For years the subject of cloning has captured the imaginations of authors, movie directors and much of the human population. Cloning is the prospect of creating an animal or even a person that is genetically identical to its "parent." Until recently the subject seemed farfetched and fictional, because no one really realized how close we had actually advanced in cloning research.
It was during February of 1997 that an embryologist, Dr. Ian Wilmut, announced the birth of a cloned lamb named Dolly. She was the first ever successfully cloned mammal from an adult cell. What Dr. Wilmut did was amazing. He took the DNA from a six-year-old ewe and fused it with the egg of another ewe after removing the second ewe's own DNA. After fusing, the cell began to divide as would a regular embryo. The embryo was then implanted in a third ewe who only a few months later gave birth to Dolly .
Upon news of this, many people began to question the possibility of not only creating genetically identical sheep, but humans as well. There has been much controversy on whether or not the cloning of humans as well as animals is ethical or even moral. Also there has been much discussion as to whether or not the
Example Essays Home
