Unit 2 Case Study 2 Animal Cloning

Case Study 2: Animal Cloning

Organism: Moa (Dinornithidae) and Sheep (Ovis aries)

The first successful mammal was cloned in the form of Dolly the sheep in 1996. She was cloned at the Roslin Institute in Midlothian, Scotland, and lived there until her death when she was six years old. Animal cloning involves the procedure of producing a new multicellular organism that is genetically identical to another. This is carried out with the use of somatic cell nuclear transfer. Somatic cell nuclear transfer involves the transfer of a nucleus from the donor cell to an egg from which the nucleus has been removed or; to a cell from a blastocyst from which the nucleus has been removed. If the egg continues to divide normally, it will then be transferred

As whole organism cloning becomes common around the world, we can’t help but think that someday, a human being will also be cloned. I personally believe that this is ethically incorrect as a human is given a life span for a reason and believe that once we die we should not be able to have another organism genetically identical come back into the world. Other problems such as reduced genetic biodiversity occur when cloning an organism. Reducing genetic biodiversity is a problem as it makes a species vulnerable to external changes in the environment. For example, if there were very sudden climatic conditions that were to change until the point where a species couldn’t survive in (e.g extreme temperatures), the population would decrease significantly and potentially be wiped out. A prime example of where genetic biodiversity was too small and as a result, was wiped out, is the Irish potato famine. The potato famine was caused by a fungus-like organism called ‘the potato blight’ (Phytophthora infestans) which was a disease that ravaged potato crops all throughout Europe as a result of the potato’s being genetically too similar. Almost all crops were unable to grow from 1845-1849 as their genetic makeup did not hold any resistance to this disease. Mammal cloning will reduce genetic biodiversity as it means that the exact same genetics are passed on to the next generation whereas natural breeding results in new genetic combinations. Therefore future generations will be at risk of being completely wiped out if a spontaneous environmental event occurs making the survival of the species’ population at risk of dying out. However, unlike other genetic transfers humans are responsible for (e.g selective breeding for farming which can enable increased intensification which impacts the environment), mammal cloning does not impact on the surrounding