Novi PazarCommanding Moderator
(8/15/07 2:27 pm)
Re: Human Cloning, whats your opinion?Fender "What is that exactly?"
Excuse my mis-spelling, its 11.30pm Melb time, as you know....l'm writing half asleep!.
How is therapeutic cloning done?I once had a Swedish ivy plant, and about a dozen empty flower pots. I cut off many leaves from the original plant, placed each of them in a pot filled with damp soil, and surrounded the pots with clear plastic. In a few weeks, I had a dozen new plants. This shows that all of the material and information needed to create a Swedish ivy plant is contained in a single leaf. Actually, it is contained in a single cell of a single leaf.
So too, all the information needed to create a new human being is contained in each cell of an existing human being. DNA testing on an human often starts by scraping some cells from the inside of a person's mouth. Living cells can be scraped off of a person's skin. No matter how a cell is obtained, it contains the DNA of the person, and thus contains all of the information required to produce a duplicate or cloned person. Each cell is, in fact, a form of human life for the simple reason that it contains human DNA.
A woman's ovum also contains her DNA. What is involved in somatic cell nuclear transfer is to:
1. Take a woman's ovum, and remove its DNA. This converts it to a form of human life into what is basically a factory for creating a pre-embryo.
2. Remove the DNA from a cell taken from a human, and inserting it into the ovum.
3. Giving the resulting ovum an electrical shock to start up its embryo making operation. In a small percentage of cases, a pre-embryo will be formed.
4. The pre-embryo is allowed to develop and produce many stem cells. So far, the procedure is identical to that used in adult DNA cloning. However, the pre-embryo is not implanted in a woman's womb in order to try to produce a pregnancy.
5. Stem cells are removed from the pre-embryo; this results in its death.
6. The stem cells would be encouraged to grow into whatever tissue or organ is needed to treat the patient. Stem cells are a unique form of human cell that can theoretically develop into many organs or body parts the body.
7. The tissue or organ would be transplanted into the patient. 4
An important factor to remember is that:
bullet The original seed cell is a form of human life; it contains human DNA, whether it comes from a skin scraping or is extracted from the inside of a person's mouth.
bullet The original ovum is a form of human life; it contains human DNA.
bullet The pre-embryo that is produced is a form of human life; it contains human DNA.
So, there is a continuity of human life from a surplus cell which a human produces by the millions each day, to the pre-embryo.
Theoretically, these stem cells can be used to develop into replacement organs (heart, liver, pancreas, skin, etc) Therapeutic cloning has not yet been accomplished in the laboratory or clinic.
Future experiments may not succeed. There were four main hurdles to overcome:
bullet Stem cells have to be "successfully isolated and grown in the laboratory." This has already been accomplished
bullet They have to be encouraged to "turn into specific cell types." This has been done for most of the 220 cell types in the human body.
bullet They have to be proven usable in treating patients with diseases, injuries, or disorders.
bullet The transplanted tissue must develop normally and must not represent significant "risks to the patient." 4
If scientists are successful, it would probably take many years of research before the first useful results will be obtained.
"By the way Novi, slightly off topic, Knobel will be getting the axe at seasons end. Go Toiges."
....if we trade smartly we might get someone half desent....yeaha baby!.
The only way to make sure people you agree with can speak is to support the rights of people you don't agree with