Today we will understand about Human Cloning and is Human Cloning really possible. First, we will know what ‘Cloning’ is, so it is a process where ‘genetically identical copy of cell is generated’. Cloning happens in our daily lives like, organisms that are lacking nucleus such as Bacteria; they create their genetically identical copy of cells without any ‘Genetic Alteration’ but by ‘Budding’. On the other hand, organisms like humans who have nucleus, in them most of the cells go under the process of ‘Mitosis’ but only the eggs and sperms go under the process of ‘Meiosis’. In humans the Identical Twins can be the best example of understanding Human Cloning. It tells us that the process of human cloning is possible naturally also by creation of the same genetic replication of small DNA, single cell or be it the whole organism.
Human Cloning can be done by three ways:
- Genetic Cloning
- Reproductive Cloning
- Therapeutic Cloning
Genetic Cloning
It can be done naturally or artificially, as in naturally produced twins they acquire same genes and DNA, thus having similar attributes and artificially where doctors transplant the genes and DNA to produce the exact same organism. Plants also do genetic cloning naturally as we understood above.
Reproductive cloning
It can be done by implantation of a cloned embryo into uterus, with time this embryo is developed into foetus. This process of embryo splitting where single cell embryo is divided into two cells and which further grows into two identical embryos.
This process had some changes in late 1990s (the birth of DOLLY-the sheep) where the entire nucleus was removed from body cell of the organism, and further led by insertion of nucleus into an egg cell whose own nucleus was removed. When the nucleus got inside egg, the egg was stimulated with electrical current by which it began dividing. Hence, a cloned embryo was created as of the original organism. These processes was afterwards considered as harmful and faced various controversies as the foetus of embryos cloned rarely survived gestation and were born with several defects.
Therapeutic Cloning
In this process the cloned embryos is used for extracting stem cells, without implanting them in any womb. This process lets the cultivation of stem cells that are genetically identical to patient. These stem cells can be stimulated to differentiate into any cell type in the human body, then these differentiated cells can be used to transplant into patient to replace diseased or any damaged cell without any risk to immune system. This process is used to cure many problems like Alzheimer, Parkinson, and Stroke etc.
How long does it take to clone a human?
Now we have understood what Human Cloning is so now understand how long it takes to clone a human and see some other facts:
Shortly after the experiment on ‘Dolly-the sheep’ a Cloning Company started researching on humans and after SIX YEARS they successfully cloned human embryos and made two human embryonic stem cell lines from those embryos. So human cloning can be done but how much time it takes is not fixed it depends on the research and how the researcher is doing. Human cloning for organs is a big excitement for everyone as we would love to have a clone of ourselves for our future so that in case of any emergency or disease we would just transplant the cloned organs and be healthy again BUT unfortunately this process has to be researched yet, human organ cloning is not researched till yet but the study is going on. Several tests have been done on humans with help of stem cells but because of our immune system it did not worked. Our researchers have been successful creating human stem cells by human cloning but because of the immune system the cloned organs didn’t worked. Clonaid was the first cloning company which achieved several milestones in human cloning. There are other human cloning companies as well in the market.
Is Human Cloning unethical or ethical?
Human Reproductive Cloning is universally banned, because it is allied with various risks like social, psychological, and physiological. It destroys the foetus as the embryo has to from various numerous testing and sometimes if foetus if developed then it is defected, pregnancy is not guaranteed in this process or the outcome will be fully developed and excellent this is also not guaranteed which leads to taking the risk of lives of embryos which could develop rightfully in natural manner, that’s why it is called unethical.
There are some people who object the Therapeutic Cloning also; they state that it is manufacture and destruction of human life even when life is not developed after embryonic stage. They also say that this process encourages the idea that human life can be created or extended. But the supporters claim that this process is helpful in curing the diseased or sick person as this process can cure many serious problems like Alzheimer.
There are international laws that uphold some ethics of human cloning and regulate the companies and their researches. In 2005, UN passed a declaration on human cloning that states that “it is necessary to adopt all measures essential to prohibit all forms of human cloning as they are incompatible with human dignity and the protection of human life”. This allows the human cloning companies to do therapeutic cloning. The United Kingdom through Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, issues licenses for creating human embryonic stem cells. This ensures that human embryos are cloned for rightful therapeutic purposes which aim at obtaining knowledge about disease and human development. UN has banned the reproductive human cloning and backed the therapeutic human cloning as it will help to cure certain diseases and in future with several researches more curable diseases can be found with its help. If any company does reproductive cloning it has to face legal issues on human cloning by United Nations, but some countries save their companies as some countries has not banned reproductive cloning.
Pros and Cons of Human Cloning
The advantages of human cloning are:
- People having marriage with same sex or who cannot have children can have their children from these cloned cells.
- There are chances to cure several diseases from this process.
- Cell cloning helps scientist or researchers in editing the genes or DNA.
- This can help to remove bad genes and develop a human with specific traits they wish.
- It can help to proceed with human development.
The disadvantages of human cloning are:
- It leads to designer babies.
- This can lead to clone’s human right violation.
- Degradation of cells occurs when many clones are made from one embryo.
- It raises question to one’s particular identity.
- It could lead to psychological distress for the clone in society.
Future of Human Cloning
We have understood till now that we can give birth to a offspring of animal or human but there is a question unsolved that whether the cells undergo dedifferentiation during the development of offspring and how to control this. We could use the process of SCNT to produce transgenic mice, or livestock or any endangered species as this process has proven results in developing the off springs. And more cures to human diseases can be found by this process.
Is Human Cloning legal in India?
Yes, human cloning is legal in India. India supports the idea of therapeutic human cloning because of its benefits in curing diseases. The scientists here want to grow more and more and develop every aspect of human cloning. The Indian government has made several rules and regulations so that no malpractices can be carried out. They have strictly stated that therapeutic cloning would be done only for research purposes and when a patient is passed by the CDSCO for the treatment then the therapy will be done on him to cure diseases. If any one does not follow these rules then their licence can be taken. India has banned reproductive human cloning because of its demerits and dangerous response. They want to perform safe treatments and research where no one is harmed and no life is at risk.
First Cloning baby in India
The first cloning baby was of a buffalo, it was world’s first cloned buffalo. It was named Samrupa. But it was not like the Dolly-the sheep that was first cloned animal which lived for 13 years, Samrupa lived for five days and died because of lung infection. It took scientists four years to develop the baby but unfortunately they couldn’t save her. But they were happy about their success in getting their first cloned baby. They used hand guided technique which became famous as it needed less time, skill and machines. It was much simpler and can determine the sex of the new born as if eggs were electrocuted from ears then it would lead to birth to a female child. So, Samrupa was India’s first cloned baby produced with hand techniques and less time and tools, though it only lived for five days but it was a success for us.
