Human Cloning

The debate over human cloning generally assumes it's possible to safely clone a completely normal human being, and ignores the multitude of problems that routinely plague the process of cloning animals. The current definition of 'successful cloning' is the generation of a viable adult organism (Gurdon and Melton, 1811), a definition used rather loosely given the prevalence of defects that occur. As discussed below, this definition has been traditionally applied to the cloning of domesticated animals and is not adequate for defining success should human cloning ever be attempted.

Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer

The number of mammals that have been successfully cloned from somatic cells has increased steadily since the first sheep, Dolly, was cloned in 1996 (reviewed by Campbell et al., 257). These include mouse, rat, cow, goat, pig, rabbit, cat, dog, mule, horse, and deer. The process of cloning involves the transfer of a unit of...
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