| Cloning - A new era in medical science |
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Cloning Cons
One of the biggest problems with large-scale cloning would be the decline in genetic diversity. If a population of organisms has the same or nearly the same genetic information, then a disease may wipe out an entire population. This means that cloning as an attempt to help endangered species may not be very effective. Zoologists and environmentalists who are trying to save endangered species are having more trouble breeding animals that are not cousins than they are having trouble keeping population numbers up. The techniques for cloning are still in developmental stages; the success rates of experiments have been very poor. For example, it took 277 tries to produce Dolly the sheep. Still others that are produced have many abnormalities. In trying to clone and save endangered species, scientists may accidentally kill the last few females integral to the survival of a species. Animal welfare activists often point out that transgenic and cloning technology present new risks to the health of many animals. The mere appropriateness of changing an animal genetic makeup is quite a controversy. |