Ethical Issues on Animal and Human cloning Prof. P.C. Shaw ( 邵鵬柱教授 ) Department of Biochemistry, CUHK Hong Kong Bioethics Association November 2009

複製人 ?複製人 ?

History of cloning 1952 Northern leopard frogs cloned Structure of DNA discovered.

History of cloning 1978 Louise, the first child conceived through in vitro fertilization, was born Human embryos were first cloned (artificial embryo twinning) July 5, 1996Dolly was born. Photo from:

Dolly – the first mammal cloned using mature cell Dolly the Lamb in 1996 Method: Nuclear transfer Organization: Roslin Institute at UK and PPL Therapeutics Photo from Ming Pao 18 th August 2002

Example of cloning Cumulina the Mouse in 1998 Organization: University of Hawaii Photo from Ming Pao 28 th December 2002

Example of cloning Cattle in 1998 Organization: Kinki University at Japan Photo from Ming Pao 28 th December 2002

Example of cloning Mille, Christa, Alexis, Carrel and Dotcom the Pigs in 2000 Organization: PPL Therapeutics of UK Photo from Ming Pao 28 th December 2002

Example of cloning Carbon Copy the Cat in 2002 Organization: Texas A & M University, USA Photo from Ming Pao 23 th January 2003

Example of cloning Generation of Prometea, 2003 Organization: A research laboratory in Italy Photo from Nature No.6949

Examples of cloning Cloning of donkey, 2004, USA Cloning of dog, 2005, Korea Cloning of rhesus monkey, 2007, Oregon, USA

Two methods of cloning Embryo cloning 胚胎複製 - remove a cell from an embryo for developing into a separate embryo. Adult cell cloning 成長細胞複製 - replace DNA/nucleus from a cell by another.

Two methods of cloning Embryo cloning 胚胎複製 – do not know the characteristics of the offspring. Adult cell cloning 成長細胞複製 – characteristics are almost the same as the nucleus donor.

How to generate Dolly? Step 1. Udder ( 乳腺 ) cells were taken from a donor sheep. Cells were then cultured to switch off their genes and become dormant. Photo from

How to generate Dolly? Step 2. Unfertilized egg cell was taken from another sheep. The nucleus was removed, leaving an empty egg. Photo from

How to generate Dolly? Step 3. The egg cell without nucleus was fused with the donor cell using a pulse of electricity. A second pulse started the cell division. Photo from

How to generate Dolly? Step 4. After 6 days, the resulting embryo was implanted into another sheep (surrogate mother 代母 ). Photo from

How to generate Dolly? Step 5. After gestation ( 妊 娠 ), the surrogate mother gave birth to Dolly which was identical to the udder cell donor. Photo from

Advantages of animal cloning Can produce animal with a desired trait, for Protein products, organs Proliferate endangered animals

Cloning of endangered animal Noah the Gaur ( 亞洲野牛, an endangered species) in 2000 Organization: Advanced Cell Technology, USA Photo from Advanced Cell Technology (

Cloning of endangered animal Cloning of woolly Mammoth ( 長毛象 ) Extinct 10,000 years ago Is there any intact cell left? From Mingpao 8/8/2003

Cloning of transgenic animal Cloning of a cow containing mad cow disease resistant gene In Shangdong, China From Mingpao 28/4/2006

Concerns in animal cloning Technology complicated Survival rate of cloned embryos low Overweighing of calves at birth Breeders may want to keep their animal unique Breeders may want to create better offspring

Health of clones From Ming Pao 27-Mar-2001 Poor development of heart, lung and immune system Might have genetic disorder

Photo from Mingpao Dolly gave birth to a female lamb in 1998, but Dolly later died of premature aging in 2003.

Company for cloning pets Genetic Savings & Clone – established in 2000, produced the cloned cat, CC in 2001 Delivered the first commercially cloned cat, Little Nicky in 2004 for US$50,000 Company closed in 2006 A new company BioArts International was established for cloning dogs

Commercial pet cloning may not be a good investment Demand not high Competition from developing countries Disregard of the IP issues Relaxed treatment of animals The IP holder does not want to defense the IP rights Outcome is unpredicted – cloning is not a mature techniques Pressure from the society

Cloning Human

Cloning – two kinds Reproductive cloning – an embryo is created and implanted into a woman’s womb to bring it to term. Therapeutic cloning – an embryo is created in order to obtain cells from it.

Why clone human? Just an ‘unconventional’ means of reproduction In vitro fertilization Surrogate mother Adoption

Study human development Produce spare parts Test for genetic defect Increase chance of pregnancy Produce two children at the same time Why clone human?

Preserve traits and talents Extension of life in unusual circumstances One spouse sterile Homosexual marriage Why clone human?

Cloned embryos provide : Brain cells for disorders like Parkinson ( 柏金遜 ) and Alzheimer’s disease ( 老年 痴呆症 ) Pancreatic islet cells for diabetes ( 糖尿 ) Positive points of therapeutic cloning

Cloned embryos provide : Nerve cells for spinal cord damage ( 脊椎受損 ) Blood and bone marrow cells for blood cell disorder ( 血液疾病 ) Positive points of therapeutic cloning

Embryonic stem cellsAdult stem cells The use of stem cells to generate clones

org/article.php?id=257 1.Creating an embryo through in vitro fertilization, 2.culturing ES cells derived from it to provide a sufficient population for the tricky task of inserting genes 3.extracting the nucleus of a successfully altered cell to construct a cloned embryo 4.The resulting offspring would have developed from a cell derived from an embryo created with an egg and a sperm, and "improved" in the laboratory.

Why not perform reproductive cloning? Eugenic ( 優生 ) – to maximize certain traits intentionally Reduce genetic diversity Use as substitute for organ Clone may have reduced life expectancy Clone may be abnormal

Why not perform reproductive cloning? Lack of self-identity Replaceable Dominated by the ‘father’ or ‘mother’

Why not perform reproductive cloning? Upset traditional family relationship Twin of the cell donor? Relationship with its brother and sister Relationship with spouse of the cell donor

Human Reproductive Technology Bill 香港人類生殖科技條例 (2000) Not allow the followings: Replace nucleus of an embryo with nucleus of another cell Clone an embryo Trading of embryo

Human cloning in China 人类辅助生殖技术与人类精子库相关技 术规范、基本标准和伦理原则 (Oct. 1, 2003) – by Ministry of Health Prohibits surrogate mother Prohibits reproductive human cloning Prohibits donation of embryos Prohibits trading of eggs

Raelian Movement Raelian Movement Elohim CLONAID™ was founded in February 1997, by Raël, the leader of the Raelian Movement, an international religious organization, which claims that a human extraterrestrial race, called the Elohim, used DNA and genetic engineering, to scientifically create all life on Earth.Raelian Movement Adapted from Clonaid.com 雷爾教派倡導複製人研究。

Recent Development in Human Cloning Clonaid claimed to give birth to ‘Eve’ on 26 December 2002 announced a second birth to a Dutch lesbian woman early in January 2003 and a third to a Japanese couple who "cloned their dead son killed in an accident", plus two others in late January

Recent Development in Human Cloning Korean Scientists led by Dr. Woo-suk Hwang produced cloned human embryos (Science, Feb. 12, 2004) – later found to be fabricated American scientist Panayiotis Zavos claimed to have cloned 14 human embryos and transferred 11 of them into the wombs of four women (April, 2009)

Recent Development in Human Cloning August UK granted the first licence for work toward therapeutic cloning. Nov Californians passed a $3 billion measure to create an Institute for Regenerative Medicine based on embryonic stem cell research.

Please consider Would the views of animal and human cloning differ among people with different religious believes? Is embryo a living human? Since the use of stem cells for therapeutic cloning is still in experimental stage, would the use of cells from embryo be acceptable? How about using the embryos left over after in vitro fertilization?

Please consider Is reproductive cloning a violation of natural birth? How about the cloning of a beloved one who dies accidentally? How about cloning for sterile couples? Under what circumstances do you want to make a copy of yourself?

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