1. Learning question: What is cloning? Is it morally right to clone?
Title: Cloning
24 April 2017
Learning question: What is cloning? Is it morally right to clone?
Homework: exams next week! Study, study, study!

2. Learning Objectives
(d) outline the potential for cloning human embryos in order to create a supply of embryonic stem cells for therapeutic use and ‘designer babies’ in reproductive cloning (HSW6a, 6b, 7c);
(e) discuss the ethical issues involved in therapeutic and reproductive cloning and in transplant surgery (HSW6a, 6b, 7c).

3. Key words Pluripotent Differentiate Embryonic stem cells Oocyte
Blastocyst
Degenerative disease
Therapeutic cloning
Reproductive cloning
eugenics

4. Stem Cells
All cells start of with the same DNA, so why do they end up looking so different?
Some genes “switch on” while others “switch off”, leading to a process called differentiation.
Cells that have differentiated cells lose their ability to divide and produce more cells of different kinds.

5. Stem Cells What happens to cells that remain undifferentiated?
These undifferentiated cells are called stem cells – they have the ability to become any other cell in the body (or more stem cells).
Why is this useful?

6. Obtaining stem cells - embryos
Most useful at a few days old – ball of undifferentiated cells.
Cells at this stage are totipotent – divide to form a whole new organism!
cell stage is described as pluripotent – ability to become any cell type, but not a new organism because some cell differentiation has already started.

7. Stem cells
Embryonic stem cells
Totipotent cells – can divide to form a new organism
Pluripotent cells - can divide to form any other specialised cells of any type

9. Obtaining embryonic stem cells
Left over blastocysts from IVF can be donated for stem cell research
Cloned embryos are harvested for stem cells.
Embryos are destroyed before 14 days old and not allowed to develop any larger than a pin head.

10. Embryo formation
Embryo is formed by transferring DNA from embryonic stem cells to an egg whose nucleus has been removed.
Reconstructed egg containing DNA from a donor cell is treated with an electric current to stimulate cell division and blastocyst formation.

12. Why are embryonic stem cells needed?
Degenerative diseases
Alzheimer’s disease
Parkinson’s disease
Spinal cord injury
Stroke etc
Using patients DNA therapeutically to create healthy stem cells to replace damaged ones.
Organ transplant
Demand outweighs supply

13. Why are embryonic stem cells needed?
“Designer” babies
Produce healthy babies with alleles that are selected to avoid genetic diseases
Allows for the best combination of genes to be put into making the new baby
Decrease risk of illness / occurrence of mutant alleles
Used to test new drugs
Safe testing on differentiated cells generated from embryonic stem cells
Already use cancer cell lines to treat potential anti-tumour drugs

14. Ethical issues in cloning and transplant
Therapeutic cloning
Used in fighting disease, battling infertility, preserving endangered species
Reproductive cloning
Made illegal in 2001 for purpose of making a baby
Fear of eugenics – offspring bread to suit social preferences e.g. looks, memory, intelligence, athletic ability
Moral implications – who gets the technology? The rich?

15. Ethical issues in transplant surgery
Suggestions that prisoners, homeless and brain-damaged individuals used as potential donors has been rejected
BUT could this be a good way to get round the issue of supply and demand of organ donation?
Transplants from cadavers is considered acceptable (drawbacks last lesson)
Using “brain dead” patients or those on ventilators requires more thought
Coma patients – are they dead? Can we harvest their organs?
Brain-stem patients on life-support machines are considered (these patients are NOT alive – they are kept alive by artificial means)

16. Useful links
How stem cells are made
Ethical issues