Cloning is the process that a cell or an organism is produced asexually; meaning that no sex is involved in their formation and the product is identical to a specific ancestor. Animal cells are cloned simply because they can be produced from one fertilized cell and they are also genetically identical. In simpler terms, cloning is the process of producing many duplicate cells of an organism. In some cases, cloning is a natural process shown bacteria which are single celled, as well as identical twins in human beings and mammals. The process is also made possible to the animals through artificial cloning, to produce animals that have identical characteristics to those animals produced by natural process. Just like the naturally produced animals, cloned animals have proven to have numerous advantages both for the individuals as well as to the economy (Smith et al., 2005).
The first ever successful animal cloning was discovered in 1996, but nowadays, many people have embraced the technology of cloning animals. Cloning animals produce transgenic animals, making it possible for researchers as well as commercial applications. The process has been seen very useful by many people, but a good number of others have some fears in embracing this technology. Generally, animal cloning is done in three main processes as follows;
Gene cloning
Therapeutic cloning
Reproductive cloning
The first one is gene cloning where an identical segment of DNA is replicated to other several copies. The second method is therapeutic cloning necessary in the curing of diseases by replicating stem cells, and the third method is reproductive cloning done through nuclear transfer through somatic cells. The principle reasons as to why some people still do not embrace this technology is that they believe cells used for cloning animals come from embryos. On the contrary, those that embrace this technology is after a review of how successful it has become to produce a duplicate of an animal without the need for sexual process.
Animal cloning has been established as the best solution to prevent endangered animals from becoming extinct, hence preventing the environmental beauty. The fact that many animals are endangered is real. An approximation of 84 wildlife species in New Jersey are believed to be endangered, and this is a very serious danger to the environment as well as people who love wildlife and those who depend on wildlife to make a living. Again, it is also believed that as much as 40% of the wildlife species around the world are endangered for extinction (Green garage: The Eco Friendly Blog). Therefore, animal cloning happens to be the best solution to conserve and preserve wildlife species, or even recreate those species that have already been endangered. Reproductive cloning can be used to remove the nucleus with a DNA from a female egg of a species intended for cloning. A mature cell containing the DNA of the intended animal for cloning is introduced into an empty egg cell, and as soon as embryo has developed, it is injected to the surrogate mother for development. After development, the surrogate mother gives birth to an animal which is genetically similar to the cell donor. The technology is fast because it is possible to produce many cells at the same time, and when this is done, many animals that were feared to be endangered are revived. Reviving of these animals technically means that the environment will have all sorts of wildlife species enabling survival as well as more production.
Animal cloning has also been established with social advantage to help people in leading a healthy life by providing medicines for various diseases. There are many agricultural animals such as sheep, cows and goats which are rich in protein. Some of these animals are used to provide proteins used in science of medicine. For instance, sheep are rich in protein which is used in blood clotting by humans. Therefore, through animal cloning, any problem to do with shortage of vaccines and sources of proteins are prevented. Besides, medical specialists have a variety of animals to do their research in medicine, and test their validity and quality to heal various diseases before they recommend for disease curing in humans. Through cloning, nutshell is used to produce more farm animals which can be genetically engineered to produce drugs which can be used to cure illnesses. By doing this, researchers ensure that there is any drug for any disease making it possible for people to get medical attention and drug to all diseases. Therefore, healthy living makes it possible for everyone to interact with each other socially.
Cloning animals are the solution to the pet lovers who fear for their deceased animals. This is a social advantage because many people love pets so much that they feel sad if they are deceased. The solution is that by the use of the scientific breakthrough like cloning animals, they can use the money they have to bring the animals they love back to normal. Therefore, those people with a passion to their pets needs not worry because the animals they adore most can be brought back to life, and they will have something to see. However, this method does not necessarily mean that the pets brought back to life will be identical to the previous animals, but they will have some resemblance, and hence, it will improve social security to many a people.
Animal cloning also has an ethical consideration that must be put in place (Fiester, 2005). In many cases, animal cloning has been established as the best solution to curb the problem of food insecurity around the globe. As stated earlier, cloned animals are fast growing animals that probably take a shorter time than naturally bred animals. Therefore, cloned animals such as pigs, goat as well as cows produce milk and meat that solve the crisis of food insecurity. In January 2008, FDA gave an assurance that goat, pig, and cow clones, as well as any offspring of any other animal clones, are safe for human consumption, hence approving their sales throughout the world. When such milk and meat are distributed especially to the drought-stricken areas, they help in preventing food insecurity. Therefore, the agricultural industry would be the best beneficiary of cloning animals. The best way for doing this is by choosing an animal with distinguished genes and then cloning it, and this will give rise to an animal that produces a lot of milk and high-quality meat. In fact, cloned animals can produce as much as twice the milk produced by animals bred traditionally (Banati, 2009).
However, many people have another ethical impression when it comes animal cloning. About 64% of Americans have an impression that food cloning is morally wrong (Tucker-Foreman, 2002), with other people as much as 63% clinging to the idea that they can never purchase cloned food even if that food has been labeled safe for human consumption (Dairy industry support continued FDA ban on selling cloned-cow milk, 2005). Those people against the cloning of animals believe that even if scientists have the ability to clone animals for food, they do not have to do it. The Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production gave a report in 2008 claiming that United States people need to alter how they raise animals, but not through cloning them (Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production, 2008). Cloning animals is a similar way of making these animals machines that can be manufactured by humans, and this is against animal husbandry. Again, cloning produces highly productive animals, but this process poses a problem to the animals because they suffer from the infectious udder and any other production related diseases. However, the solution to this ethical problem is that cloned food has been certified as safe for human consumption, and FDA cannot certify anything that would lead to detrimental effects to human beings. Again, cloned animals have been proven to be as normal as the natural animals, something that makes it almost impossible to differentiate the animals. Therefore, cloned foods as well as cloning of animals can be declared ethical as a proof to the already successful processes.
One of the solutions to unemployment is cloning animals, which in one way or another has economic advantages. The use of cloning animals is a technology that requires extensive education and application. Many people across the world have specialized in some of these technologies and they make a living out of it. For instance, many people have developed a desire to produce many offspring from animals that are genetically superior by the help of assisted reproductive technologies (ART). Some of the ART technologies are;
Artificial Insemination and Cryopreservation: US Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture's Animal Reproduction states that artificial insemination (AI) has been in use for more than 200 years, and has been effective in production of genetically modified superior males
Multiple (Super) Ovulation and Embryo Transfer (MOET): In this method, ovulation is triggered by hormones and then the ovum is fertilized by artificial insermination
In Vitro Fertilization: This is a technique that uses in vitro fertilization (IVF), in vitro maturation (IVM) as well as ovum pick-up (OPU) done in the laboratory. In this process OPU is used to harvest female eggs from the donor cow’s ovary, and then it is allowed to fertilize in a culture dish and then talen to the incubator for seven days. It is then implanted to the future, while others are frozen for future use
, Sex Determination of Sperm and Embryos: Method that allows regulation of the sex of animal by controlling the sex of sperms as well as that of embryos
Transgenics (Cognie, Baril, Poulin & Mermillod, 2003).
. These technologies are made possible by people through special education and application. Therefore, those people get employment through the application of one of more technologies in cloning g animals, and because many people across the world are embracing this technology, they are hired either by farmers or by big firms. The result is that the rate of unemployment is reduced dramatically, and because most people can cater for their needs, they are economically stab le and pay their taxes to the government faithfully. This increases the economy of the nation.
Still on the economic advantage, cloning animals ensures that many animals are produces rapidly. The animals produced are high yielding meaning that they can produce large amounts of milk. The result is that many dairy companies are erected to process milk either by making milk powder or increasing its shelf life by pasteurization. This prevents milk spoilage that could affect the economy of a nation, but instead gives an economic boost because the processed milk can be exported thereby increasing the per capita of a country. Besides, more quality meat is produced and once sold; they boost the economy of the country. Also, the hides and skins are sold either locally or exported and the money raised from their sales boosts the economy. Therefore, the solution to economic instability is the animal cloning because the technology itself helps to raise capital in one way or the other.
In conclusion, it is clear that animal cloning has resulted into food cloning. Many countries across the world suffer from food insecurities that affect their overall performance as well as production. The advantage of cloning animals is that it curbs the food insecurity issues by providing food such as milk and meat of high quality. The food produced is as a result of high quality technology that produces fast growing animals that are high yielding and resistant to diseases such as mastitis. The food and milk have been proven safe by food and drug administration (FDA), and therefore, people do not have to fear about the safety of genetically modified food because it has already been certified. Again, cloning animals is a source of employment making it possible for people to self employ themselves and raise money to curb hunger as well as getting money for their upkeep. Also, many companies have been erected as a result of cloning animals, such as dairy industries and meat industries. These industries improve the quality of milk and meat produced from cloning animals, making it possible to increase the shelf life of these foods. Besides, these companies ensure that milk and meat reach to the hunger-stricken areas anytime without going bad. Most importantly, cloning animals helps in reviving those wildlife species that are feared for extinction. Most of the wildlife animals are the beauty to the environment as well as aesthetic to many people. Therefore, people are assured that the animals they love the most will never disappear for good. Therefore, people should embrace cloning animals in their society, and the few who take this technology as unethical should learn to embrace it by looking at what has already been a success of animal cloning.
References
Bánáti, D. (2009). Animal Cloning for Food Supply: A review. Acta Alimentaria, 38(1), 117-132.
Cognie, Y., Baril, G., Poulin, N., & Mermillod, P. (2003). Current Status of Embryo Technologies in Sheep and Goat. Theriogenology, 59(1), 171-188.
Green garage: The Eco Friendly Blog. Retrieved from http://greengarageblog.org/10-marked-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-cloning-animals
Tucker-Foreman, C. (2002). Public interest perspective on animal cloning. In: Animal cloning and the production of food products: Perspectives from the food chain. Proceedings from a workshop sponsored by the Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology and the Center for Veterinary Medicine of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Dairy industry support continued FDA ban on selling cloned-cow milk (2005, July 15). Washington Times. Retrieved Oct. 2006, from: http://www.organicconsumers.org/toxic/clone.cfm.
Fiester, A. (2005). Ethical Issues in Animal Cloning. Perspectives in biology and medicine, 48(3), 328-343.
Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production (2008). Putting Meat on the Table: Industrial farm animal production in America.
Smith, L. C., Bordignon, V., Babkine, M., Fecteau, G., & Keefer, C. (2000). Benefits and Problems with Cloning Animals. The Canadian Veterinary Journal, 41(12), 919.
US Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture's Animal Reproduction. Retrieved from http://www.csrees.usda.gov/nea/animals/in_focus/reproduction_if_assisted.html#insemination
