into an egg, then transplanting the developed embryo of the egg into a ewe, which acted as a surrogate mother. Six months later, on July 4, Dolly was born weighing fourteen pounds and perfectly healthy. This single event has been the foundation of debates for the last two years on the practicality, dangers, and ethics of scientifically cloning living species.Having discussed the history and techniques of cloning, it is important to discover the uses cloning has on living species. There are many ways in which cloning could be used: better engineering the offspring of humans and animals, making copies of those who have deceased, and researching cures for diseases. Agriculture could benefit from cloning as well. Livestock could be cloned by nuclear transfer, passing on preferred traits to produce better, more profitable animals. However, this technique cannot be implemented at this time due to the less than five- percent success rate of such a procedure.The benefit to the human species is what has many scientists interested. Researchers believe that cloned pigs could possibly produce organs that could be transplanted into needy humans. In addition, cloning of livestock could produce proteins for people suffering form diseases such as diabetes, Parkinsons, and Cystic Fibrosis. The process also provides for research into diseases and could unveil cures that would save lives. A final way cloning could be used is for infertile mothers. Nuclear transfer could be used to clone a child instead of other methods, such as in-vitro fertilization or artificial insemination. While these possibilities sound wonderful on paper, they in fact have dismal potential reactions. If cloning becomes wide spread among a species, then that species genetic information would be almost identical. If a disease were to enter the species, it would undoubtedly wipe out all those with the similar genetic make-ups. Also, the risk of error when cloning is far ...
