Cloning Humans: Its Good and Bad Side
Cloning human beings is important when we see the talented people dying without a second generation. We often find that singers like Lata Mangeshkar has no second generation. Her talent is not transmitted across a next generation. When we think of organ transplant, we think of a human body with the same type of tissue from which the graft will be taken. Organ transplant becomes easier when we take it from a clone.
Cloning humans has its bad side also. First comes the ethical side. We should not intervene with the God’s creation. God created us, we need to leave the process of human creation to nature. The church is mostly against this. We might also think of criminals like Dawood and Chota Shakeel having their clone. Cloning at initial stage will be a costly process. So only very powerful and rich will use and abuse it for their good and evil purposes respectively.
Cloning is the term initially meant any of a wide range of techniques for modifying or manipulating organisms through heredity and reproduction. Now the term denotes the narrower field of recombinant-DNA technology, or gene cloning, in which DNA molecules from two or more sources are combined, either within cells or in test tubes, and then inserted into host organisms in which they are able to reproduce. This technique is used to produce new genetic combinations that are of value to science, medicine, agriculture, or industry. Through recombinant-DNA techniques, bacteria have been created that are capable of synthesizing human insulin, human interferon, human growth hormone, a hepatitis-B vaccine, and other medically useful substances. Recombinant-DNA techniques, combined with the development of a technique for producing antibodies in great quantity, have made an impact on medical diagnosis and cancer research. Plants have been genetically adjusted to perform nitrogen fixation and to produce their own pesticides. Bacteria capable of biodegrading oil have been produced for use in oil-spill cleanups. Genetic engineering also introduces the fear of adverse genetic manipulations and their consequences (e.g., antibiotic-resistant bacteria or new strains of disease).
Organ transplant may come from the same or a different person or an animal. One from the same person-most often a skin graft-is not rejected. Transplants from another person or, especially, an animal are rejected unless they are unusually compatible or have no blood vessels (e.g., the cornea), or if the recipient’s immune reaction is suppressed by lifelong drug treatment. Transplanted tissues must match (by blood tests) more closely than blood transfusions. The most closely related are the twins. The organ transplant can be done easily. In Discovery channel, it is also shown how a twin brother donated his organ for his brother.
