by Amy Rosenburg

Created on: October 12, 2008

Many people believe cloning another human being would have extremely dangerous outcomes. "Who would want another copy of themselves?" these people ask. These people may also see cloning as something more out of a science fiction movie that as an idea that may become a reality. As these people know, science fiction has no place in reality. These opponents to cloning have some very strong points to make; however, along with these drawbacks, cloning also has some incredibly positive benefits that these people may not have been aware of.

Before the benefits and drawbacks of human cloning are discussed, it helps to clarify exactly what cloning is. The best definition to explain cloning is "the creation of an organism that is an exact genetic copy of another" (Cloning). Cloning can be done by two processes: Artificial Embryo Twinning and Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer. In Artificial Embryo Twinning, scientists replicate the process in which identical twins are created. Identical twins are normally created from a zygote (a fertilized egg) separating into two embryos (instead of remaining as a single embryo and developing into one child). To create a clone, scientists divide a single embryo into two identical cells during the embryo's earlier stages of development.

In the process of Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer, scientists begin by using any cell that is not a reproductive cell. They remove this cell from a full grown female and put the nucleus of that cell into an egg cell (from which the nucleus has been removed). With a few chemical tweaks, the cell begins to behave exactly like a newly fertilized zygote. This cell then develops into an embryo and continues to develop like any other child in the womb.

One of the major benefits of cloning is being able to use the technology to help people that are sick or disabled. Some of the expected medical benefits of cloning include "a cure for heart attacks, a revolution in cosmetic surgery, organs for organ transplantation, and predictions about how cloning technology will save thousands of lives" (Smith). Scientists will be able to do many incredible things with cloning technology. One of these things includes curing heart attacks. Heart attacks can be cured by cloning healthy heart cells and injecting them into the areas of the heart that have been damaged. Since heart disease is one of the main killers in America and many other countries, cloning has the potential to save millions of lives.

Another benefit of cloning is

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