Animal Cloning

Inter-planetary visits, super sonic travel and instant connectivity are everyday miracles and the lay man’s musings, but without a doubt, the thought provoking ‘cloning’ is a very act of defiance to that which was credited to ‘nature’. Interestingly, the sheep Dolly was not the first animal cloning result. Laboratories around the world, and all through time, have witnessed the cloning of mice, frogs and even cows. The science of cloning is directed towards the generation of a genetically identical ‘copy’ of a plant or animal. In the case of plants, every cutting taken to generate another plant is essentially cloning.

The hype created around the cloning of Dolly came from the fact that she was the first mammal ever, to be cloned from an adult cell. However, this major achievement also attracted a lot of ethical concern from practitioners and men of science, the world over. The real break through came in 2004, when a nucleus from an olfactory neuron, from the body of a rat that does not normally divide, generated a clone! Animal cloning is a very complex and difficult procedure. In the case of Dolly, the nucleus of an udder cell was used. The nucleus was reprogrammed by altering the ‘culture’ medium, in which the cells were kept alive. This was injected into an unfertilized egg cell, without a nucleus and electrical pulse energy was used to fuse the cells.

The chance of the correct fusion is literally at a ratio of 1:300! The main motive behind the initial experiment with Dolly, at the Roslin Research Center, was to identify and commercialize medicines in the milk of animals. These medicines are believed to help in the cure of haemophilia, cystic fibrosis and certain lung conditions. Scientists are also looking into generating human antibodies to fight infectious diseases and even cancer, from cloning. Once successful, this technique can be applied to breed ‘form flocks’ of clones that are genetically engineered and complete with medicines in their milk.

Animal cloning is connected with a number of other medical and scientific reasons, alongside the genetic techniques now implemented in the development of animal organs for human transplants, which is also called xeno-transplantation. The combination of genetic techniques and cloning is making the supply of suitable donor organs a distinct possibility. However, the plaguing issue is that of viral transmission. The study of animal cloning gives man a better understanding of the development of the embryo. It also enables the understanding of what is termed as ‘ageing’ and the various age-related diseases. Scientists the world over are considering cloning as a medium to create better models of diseases, to progress in finding effective treatments for those diseases.

Scientists are now looking into ways to improve cloning technology. Recent research reveals that when two genetically cloned embryos are combined, the resultant embryo is more likely to survive to birth! Scientists are also working on better culture mediums for the procedure. However, there is still a lot of apprehension about the technical difficulties involved in cloning humans. The possible rise in egg donations, surrogate pregnancies and rate of miscarriage is of prime concern. Human cloning has been banned by the Council of Europe. However, therapeutic cloning, where the cell nucleus is replaced, is a boon in tissue engineering.

Therapeutic cloning in humans can be a revolution in cell and tissue transplantation for the treatment of diseases. Animal cloning for research or medical purposes must be first approved within the set paradigms of the Animals Scientific Procedures Act of 1986. The act is designed to address animal welfare alongside important medical research. It is very important for man to know where to draw the line. Animal cloning is great research material and base, but the law governing the activity and the applicable bans in certain cases are there for a purpose and must be adhered to. It is essential for us not to tip the balance of life in our pursuit of excellence.