Have you ever wandered what it would be like to have a clone, or what it would be like have a twin? Well in a few years you might be able to clone yourself. Thats if they legalize it in the US I. What is cloning? Cloning is the scientific process of combining the DNA of one organism with the egg of another. Creating a perfect genetically matched lifeform. In other words getting an egg and fertilizing it. Then putting it back in the a surrogate mother. II. Who cloned Dolly? Scottish embryologist named Ian Wilmut cloned a Finn Dorset lamb named Dolly from fully different adult mother ells.
A. Education Wilmut was born in Hampton Lucey, England, attended the University of Nottingham for his undergraduate work. In 1971 he received a Ph. D. in animal genetic engineering from Darwin College of University of Cambridge. In 1974, he joined the Animal Research Breeding Station in Scotland, which is now known as the Roslyn Institute, and has conducted research there ever since. B. Accomplishments In 1973, he created the first calf ever produced from a frozen embryo which he named Frosty.
In 1995 he created Megan and Morag, two Welsh mountain sheep cloned from ifferentiated embryo cells. In July 5, 1996 he created a lamb called dolly, with the help of Keith Campbell III. How did they clone Dolly? In 1990, Wilmut hired cell cycle biologist Keith Campbell to assist in his cloning studies. Their work produced its first success with the birth of Megan and Morag, two Welsh mountain sheep cloned from different embryo cells. In their success, Wilmut and Campbell pioneered a new technique of starving embryo cells before transferring their nucleus to fertilized egg cells.
The technique synchronized he cell cycles of both cells and their results led Wilmut and Campbell to believe that any type of cell could be used to produce a clone. On July 5, 1996, Wilmut and Campbell used the same process to produce the first clone from adult cells ,a Finn Dorset lamb named Dolly ,after Dolly Parton. The announcement left the scientific community shocked as well as the public, and kicked off a large-scale debate on the ethics and direction of cloning research. IV. What other animals did they clone? February 16, 1998 US Scientists cloned a Holstein cow
Using DNA from the cell of a 30 day old fetus, scientists in the United States were able to clone a calf. They named the Holstein calf, Gene. July 5, 1998 a cow was cloned into two calves in Japan Using cells from an adult cow, Japanese scientists cloned the cow into two calves born Sunday, July 5, 1998. July 22, 1998 Mice are cloned. It was announced in the press that Dr. Yanagimachi from the University of Hawaii and colleagues had successfully cloned mice. August 19, 1998 Scientists announce that a near-extinct species has been cloned. David Wells, led the effort at the
Ruakura Research Center in Hamilton, New Zealand to clone the last cow a species that once inhabited Enderby Island in the Aukland Islands. A dog named Missy, is to be cloned. The Press announced 8/25/98 that a wealthy couple donated $2. 3 million to Texas A & M University to clone their dog. Dr. Mark Westhusin, co-director of the Reproductive Sciences Laboratory, is one of the scientists involved in the project. Lou Hawthorne, president of Bio Arts and Research Corporation, a San Francisco corporation, helped negotiate the deal. The donors wish to remain anonymous.
V. How can cloning help us? Cloning can help in many ways. It can help us cure many diseases like infertility, Downs syndrome. It can help us get rid world hunger. With cloning technology, instead of using materials foreign to the body such as silicon, doctors will be able to manufacture bone, fat, connective tissue, or cartilage that matches the patients tissues exactly. It can make foods healthier for us. VI. Why is cloning bad? If a large percentage of an nation’s cattle are identical clones, a virus, such as mad cow disease, could effect the entire population.
The result could be catastrophic food shortages in that nation. Cloning may cause people to settle for the best existing animals, not allowing for improvement of the species. In this way, cloning could potentially interfere with natural evolution. Cloning is currently an expensive process. Cloning requires large amounts of money and biological expertise. Ian Wilmut and his associates required 277 tries before producing Dolly. A new cloning technique has recently been developed which is far more reliable. However, even this technique has 2-3% success rate.
