CHALLENGES TO BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH Evaluate Therapeutic vs. Reproductive Cloning

HISTORY of CLONING Dolly the sheep – first cloned mammal in 1997 Very few scientists believe human cloning (reproductive cloning) should be permitted Many scientists in favor of therapeutic cloning – the procedure used to produce embryonic stem cells that theoretically can be used to treat diseases

WHAT IS A CLONE? Clone = precise genetic copy Reproductive cloning is really somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) In therapeutic cloning, the embryo is not placed in a surrogate, but rather, undergoes cell division in the lab until it reaches blastocyst stage

Obstacles to Reproductive Cloning Using Animals Success rate very low Vast majority of problems occur during fetal development Additional problems show up after birth and years later “Large offspring syndrome” = cloned newborns 20-30% larger than usual, making it hard to deliver unborn babies

EMBRYONIC and ADULT STEM CELLS Embryonic stem cells

DIFFERENCES… Between reproductive cloning, therapeutic cloning, and stem cell research: Goal of reproductive cloning is to create a new organism, human or animal Goal of therapeutic cloning is to produce embryonic stem cells

HUMAN STEM CELL RESEARCH 2001 legislation allowed federal funding of research using 64 existing human embryonic stem cells Same legislation declared no federal funds for additional research.

THERAPEUTIC POTENTIAL of STEM CELLS Researchers must use existing human stem cell lines for research or find private funding sources Creation of embryonic stem cells does not use fertilized egg On the other hand, it does have the potential to become a living thing if transplanted into the uterus Question – is life destroyed if the stem cells are removed from the blastocyst four days later? Real advantage of stem cells – permits the production of perfect- match tissue Scientists have found that embryonic stem cells pick up cues from neighboring cells and differentiate into that cell type Scientists hope stem cells will be used to treat heart disease, Parkinson’s disease, other disorders of the nervous system

Debate pros and cons of animal research and animal rights. OBJECTIVE 5: Debate pros and cons of animal research and animal rights.