Cloning has become a very contentious subject. The issue of cloning has moved from the scientific arena into the cultural, religious and ethical centers of debate, for good reasons. The scientific implications of cloning affects a wide range of social and ethical concerns. The theory of cloning questions many essential areas of ethical and philosophical concern about what human life is and raises the question whether we have the right

Cloning The debate about human cloning was carried out within the field of science fiction and fantasy, until recently. With the victorious cloning of the sheep Dolly in 1997, it became obvious that earlier or later, scientists might be able to clone human beings too. There is both encouragement and disagreement for this likelihood. Though cloning has been explained by newspapers and magazines as an exhilarating step onward that allows genetic

"Animals that are experiencing dwindling numbers could be cloned to prevent their extinction. Taiwanese scientists claimed to have made five clones of an endangered pig to save this species" (Anonymous). While some say man should not play God there are others like Edmund Erde who disagree and say that "playing God" is a phrase that is "muddle-headed" and "nonsensical" and should be deserted (Edmund Erde, p.594). For those who

Experiments in the late nineteenth century on frogs provided the groundwork for cloning (McKinnell 9-10). The method used a decade ago for the successful nuclear transplantation in amphibians required that the egg be enucleated, which meant removing the maternal hereditary material contained in the egg nucleus. Other hereditary material contained in the nucleus from a body cell would then be placed in the enucleated egg, and the resulting clone would

Cloning Dolly, the world's first cloned sheep, took the world by storm. Since her birth in 1997, the potential benefits and potential pitfalls have been debated by scientists, doctors, and bioethicists, with few clear breakthroughs. Most governments in Europe, Asia and North America have banned or significantly restricted research into human cloning. Animal cloning is also falling out of favor, as the exercise is expensive and as of yet, relatively unsuccessful.

For example, the most common instrument used in cloning today is known as a "micromanipulator," described by Baird as being an expensive machine that requires the use of a skilled technician to capture an egg cell under the microscope, insert a very fine needle to suck out its nucleus, and then use another needle to transfer a nucleus from the animal to be cloned. "This process is tricky and