The word “clone” can mean several different things.It might be the identical copy of an organism, such as bacteria, insects, or plants, through asexual reproduction.Or, it could refer to the making of an exact double of a computerized object through the use of different computer programs.It could even be talking about the Clone Wars!But none of those are exactly what we’re talking about—the science of reproductive cloning.
Reproductive cloning uses “Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer” (SCNT) to create animals that are genetically identical.Much has been accomplished in this field over the past years.In 1952, the first non-mammal was cloned—a frog.Then, in 1996, Dolly the sheep was the first mammal to be successfully cloned.Unfortunately, Dolly died a premature death (probably due to the use of aged chromosomes in her nuclear transfer).Then only two years later, in 1998, mice and cows were both successfully cloned, with pigs following in 2000.In 2001, a cat was cloned, then a rabbit in 2002.In 2003 the first male mammal was cloned (a mule), and one year later, a bull was cloned from a previously cloned bull, which is called serial cloning.All of this has brought us to the possibility of cloning humans, which might come soon in our future.
Of course, there are some barriers that might keep us from advancing in the technology of cloning.About 10 states have already banned reproductive cloning, and Puerto Rico even proposed a worldwide ban in 2003 through the UN (but because of objections by Great Britain and other countries, the proposal was put on hold until 2004).
Another barrier is the belief of many Christians that cloning or intentionally making changes in the human blueprint is playing God.On the other hand, many people believe that human engineering is merely helping evolution take its course, and it would be neglectful not to improve our population if we can.It is hard to decide who is right in this disagreement, but at this point, we’re not ready to clone humans anyway, so no one will have to worry about it for a while.
Cloning- along with other types of technology- would greatly affect the way we learn in school. We are in the middle of a technological revolution, and we have yet to develop our school systems to meet the standard. Today, school computer systems are upgraded every 10 to 15 years on average. Because of this, many school computers are very outdated in their software, and that greatly affects the students' ability to learn better. If we were to upgrade computer software more often- say, every 5 years- then we would have many advantages. For example, many students have a newer version of a program on a computer at home than the one they use at school. Because of this, they have issues working on the same file in two different places. The majority of computers and laptops used at school use Office 2003, whereas many home computers have recently upgraded to Office 2007. Upgrading to the next level in computer software can help a lot, though it would be a financial issue to replacing all of the equipment with the current economic condition. Yet many people believe that it is time to stop limiting our education by binding it to yesterday's technology.
By Nikki Carter
The word “clone” can mean several different things. It might be the identical copy of an organism, such as bacteria, insects, or plants, through asexual reproduction. Or, it could refer to the making of an exact double of a computerized object through the use of different computer programs. It could even be talking about the Clone Wars! But none of those are exactly what we’re talking about—the science of reproductive cloning.
Reproductive cloning uses “Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer” (SCNT) to create animals that are genetically identical. Much has been accomplished in this field over the past years. In 1952, the first non-mammal was cloned—a frog. Then, in 1996, Dolly the sheep was the first mammal to be successfully cloned. Unfortunately, Dolly died a premature death (probably due to the use of aged chromosomes in her nuclear transfer). Then only two years later, in 1998, mice and cows were both successfully cloned, with pigs following in 2000. In 2001, a cat was cloned, then a rabbit in 2002. In 2003 the first male mammal was cloned (a mule), and one year later, a bull was cloned from a previously cloned bull, which is called serial cloning. All of this has brought us to the possibility of cloning humans, which might come soon in our future.
Of course, there are some barriers that might keep us from advancing in the technology of cloning. About 10 states have already banned reproductive cloning, and Puerto Rico even proposed a worldwide ban in 2003 through the UN (but because of objections by Great Britain and other countries, the proposal was put on hold until 2004).
Another barrier is the belief of many Christians that cloning or intentionally making changes in the human blueprint is playing God. On the other hand, many people believe that human engineering is merely helping evolution take its course, and it would be neglectful not to improve our population if we can. It is hard to decide who is right in this disagreement, but at this point, we’re not ready to clone humans anyway, so no one will have to worry about it for a while.
Cloning- along with other types of technology- would greatly affect the way we learn in school. We are in the middle of a technological revolution, and we have yet to develop our school systems to meet the standard. Today, school computer systems are upgraded every 10 to 15 years on average. Because of this, many school computers are very outdated in their software, and that greatly affects the students' ability to learn better. If we were to upgrade computer software more often- say, every 5 years- then we would have many advantages. For example, many students have a newer version of a program on a computer at home than the one they use at school. Because of this, they have issues working on the same file in two different places. The majority of computers and laptops used at school use Office 2003, whereas many home computers have recently upgraded to Office 2007. Upgrading to the next level in computer software can help a lot, though it would be a financial issue to replacing all of the equipment with the current economic condition. Yet many people believe that it is time to stop limiting our education by binding it to yesterday's technology.