Presentation #2

To Clone or not to Clone

               One of the groups presented on cloning. One interesting fact that I learned was that the first animal that has ever been cloned was in 1952, and it was a tad pole. I had always thought that Dolly was the first animal cloned but she was the first mammal to be cloned form a somatic adult cell. This let researchers know that cloning did not stop at a certain age. In 2003 when the human genome was cloned researchers learned that humans could be cloned but this caused controversy.  Cloning is unethical so to prevent any problems in the United States Clinton disallowed federal dollars for cloning. Clinton was more considerate then other officials because cloning is banned in 23 others such as the United Nations and France. Some people agree with cloning because some benefits are so sterile families can have offspring and so people can be created for organ donating. Even though there are a few benefits of cloning the disadvantages are much more severe. Diversity amongst human beings will be cut down if human cloning takes place being eventually everybody will have the same genetic makeup and they will attract the same diseases and illness. After a while races would disappear and everyone would begin to look alike. Another negative affect is that clones may become looked down as by human beings or a war between the two could start. In history wars have started between two types of people so this is a possible outcome. Personally I think cloning is a bad idea because diversity is a good thing to have. If everyone is the same then diseases spread quicker and life is boring. I enjoy meeting people with different back grounds and different experiences so if everyone was the same life would be different for the worse.

Jasmine Westbrook