Cloning is a scientific process that has miraculous potential to better humans and other species alike: however, the resounding negative repercussions far outweigh these potential benefits. Cloning is biologically defined as the construction of a special chromosome by somatic cell fusion, cytogenetic manipulation, or organelle introduction into cells by means of genetic microsurgery. (Funk & Wagnalls, 1) This process has been completed successfully although the accuracy, precision, and consistency are lacking. Even isolated experimentation of cloning on living species is dangerous. Anytime the natural rhythms of human life are disrupted in such a momentous manner, disastrous outcomes are bound to unfold. Cloning is an extremely powerful tool that carries extreme burdens, and, in order to properly convey this message, it is necessary to explain the techniques, history, ethics, and reasons of cloning.Before continuing with processes or history, it is vital to understand two things: what cloning is and what is a clone. Cloning, in its simplest term, is the technique of producing a genetically identical duplicate of an organism. A clone is any descendant derived asexually form a single individual, as by cuttings, bulbs, fission, mitosis, or parthenogenesis reproduction. (Hoffman 78) There are clones that develop naturally everywhere you look. Bacteria, algae, unicellular organisms, fungi, invertebrates, and plants are all examples of clones. Even human beings clone in rare instances, in the form of what we call identical twins. The history of cloning stretches much farther back than most people think. The first attempts at cloning have been documented back to the beginning of this century. Adolph Edward Driesch was the first scientist to experiment with this process. He was able to divide the egg of a sea urchin by shaking it in a test tube, which separated the egg, turning it into two dwarf sea urchins. Though Dreisch was ...
