CLONING+2010

= The Mystery Of Human Cloning = "Banning human cloning reflects our humanity. It is the right thing to do. Creating a child through this new method calls into question our most fundamental beliefs. It has the potential to threaten the sacred family bonds at the very core of our ideals and our society. At its worst, it could lead to misguided and malevolent attempts to select certain traits, even to create certain kind of children -- to make our children objects rather than cherished individuals".- Bill Clinton

=History of Cloning= [|Bold and Sold] It has been many years, but finally we are starting to put the pieces to the puzzle of human cloning. Special Project editor Pamela Schaeffer gives an in-depth explanation for the frequently asked questions of how and why we seek the possibility of human cloning. She talks about the old theory of humans placed on this earth for the simple purpose of "co-creators", and how it has now changed to "reengineering" the human being. It also talks about the first "test tube baby" and how vitro fertilization is the closest that the body of a human being has ever gotten to cloning.

[|Defending life and dignity] This article talks about the effects that cloning would have on a actual human life. It explains life through the subjects of Bioethics, Embryonic stem cells, Human Cloning, Human Reproductive technology, medical ethics, and Pro-life movements.

=RSS Feeds= rss url="feed://humancloningfoundation.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss" link="true" number="2"

This feed is a blog discussing cloning and even supplies more articles with doctor's opinion's on cloning. It also discusses how cloning can benefit us in terms of stem cell research.

rss url="feed://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/science/topics/cloning/index.html?rss=1" link="true" number="5" The New York Times has articles discussing cloning and stem cell research as they are closely related. Some of these articles also demonstrate the religious opposition to stem cell research and cloning.

=What is Cloning?= [|Cloning/Embryonic Stem Cells] This is an article with much information about cloning and how Dolly the sheep was actually clones. It also displays the ethical issues and uncertainties surrounding cloning. One main point discussed in the article are Embryonic Stem cells. These are very versatile cells that can be trained to replicate any cell in the human body. Cloning would allow scientists to extract as many stem cells as they needed from cloned embryos.

[|What is Cloning?] Explains many aspects of cloning and gives in-depth analysis of cloning

= Is Cloning Worth It? =

[|Pros and Cons of Cloning] Examines and explains the advantages and disadvantages of cloning.
 * Pros**
 * Can be used to clone organs for transplants and save lives
 * Can cure infertility by reproducing a human fertility trait
 * Will help researchers further understand how genetics work
 * Cons**
 * Will limit diversity in humans
 * Will still produce undesirable traits
 * Malpractice will be an issue

=What Has Been Cloned?= [|Animals Who Have Been Cloned]

- In 1952 the first successful clone was completed on a tadpole. Many animals have been attempted or have been cloned since then. Some animals who have successfully been cloned are: - All these clones were created with nuclear transfer technology. - Dolly the Sheep was the first adult animal cloned. (Pictured below)
 * Sheep
 * Goats
 * Cows
 * Mice
 * Pigs
 * Cats
 * Rabbits

What Are The Risks of Cloning?
[|In-depth Analysis of Risks]
 * 1) High failure rate
 * 2) Problems during later development
 * 3) Abnormal gene expression patterns
 * 4) Telomeric differences

- More than 90% of cloning attempts fail to produce viable offspring. - Along with the low success rate, the animals have a weak immune system and often die from unknown causes.

Media Examples of Cloning

 * Movies**

Sleeper ‘73 The Stepford Wives ‘78 Invasion of the Body Snatchers ‘78 Jurassic Park ’93 The Fifth Element ‘97 Alien: Resurrection ‘97 The 6th Day ‘00 Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones ‘02 The Adventures of Pluto Nash ‘02 Godsend ‘04 The Island ‘05


 * Books**

__On Cloning__ by John Harris.

__The Cloning Sourcebook__ by Arlene Judith Klotzk

__The Ethics of Human Cloning__ by Leon R. Kass, James Q. Wilson

__The Naked Clone: How Cloning Bans Threaten Our Personal Rights__ by John Charles Kunich

__Human Dignity and Human Cloning__ by Silja Voneky, Rudiger Wolfrum

__The Lost World__ by Michael Crichton

__The House of the Scorpion__ by Nancy Farmer

__Joshua Son of None__ by Nancy Freedman


 * Music**

Corporate Cloning by Fear Factory

Cloning Process by Scientist

media type="custom" key="5587745" NPR talks about success in cloning human embryos and then using it for stem cells.

http://news.discovery.com/videos/tech-human-cloning.html This is a short video giving a brief overview of cloning and more specifically human cloning. A scientist explains how cloning works and what our capabilities are to actually clone a human. It also talks about the ethics of human cloning.

http://science.howstuffworks.com/genetic-science/cloning.htm This video basically shows how cloning works. It also mentions Dolly, the first mammal ever cloned, and how they cloned her.

http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/podcasts/show/2007.10.28/ This is a podcast that explains Embryonic Stem Cell research and how cloning would allow scientists to extract them from cloned embryos.

=Fun and Games=

[|The Clone Zone] [|Scientist Cloning Quiz]

=Discussion Questions=

1. Would you ever clone yourself or your child ?

2. How different do you think your life would be if you lived as a clone?

3. Why do you think people even consider cloning?

4. Do you think cloning is beneficial for humans, animals, or neither?

5. Since cloning is creating more lives and abortions are taking them away, why do you think so many people are against cloning?