rocess that has been used for years to help infertile couples who could not produce enough embryos, it [is] neither a breakthrough nor startling"(Flesh My Flesh: x). Nuclear Somatic Transfer or Nuclear Transplantation CloningIn nuclear somatic transfer a nucleus is taken from the cell of an already existing person and placed into a fertilized egg which has had its nucleus removed. The egg cell is then stimulated to divide and grow. Thereby producing a clone or twin of the person whose DNA was used. This is the manner in which Dolly was created (Whos Afraid Cloning 11).Clones Are Not Always Completely IdenticalIn Embryo Splitting the clones would be identical twins. However, in Nuclear Somatic Transfer, where most of the controversy lies, a clone will not necessarily be an identical twin. The reasons for this lie in the host egg. Although the nucleus is removed, and therefore the majority of the DNA, it is impossible to remove all the DNA. The mitochondria (tiny organelles in the cell) contain tiny bits of DNA. Because of these mitochondria DNA a cloned person may not be completely identical to the person whose DNA was used(Whos Afraid Cloning 18). Please see diagram labeled figure four in appendix A.How Cloning May Benefit HumankindTherapeutic CloningTherapeutic cloning could be used to clone any of the body's tissues. This does not involve cloning an entire person but only the tissue needed. Please see diagram labeled "the ultimate body repair kit" in appendix A. In an on-line scientific magazine Andy Coghlan discusses therapeutic cloning and how it is done. He writes that "[t]herapeutic cloning would use the technique that created Dolly the sheep to grow cells for transplants that are matched to their recipients - for instance to replace the brain cells lost in Parkinsons disease"(1:3). Many thousands of people die every year while waiting for an organ transplant or as a result of tissue rejection. With therapeutic clon...
