Have you ever wondered about cloning? Did you ever wish you could create a clone of yourself? I am sure you can imagine teaching it to do your job so you have more free time for whatever you enjoy and still draw a paycheck. America and the world stand on the brink of cloning humans. Recently, California tried to open up stem cell research increasing the probability of human cloning. Inside Brad DeMaagd helps us to learn more about cloning technology, its limitations, and the misconceptions.

Generation X has seen the rise of dominant computer technology, the birth of new entertainment alternatives, and the integration of environmental awareness in our daily lives. Each of us has our own personal interests from America's past time to forest fires. When the current generation of politicians retire, Generation X will be expected to take up the reigns. Generation X will dictate how America and Americans respond to advances in science and technology. One of the scientific issues we will have to address is the exploration and development of human cloning.

On February 27, 1997, Dolly the lamb became an international star as the first cloned mammal whose entire DNA came from an adult's cells. The world buzzed with talk in camps either favoring the possibilities or denouncing the possible ramifications. A March of Dimes poll showed that 45 percent of Americans disapprove genetic engineering in all of its forms, and 87 percent of those polled admitted they knew "little or nothing about gene therapy."1 This void of cultural knowledge is what sparked this article because if Generation X must make its mind up on this topic in the future, than a rudimentary knowledge of the process is necessary.

To begin our nutshell education, let's go over the science behind cloning. Cloning technology is linked with the science of genetics. The origin of genetics begins as far back as when Mendel's studies of bean reproduction produced the ideas of genetic traits. In the Twentieth Century, Hans Spierman is credited with the advancements that have led to modern cloning practices, particularly his theories on differentiation and nuclear shuffling. Differentiation is the division and reproduction of a cell's genetic material (DNA). This idea broadened scientific knowledge of a cell's life cycle.

Nuclear shuffling is the technique by which DNA material is moved from one cell to another cell's cytoplasm. Nuclei shuffling led to the process practiced in modern cloning known as nuclear transfer. Nuclear transfer is when DNA is taken from one cell's nucleus, and placed in another cell's nucleus whose DNA has been removed. This parent-child cell would reproduce through its own natural cycle. Scientists attempted to grow cultures through this process, but until Dolly, they ran into snags keeping the cell cultures from breaking down.

Despite the transfer of DNA, adult human cells lack Totipotence. Totipotence is the ability to regenerate an injured part of an organism. Plant cells are able to do this process. An example that can be easily found in our own backyards is common grass. Grass is cut and we always end up cutting it all over again. Amoebas, sponges, and some amphibians are animals that possess the ability to regenerate a damaged part of their body. Human cells are not designed to do this.

In a full-grown adult, most cells are specialists. These specialist cells can only produce specific aspects of human anatomy such as our skin, our heart, and our nerves. The closest equivalency to totipotence cells in humans are stem cells. Stem cells are uncommitted cells that have not received the bodies' signals that make a cell into a specialist cell. Stem cells have become a desired tool in genetic engineering and experiments. Most stem cells used for research come from a human fetus; currently the US and the UK prohibit the use of fetus material for testing.

Cloning technology wrestled with finding a way to keep a cell with transplanted DNA stable enough to grow an adequate culture. Since human stem cells were unavailable for convenient use, they managed to develop a technique to keep the nuclear membrane from breaking down. From this point, cultures were grown and numerous embryos were placed into surrogate mothers. From one of these surrogate mothers, Dolly was born with her DNA coming from a six-year-old adult ewe. It is important to remember that Dolly was carried to term by a surrogate mother, and not in a laboratory.

The process explained above is very simplified, and the numerous challenges that occurred during the past 20 years of modern cloning efforts are not mentioned due to constraints of length. The efforts of cloning scientists are accurately detailed in The Second Creation: Dolly and the Age of Biological Control written by her creators, Ian Wilmut, Keith Campbell, and Colin Tudge. Cloning is not something that occurs as rapidly as someone orders a burger and fries. The book helps to show the sheer magnitude of time, effort, and sacrifice that has gone into the exploration of cloning.

Intrinsic and extrinsic concerns are present when addressing the science of cloning. Cloning deals with recreating a life with the exact same genetic material as the parent. Theories abound regarding the possible benefits of cloning. Environmentalists see the possibility of restoring to an ecosystem lost species of plants or animals. Medical personnel hope the same processes can be used to grow cloned organs for people who are suffering from kidney or heart disease, thereby eliminating the concerns regarding a body's rejection of the new organ.

The intrinsic challenge of cloning lies in this basic question: What right do we have to even be pursuing this idea? What can a cloned sheep offer that is different from what its parent presently offers? Another source of wool can be a very basic answer. However, there are complaints also of the negative effects of cloning. Environmental ramifications could stem from the impact cloned animals can have on an established ecosystem. Religious concerns of morality will arise from the experimentation and development of clones.

Many monotheist religions operate around the idea that a god created the natural world and universe. Christianity is a prominent example of this type of religious view. Christians believe human beings possess souls. The human soul is an aspect of our being that many of us link both to a higher power and human reproduction. If a clone is produced, will such a being possess a soul? If this human clone grows up showing no signs of being intrinsically different from us, what does this mean for our concept of identity and a soul? Is man overstepping his boundaries and playing God, if he creates a human clone? These are some of the questions faced by religious minded scientists and religious leaders since the creation and life of a clone could shake the foundation of our spiritual sense of self.

Cloning a life form may seem unnatural, however, scientifically it is not. Asexual reproduction is cloning, and examples are found among sponges, amoebas, and nonflowering plants. These life forms all propagate their species simply by making copies of the parent. Sexual reproduction does not directly produce clones because of the shared DNA material, however, clones do occur. Identical twins can be born who have the same DNA as one another. These twins are DNA clones in the same way that Dolly is a DNA clone of her parent. The argument stems from the fact that these identical twins are a product of mankind's sexual reproduction versus the fact that the cloned embryo is a copy of its parent, not our natural reproductive processes.

A great deal of the interest and cloning experimentation lies in the simple fact that it is something to be accomplished, a large step of human growth. Extrinsic concerns deal with the possible results of these actions. In the case of cloning, many people fear its abuse. Instead of making a clone of Abraham Lincoln or Martin Luther King, people fear that someone will clone notorious figures such as Adolf Hitler or Ted Bundy.

To disprove this general fear, we will assume that someone has cloned Adolf Hitler. Adolf Hitler grew up in the 1900's, and saw Germany crushed and punished in World War I. His rise to this position of Chancellor occurred due to a corrupt and crumbling political system in the Weimar republic. Hitler had ready at hand enemies in England and France who suppressed Germany because of World War I. Hitler viewed himself and country as victims of the Jewish people, who were long blamed for the German defeat in World War I and for the current economic troubles.

In 2002, Germany has recovered from the economic shift of reunification and is again one of the strongest economies in Europe. Germany is allied with England and France, and the anti-Semitism and socialist movements that fueled Nazi Germany are kept under tight guard because of the Nazi legacy. If we assume, Hitler's charisma and his ambition are present in his clone, the very environment that spawned his rise to power are no longer available. The clone would at least not be able to become the same Hitler. Historians and anthropologists are quick to point out how human actions and viewpoints are a product of their times even as we find some genetic dispositions for conditions mental or hormonal imbalances.

How far is our technology from reaching the ability to clone a human whether its Hitler or Lincoln? Five major hurdles must be overcome in human cloning according to the text Remaking Eden: Cloning and Beyond in a Brave New World2:

1) We currently transfer genetic information at about 98% accuracy, our goal is 100%.
2) We must finish identifying all the human genome because we need to improve our knowledge about our DNA.
3) Safe and efficient gene screening would be necessary to profile the genetics of a human embryo.
4) We would need to increase the egg production of women needed for reproduction. Mothers would still be necessary.
5) The survival rates of an embryo to a full-fledged baby needs to be 90%. Currently, Dolly success was due to large numbers of cultured cells and multiple surrogate mothers.

Despite bans in certain countries, our exploration of the human genome and cloning technology continues. The National Institute of Health of the United States of America currently estimates to have the human genetic material mapped and identified by 2020. The BBC features reports on Korean investigations into human cloning. Korea is one of the countries in the world that does not have bans on cloning experiments.

This article has tried to give a sliver of insight into the science and concerns behind cloning. What will dictate our own generations' opinion on cloning will come from our religious views, our personal experiences, and our education. Education about cloning is out there, books and articles can be found both in your local library, university, and on the Internet. Generation X will be facing many unknowns, but hopefully we can improve our general knowledge of the science behind the clones that we may eventually find walking alongside us in the mall.

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Brad DeMaagd was born in Sacramento, California in 1976. Mr. DeMaagd currently lives in Michigan, but is planning a move to Oregon in the late spring. Mr. DeMaagd attended Michigan State University where he majored in English, with minor studies in Economics and History. Mr. DeMaagd continues to pursue his goal of becoming an Acquisitions Editor at a publishing house. His past times include watching David Lynch films, NFL football, working on his stories, and reading an ever growing stack of books.

1 Silver, Lee Remaking Eden: Cloning and Beyond in a Brave New World (New York, NY: Avon Books, 1997) p. 235

2 Silver, Lee Remaking Eden: Cloning and Beyond in a Brave New World (New York, NY: Avon Books, 1997) p. 208 � 210

Volume B Issue 10 October 2002 Copyright 2002 Gx Webzine All Rights Rsvd.

Volume B Issue 10 October 2002
Copyright 2002 Gx Webzine All Rights Rsvd.