Cloning?Cloning?sounds like science fiction thing right?

let's first see what cloning in science means..

WHAT IS CLONING??

In biology, cloning is the process of producing similar populations of genetically identical individuals that occurs in nature when organisms such as bacteria, insects or plants reproduce asexually. Cloning in biotechnology refers to processes used to create copies of DNA fragments (molecular cloning), cells (cell cloning), or organisms. The term also refers to the production of multiple copies of a product such as digital media or software.

The term clone is derived from the Ancient Greek word κλών klōn, "twig", referring to the process whereby a new plant can be created from a twig. In horticulture, the spelling clon was used until the twentieth century; the final e came into use to indicate the vowel is a "long o" instead of a "short o".Since the term entered the popular lexicon in a more general context, the spelling clone has been used exclusively.

 

IS CLONING REALLY POSSIBLE?

    YES IT IS :),SOME SPECIES OF ANIMALS HAD BEEN ALREADY CLONED..

YOU  CAN SEARCH THE ''ANIMAL CLONING'' ON GOOLE FOR THE SPECIFIC INFO.

HERE ARE THE LIST OF ANIMALS THAT ARE HAVE BEEN CLONED.

Species cloned

The modern cloning techniques involving nuclear transfer have been successfully performed on several species. Notable experiments include:

• Tadpole: (1952) Robert Briggs and Thomas J. King had successfully cloned northern leopard frogs: thirty-five complete embryos and twenty-seven tadpoles from one-hundred and four successful nuclear transfers.
• Carp: (1963) In China, embryologist Tong Dizhou produced the world's first cloned fish by inserting the DNA from a cell of a male carp into an egg from a female carp. He published the findings in a Chinese science journal.
• Mice: (1986) A mouse was successfully cloned from an early embryonic cell. Soviet scientists Chaylakhyan, Veprencev, Sviridova, and Nikitin had the mouse "Masha" cloned. Research was published in the magazine "Biofizika" volume ХХХII, issue 5 of 1987.
• Sheep: Marked the first mammal being cloned (1984) from early embryonic cells by Steen Willadsen. Megan and Morag cloned from differentiated embryonic cells in June 1995 and Dolly the sheep from a somatic cell in 1996.
• Rhesus Monkey: Tetra (January 2000) from embryo splitting.
• Pig: the first cloned pigs (March 2000). By 2014, BGI in China was producing 500 cloned pigs a year to test new medicines.
• Gaur: (2001) was the first endangered species cloned.
• Cattle: Alpha and Beta (males, 2001) and (2005) Brazil
• Cat: CopyCat "CC" (female, late 2001), Little Nicky, 2004, was the first cat cloned for commercial reasons^[39]
• Rat: Ralph, the first cloned rat (2003)
• Mule: Idaho Gem, a john mule born 4 May 2003, was the first horse-family clone.
• Horse: Prometea, a Haflinger female born 28 May 2003, was the first horse clone.
• Dog: Snuppy, a male Afghan hound was the first cloned dog (2005).
• Wolf: Snuwolf and Snuwolffy, the first two cloned female wolves (2005).
• Water Buffalo: Samrupa was the first cloned water buffalo. It was born on February 6, 2009, at India's Karnal National Diary Research Institute but died five days later due to lung infection.
• Pyrenean Ibex (2009) was the first extinct animal to be cloned back to life; the clone lived for seven minutes before dying of lung defects.
• Camel: (2009) Injaz, is the first cloned camel.
• Pashmina goat: (2012) Noori, is the first cloned pashmina goat. Scientists at the faculty of veterinary sciences and animal husbandry of Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir successfully cloned the first Pashmina goat (Noori) using the advanced reproductive techniques under the leadership of Riaz Ahmad Shah.

HUMAN CLONING.

Human cloning.

Human cloning is the creation of a genetically identical copy of a human. The term is generally used to refer to artificial human cloning, which is the reproduction of human cells and tissues. It does not refer to the natural conception and delivery of identical twins. The possibility of human cloning has raised controversies. These ethical concerns have prompted several nations to pass legislature regarding human cloning and its legality.

Ethical issues of cloning

There are a variety of ethical positions regarding the possibilities of cloning, especially human cloning. While many of these views are religious in origin, the questions raised by cloning are faced by secular perspectives as well. Perspectives on human cloning are theoretical, as human therapeutic and reproductive cloning are not commercially used; animals are currently cloned in laboratories and in livestock production.

Advocates support development of therapeutic cloning in order to generate tissues and whole organs to treat patients who otherwise cannot obtain transplants, to avoid the need for immunosuppressive drugs, and to stave off the effects of aging. Advocates for reproductive cloning believe that parents who cannot otherwise procreate should have access to the technology.

Opponents of cloning have concerns that technology is not yet developed enough to be safe, that it could be prone to abuse (leading to the generation of humans from whom organs and tissues would be harvested), and have concerns about how cloned individuals could integrate with families and with society at large.

Religious groups are divided, with some opposing the technology as usurping God's place and, to the extent embryos are used, destroying a human life; others support therapeutic cloning's potential life-saving benefits.

Cloning of animals is opposed by animal-groups due to the number of cloned animals that suffer from malformations before they die, and while food from cloned animals has been approved by the US FDA, its use is opposed by groups concerned about food safety.

 

AND ........

THE 9 UNEXPECTED OUTCOMES OF HUMAN CLONING...

Human cloning is currently illegal in virtually all parts of the world, but that doesn't mean it will stay that way. Here are some surprising things we can expect once we're finally allowed to make genetic duplicates of ourselves.

Back in 2005, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a Declaration on Human Cloningprohibiting all forms of human cloning "inasmuch as they are incompatible with human dignity and the protection of human life." The ruling prohibits both therapeutic cloning, in which cells are cloned from a human for use in medicine and transplants, and reproductive cloning, the practice of creating a living, breathing genetic duplicate. Though many countries disagreed with the declaration, the resulting moratorium is respected around the globe.

To date, no human clone has ever been born. But back in 2008, researchers successfully created the first five mature human embryos using somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) where the nucleus of a somatic cell was taken from a donor and transplanted into a vacant host egg cell. The embryos were only allowed to develop to the blastocyst stage, at which point they were studied and then destroyed.

So we know we can do it — we're just not entirely sure if it's completely safe. Nor is public opinion on board with the prospect. But that's not to say it won't ever happen. As the science improves, and as the concept gets normalized in our culture (thanks to shows like Orphan Black), people's opinions will likely change, and with it, the laws.

But if human cloning ever does become legal, we can expect some weirdness. Here are nine surprising outcomes.

1. Who Clones Who?

Let's say you clone yourself. Should your clone, in turn, be allowed to clone him or herself? How could you possibly say no, and what makes you think you'd even have any control over your genome at this point anyway? Here's the thing — the moment you choose to reproduce via human cloning, you're going to have to expect that it may not be the only genetic version of yourself to roam this great Earth; it's doubtful that the law would preclude your clonal offspring from reproducing in the same way you did.

2. Illicit Cloning

Disturbingly, there's also the potential for someone to clone you illegally. All they'd have to do is gather the required biological material, like your skin or blood cells, and hire a willing surrogate to carry your clone to term.

 

3. Raising the Dead

It's also possible that prospective parents might want to raise the clone of a parent or grandparent who's recently passed away. Of course, and ideally, the deceased person would have given prior consent to such a thing. The laws aren't there yet, but the day is coming when we'll need to clarify in our wills whether or not we would be accepting of this after we pass away. Our genetic constitutions will become part of our "estate" after death.

4. Genetic Immortality

It appears that we can clone clones indefinitely. Last year, researchers in Japan used a new technique to produce 26 successful generations of cloned mice from a single individual. In total, they produced 598 mice — all of them genetic duplicates. The breakthrough shows that mammalian cloning lines — humans included — can be extended and reproduced without limit. This implies that a kind of genetic immortality can be achieved; an exact replica of yourself can be copied for generations on end. Duncan Idaho's gholas from the Dune saga would be proud.(image: Hasloo Group Production Studio/Shutterstock).

5. Iterative Improvements Over Generations

On a related note, indefinite cloning could lead to the practice of selective trait modifications over time. By using heritable germline gene therapy, each successive generation of clones could be augmented or altered in specific ways. For example, your clonal line could feature slow, iterative improvements to intelligence and memory. Or changes to physical characteristics, like hair color or morphology. Artificial chromosomes could be introduced as they're developed and improved over time by scientists. After centuries of this virtual asexual reproduction, your "offspring" would scarcely resemble the original version, namely you.

6. The Doppelganger Effect

This probably wouldn't pose a problem for the first generation of clones, but if some lines are reproduced enough, it could lead to an incessant rash of mistaken identity. People would be convinced that they saw someone they know or recognize, when in fact it was a clone. This would only apply, of course, to inter-generational clones of roughly the same age. Relatedly, it could lead to new kind of identity theft in which clones pretend to be another person.

7. Rendering Biosignatures Useless

Which bring up an interesting point as it pertains to forensic science and the acquisition of biosignatures. The proliferation of clones would introduce a slew of problems for investigators or systems reliant on biometrics. Facial recognition scans would pull up multiple matches, as would DNA fingerprinting. And in fact, there's already a precedent with this, but one that doesn't involve clones. Last year, identical twins in the UK were both charged with sexually assaulting a teenage girl — even though forensic tests could not prove which one carried out the attack.

8. Nature vs. Nurture Put to the Test

Twins separated at birth have been a boon to scientists, particular those who study behavioral genetics. It offers them the opportunity to compare the impacts of socialization and environment on individuals who share the same genome. Unfortunately, however, there are achingly few subjects to study. Cloning could change that.

What's more, scientists would not only be able to study intergenerational clones, but also clones separated by an entire generation or more. The results would undoubtedly be fascinating. We could see the extent to which sociological factors play a role in the development of personality, and the way epigenetic changes are triggered by the environment (including the mother's womb).

9. An Accepted Assistive Reproductive Technology

Less speculatively, human cloning will simply serve as an alternative means of reproduction, particularly for infertile couples or same-sex couples looking to have biologically related offspring. The current hysteria directed at human cloning is eerily reminiscent of the backlash to so-called "test tube babies" in the late 1970s. Critics worried about a brave new world populated by freakish lab-grown children. Today, the fear is gone; approximately 200,000 babies are born each year in the United States via in vitro fertilization (IVF) and no one seems to care. I fully expect the same process of normalization to happen happen with human cloning.

As for the argument that people are arrogant or narcissistic for wanting to clone themselves, that's grossly unfair. Wanting to have related offspring is a perfectly normal thing — even if it is a genetic duplicate, or a "delayed twin." What's more, parents who reproduce "normally" often have children — and subsequently raise them — for reasons far worse than this. We can't simply point the finger at cloners and declare their motivations as somehow being wrong or deviant. What matters is that they have access to reproductive technologies, and that they assume the role of a responsible parent. (image: Sukharevskyy Dmytro (nevodka)/Shutterstock)

Finally, as for clones inundating the gene pool, that's highly, highly unlikely. The vast majority of people will never opt to clone themselves, so the number of clones in our society will always remain excruciatingly low. There will be no "homogenization" of the human gene pool.

 

 

source : WIKIPEDIA

http://io9.com/9-unexpected-outcomes-of-human-cloning-1606556772