Cloning Animals & Humans

Joseph P. MartinoPro-Life Science & Technology

SymposiumMay 1, 2004

Cloning Plants

• Humans have cloned plants for thousands of years

• Every plant propagated by cutting is a clone of the original.

• Some animals can be propagated by cutting: earthworms, starfish

• For most animals, cutting kills them

Dolly, the first clone

Reproductive Cloning

• Produce genetic duplicate of original animal

• Remove genetic material from egg cell• Transfer genetic material from cell from

original animal• Stimulate cell division• Transplant to uterus of “mother”

Somatic Cell Nuclear Transplant

Exact Duplicate?

• Only chromosomal or nuclear DNA is transferred

• Mitochrondria remain in egg• “Clone” inherits some genetic material

from egg donor

Cloned Goats

• April 1999, Canada• Goat triplets

– Danny, Clint, Arnold

Male Mouse Clone

Cloned Mule

Cloned Horse

Cloned Deer

Endangered Species

• Save endangered species by cloning?• Clone “last survivor”

Cloned Pigs

Extinct Species

• Recreate extinct species by SCNT from frozen specimens

• Restore extinct species• Tasmanian Tiger

Cloned Banteng

Cloning Pets

• Pet dead?• Get a clone• Commercially available • $50,000 for up to six cats

First Cloned Cat

Success Rate

• Only live birth in 87 embryos implanted in eight surrogate mother cats

• Only other pregnancy failed• Three times worse than experience with

Dolly

Clone your pet

• Genetic Savings and Clone• Grow skin samples in culture• Transfer DNA to enucleated egg cell• Fuse electrically• Implant in surrogate mother cat• Result still not an exact duplicate

Cloning Humans

• Reproductive cloning• Therapeutic cloning• Efforts to ban both in US• Being done elsewhere• Frantic pleas: we’ll be left behind

scientifically

Reproductive human cloning

• Almost universal political objections• Turns humans into commodities• Seems to have no point• Normal human reproduction

– No capital equipment required– Undertaken voluntarily– Can be carried out by unskilled labor

Therapeutic Human Cloning

• Often described only in technical terms• Done to harvest embryonic stem cells• Promoted as having potential to cure

various diseases and conditions• So far no proof that it has any value• It still amounts to destroying a human

being

Korean Human Embryos

Do Clones Die Young?

• Dolly the sheep– Premature arthritis– Died at age 6– Genetic material already 6 years old when

she was conceived• All other clones seem to have health

problems

Summary

• Animal reproductive cloning– Clone prize animals– Recreate extinct species– Preserve endangered species

• Human therapeutic cloning– Requires killing an embryo– Potential alleged but not demonstrated