Cloning
Question: How would “Human Cloning”
be done?
Answer: The model is Dolly the
sheep and although the technology has been applied to several animals, it is
still highly underdeveloped and the mechanisms involved are poorly understood.
The scientists would
remove the DNA from the nucleus of an egg cell taken from the mother. This DNA
would then be replaced by the genetic material taken from one of the father's
cells - perhaps a skin cell. A trigger would be applied to the egg cell that
would then make it start to divide like any normal embryo. The mother would
have it implanted in her womb in a procedure which is routinely performed in
IVF (in vitro fertilization) clinics.
Question: Could clones be "farmed" to provide spare
body parts for their "parent" clone without problems of tissue
rejection?
Answer: Possibly, although we don't know enough yet to be confident that
rejection would be eliminated entirely. You would also have to wait a number of
years until the clone's organs were mature enough to transplant, and of course
your actions would be highly illegal unless your clone was willing to act as a
donor as a clone would be just as human as you or I. Even leaving aside the
ethical concerns, with the progress that is being made in understanding and coping
with tissue rejection, you would be more likely to have a pig's heart in your
future than a clone's.
Question: Could vital organs be grown using cloning without the
rest of a body?
Answer: Possibly - but nobody is even close to knowing how. Contrary to
scientists' expectations, the birth of Dolly shows it is possible to reprogram
the cell of an adult (or at least its genome) so that it begins development all
over again. This newly discovered flexibility means it may one day be possible
to reprogram skin or blood cells so that they grow into "spare part"
tissues and organs, rather than whole organisms. But the technical obstacles
will be huge.
Home Page
Newsletters
FAQs
H-SCAN Physical Age Test
Our Results
|