Human Cloning|| Science Meets Technology

avatar

Have you ever imagined what it would be like to have an actual clone of yourself?. Someone who has the same genetic make-up like you? The same face, same stature, same attitude? It sounds frightening to some people while some other people would perceive it as cool. Having a clone of yourself comes with its pros and cons. I'd be discussing this today.
20230408_081529_0000.png
Image source|| Edited with canva

What is Human Cloning?

This is the active replication of human cells and tissues or the creation of an exact genetic copy of an individual. It's worthy to note that human cloning has got nothing to do with the conventional / natural conception of twins.

1997 was the year of cloning. The internet went wild with the revelation of the first mammal clone–Dolly the sheep. On Dec. 27, 2022, Brigitte Boisselier (a french chemist) announced the birth of the first human clone,Eve. This announcement was made in Florida, just a few days after the Christmas celebration.

Although human cloning is not accepted by many, it is still an active area of research. Some states like–Virginia, Arizona, Oklahoma, north and south Dakota– strongly kick against human cloning.

Where am I getting with all these?

This particular topic piqued my attention during my research because it's a combination of medicine and technology. Genetic replication is involved( medicine) and technology is used to make this replication feasible.

Types of Human Cloning

There are basically two types of human cloning; human therapeutic cloning and reproductive cloning.

Human Therapeutic Cloning

This type of cloning should interest the medics in the house. Human therapeutic cloning involves the creation of cells and tissue identical to that of the patient.

There have been cases where a patient died because their bodies rejected a certain organ during an organ transplant. With human therapeutic cloning, the cells of such a patient could be used to make a clone that would fit perfectly. No one gets to die because of incompatibility anymore.

Reproductive Cloning

This has to do with the replication of the entire being or animal, just like in the case of Dolly the sheep or Eve. Twins are an example of natural clones but when technology is involved, then it gets artificial.
This involves creating an animal that is genetically identical to the original donor through the process of somatic cell nuclear transfer.

The difference between therapeutic cloning and reproductive cloning is that the former involves cloning of only one particular organ while the latter involves making an entire human or animal.

There would always be pros and cons when it comes to artificiality and technology. And I'm going to state a few of them.

Pros of Human Cloning

  • It can be used to produce genetically identical cells for medical purposes.
  • Infertility treatment: couples who are infertile could get a chance of having an infant who is genetically related to one of them.
  • Revolutionizing of the medical sector.

Cons of Human Cloning

As the science of human cloning is still in its early stage, there are a lot of uncertainties and doubts.

  • Ethical concerns: many people kick against the idea of human cloning.
  • Psychological impact on the clones: the clones may struggle with their identity and self worth.
  • Potential for abuse(very inevitable): As there are two of you(clones), one clone may decide to get dubious at some point while the other clone gets to pay.
  • Technical challenges
  • Genetic abnormalities/ birth defects.

Disclaimer: the clones have entirely different thoughts. One may think that the original donor and his clone would have the same line of thoughts. That's not the case. Your clone could be in a different state, doing something absolutely different from you. They are clones but their minds are not in sync.

Just like artificial intelligence (AI) came upon us, human cloning may come upon us soon. Scientists are a very eager set of people and they never stop till their goal is achieved irrespective of how long it takes.

We should look on the brighter side. More lives would be saved and less people would have to die because of incompatibility or inaccessibility to organs. Human cloning would bring a revolution to the medical sector, if and only if scientists play their cards right.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on human cloning. Do you like the idea or the idea should be abolished?.

Thank you for your time

With love, wongi ✨

Posted Using LeoFinance Beta



0
0
0.000
32 comments
avatar

Cloning huh...
Like kage bushin?
untitled.gif

P.S: Isn't this more suited for the STEM community 😂😂😂

0
0
0.000
avatar

Like kage bushin?

All these anime fans in my life😅. Is this from Naruto?

P.S: Isn't this more suited for the STEM community 😂😂😂

Thanks. Didn't know about them😪

0
0
0.000
avatar

Naruto is the best😭😭😭😍

Watch anime, you're life would be way better...

untitled.gif

0
0
0.000
avatar

I've watched one.... demon slayer 🌚

0
0
0.000
avatar

We're going to do some weird things with cloning. I wouldn't mind being able to transfer my 'consciousness' to another body so I can keep on trucking. :)

0
0
0.000
avatar

😅😅😅
It wouldn't be so bad after all. But it's definitely going to be weird.

0
0
0.000
avatar

This capability offered by genetics, micro biology and reproductive science has been a fact since the mid-1990s. Moreover, at the time, it represented one of the most existentialist and ethical debates in the history of humanity, and therefore of science as a method.

0
0
0.000
avatar

Just like you've said, many people kick against it and we still don't know how it's going to end up.

Thank you for reading. I appreciate ✨

0
0
0.000
avatar

While therapeutic cloning could allow an individual's own cells to be used to treat or cure their disease, which seem so be great idea(although can be controversial- aftercall it involves destroying the embryo to isolate stem cells) - the reproductive cloning scares me, really.

From time to time I am thinking how great it would be to have a clone of myself, and we could share the chores, and exchange at work, but we all now it is not how it works:))))

Interesting topic though!

0
0
0.000
avatar

we all now it is not how it works:))))

That's definitely not how it works😅 the clones would always want to be mischievous. They most definitely won't settle for doing chores and exchanging works.

0
0
0.000
avatar

Human cloning sounds nice but the truth is... It isn't. The world will turn darker if such takes place.

0
0
0.000
avatar

Human cloning sounds nice but the truth is... It isn't. The world will turn darker if such takes place.

0
0
0.000
avatar

the first of your pros is only a pro if the technology can be advanced to cloning only the specific cells or grow them into organs

0
0
0.000
avatar

Human cloning has its own limitations
Human cloning, have never been recorded a success because there are millions of somatic cells in the human body, you have to clone each cell to achieve that.
Therefore,the clone given birth must also grow normally before getting to the supposed age of the person in question.
With this, human cloning is possible but the limitations to it made it impossible for human cloning to be recorded.
Came from @dreemport

0
0
0.000
avatar

because there are millions of somatic cells in the human body,

This is a different angle to look at it from and it has a lot of sense to it. Before scientist replicate all the cells in the body, it could takes years.

Thank you so much for popping in. I do appreciate ✨

0
0
0.000
avatar

Cloning!!!

Well, at first it will be a great idea especially for organ transplant but then when other individuals decide to get cunny with cloning not to talk of over population, what laws will regulate the clones? What kind of identity will they have? Will they be subjective to their cloned counterpart?.

And I know, some of this clones will be subjected to forced labour, a lot of things could go wrong, with twins they might look identical but their genetic make up is different in terms of their DNA, now imagine someone with the same DNA as you will that not be creepy 😂😂

0
0
0.000
avatar

DNA as you will that not be creepy 😂😂

The thought of cloning is actually very creepy sha😅. Waking up to the fact that there's another version of you somewhere in the world. Just walking around, looking for trouble 😂.

It's just the organ cloning that sounds like a great idea to me as it would be really helpful in the medical sector.

0
0
0.000
avatar

Yeah exactly, just the thought of it, I could feel goosebumps all over my body right now 😂😂

0
0
0.000
avatar

😅😅😅

Fine, you have convinced me against cloning

0
0
0.000
avatar

Have you ever imagined what it would be like to have an actual clone of yourself?

Does Matilda count?

!ALIVE

0
0
0.000
avatar

Does Matilda count?

I doubt people would want to have two Matildas :⁠-⁠)

0
0
0.000