity or how to replace the damaged tissues, generate new cells to replace old and diseased cells; genetically identical donor organs for example: bone marrow transplantation, kidneys; the advantages of knowing cell differentiation simultaneously as the development and study of cloning; production of embryos for sterile couples, who have genetic information of fathers and mothers. Evidence for support idea The production of vaccines by applying the pharming techniques is one of greatest boon for the mankind. Vaccine production in plants eliminates heat stability problem as vaccinogenic plants can be administered dried, encapsulated form or raw and all these forms can be stored at normal room temperature (Brown and Brown, 2001). Vaccines produced within the plants are a striking option as they eliminate injection associated risks and can be administered orally. In general, vaccines can be stocked up as seeds are profitable as large qualities of vaccines can be made in short time and also seed form is stable, which will not debase protein in the end. Conclusion: To conclude it can be definitely stated that genetic cloning is safe and therefore should be allowed. From the aforementioned discussions it is clear that gene cloning offers immense benefits in the area of medicine, agriculture and economy as well. Though the concept is budding still within few decades after the success of Human Genome Project, the concept of genetic cloning have obtained much more concentration and also proved itself as the most advantageous technique in various medical and agricultural applications. The thesis statement of this paper is genetic cloning is safe and therefore should be allowed and the discussions have greatly supported the thesis statement. References: Arencibia, A. (2000).Plant genetic engineering. Amsterdam: Elsevier. Barber, N. (2013).Cloning and genetic engineering. New York: Rosen Publishing's Rosen Central. Brown, T. and Brown, T. (2001).Gene cloning and DNA analysis. Oxford: Blackwell Science. Drechsler, N., Habeku, A., Thieme, T. and Schubert, J. (2010). Development and validation of a method for the detection of altered resistance in transgenic plants against herbivore-pathogen-complexes.Nature Precedings. Heldman, D., Wheeler, M. and Hoover, D. (2011).Encyclopedia of biotechnology in agriculture and food. Boca Raton: CRC Press. Lodge, J., Lund, P. and Minchin, S. (2007).Gene cloning. New York: Taylor Francis Group. Rice, E. (2013).Genetic engineering. New York: Marshall Cavendish. Rosenfeld, L. (2002). Insulin: Discovery and Controversy.Clinical Chemistry, [online] 48(12), pp.2270-2288. Available at: https://www.clinchem.org/content/48/12/2270.full [Accessed 2 Mar. 2015]. Scheuner, M. and Rotter, J. (2006). Quantifying the health benefits of genetic tests: A clinical perspective.Genet Med, 8(3), pp.141-142. Vajo, Z. (2001). Recombinant DNA Technology in the Treatment of Diabetes: Insulin Analogs.Endocrine Reviews, 22(5), pp.706-717. Xiong, L. (2003). Regulation of Abscisic Acid Biosynthesis.PLANT PHYSIOLOGY, 133(1), pp.29-36.