Many Facets of Cloning Debate Are Accessible
The cloning debate has suddenly shown its face again, with a Massachusetts company announcing recently that it had created cloned human embryos that survived for several days. Advanced Cell Technology Inc. said it was not planning to make humans, only harvest tissue to treat people with diabetes, Parkinson’s and other diseases. But the potential to clone humans was apparent years ago, in 1997, when Scottish researchers created a lamb called Dolly by transferring a cell from one sheep into an egg whose nucleus had been removed. Cloning opponents criticized the move as the first step toward creating a human embryo farm; supporters said it could give new life to many with terminal diseases. Fortunately, there are a couple of good sites to get quickly up to speed on the science--before the debate is again knocked off the front page.
The Human Genome Project Cloning Fact Sheet
www.ornl.gov/hgmis/elsi/clon ing.html
The Human Genome Project is the sprawling, government-funded program devoted to identifying the some 30,000 human genes, figuring out what they do, and turning that information to practical use. Its fact sheet is blessedly brief and does a competent job of answering the most trenchant questions: What is cloning? And: Why clone? The answer to the first is complex. “Cloning” can mean multiplying a single gene to do research; splitting a developing embryo to create two identical ones; or conceiving an animal such as Dolly by transferring “genetic material from the nucleus of an adult sheep’s udder cell to an egg whose nucleus, and thus its genetic material, had been removed.” Well, that explanation could use some work. But the fact sheet is stronger in explaining why: to create drug-producing animals; to help humans produce whole organs from single cells; and even to raise animals with genetically altered organs designed for transplanting into humans. In addition, this site lists more than a dozen good links to keep up with various dimensions of the practice, including debate transcripts, and a bibliography.
Human Cloning Foundation
www.humancloning.org
This nonprofit was founded in 1998 to support human cloning and function as a meeting place for those who are like-minded. If there are such things as clone-nerds, they have this site bookmarked. The site does a nice job of covering the basics and, although the explanations have a biotech-y bent, the color illustrations and pictures dramatize what happens when animals are cloned. The site has scores of essays in support of human cloning addressing every little twist and turn in the debate, rebutting the doubters, sometimes tweaking those who sound warnings.
The site is almost exuberant in its advocacy, and not the best place to find a full accounting of the ways cloning methods may misfire.
But you’re not going to miss much else if you check this site, even after the newspapers have lost interest in cloning.
