Case Study 35 :CLONED COPIES
Challenges
A one-year-old boy dies in an accident. A few days earlier they read the news that some scientists have been trying to clone human beings. The parents decide to freeze some of their baby’s cells and eventually clone them, as they want to have their child back.
Question
How exact a copy can a clone be?
Solutions
Cloning cannot restore the dead baby boy to life, as what the parents will obtain is merely a copy, not the first baby boy himself. Their bodies will not be the same: the original’s corpse rests buried, while the clone’s body will be composed of other molecules. Due to several factors discussed below, clones will not act, think or even necessarily look like the original.
An example of a cloning technique used with animals involves removing the nucleus from an egg cell (ovum) and replacing it with a nucleus from a somatic (body) cell of the same or a different individual. The chromosomes of the new being produced will resemble those of the nucleus’ source. Using this process, however, the genetic makeup of cloned individuals will still be slightly different from the parent cell’s, due to the very small genetic contribution of mitochondrial genes, found outside the cell’s nucleus (and thus not included in the replacement nucleus).
Another source of difference between clones is the environment wherein they are first nurtured: the mother’s womb. A fetus is exposed to various stimuli (e.g., nutrition, alcohol, drugs, hormones) that could influence its physical and mental development. Identical twins receive these stimuli to approximately the same degree; clones, on the other hand do not, unless they are implanted to the same womb at the same time.
Furthermore, one’s upbringing affects one’s development. Even identical twins born and raised together possess peculiar physical or behavioral features that distinguish them from one another. Such differences would appear more patent among clones born and raised years apart.
