The Cloning Debate: Science, Ethics, and the Law

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The Cloning Debate Science, Ethics, and the Law

• Danielle Haller, Jason Saunders, Lori Short,
  Jesse Warner

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Cloning What is it?

• The production of multiple, exact copies of a
  single gene, DNA fragment, cell line, or
  organism.
• 3 types of cloning technology today recombinant
  DNA technology, reproductive cloning, and
  therapeutic cloning

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Cloning A History

• 1952 Scientists clone frogs from blastula cells,
  but fail to produce tadpoles from differentiated
  cells.
• 1962 John Gurdon claims to clone frogs using the
  nucleus of an adult intestinal cell. Others were
  unable to reproduce his results, his findings
  were called into question.
• 1966 Discovery of which codons specify the amino
  acids.
• 1973 E. coli turned into first recombinant DNA
  organism.
• 1977-1979 Illmensee claims to have cloned mice.
  Others fail to clone mammals, deem his work
  scientifically worthless.
• 1983-1986 Various mammals are successfully
  cloned from embryonic cells.
• 1990 Human Genome Project begins.
• 1996 Dolly is born.
• 2004 Dr. Hwang Woo Suk claims to have cloned
  human embryos. His work is not able to be
  replicated.
• 2006 Dr. Hwang fired from Seoul University as
  evidence arises he faked some of his work on stem
  cells.

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Recombinant DNA Technology aka DNA cloning, gene
cloning, or molecular cloning

• The gene of interest is cut from the genome using
  restriction enzymes.
• It is then joined with a similarly cut DNA
  molecule, a plasmid. The plasmid is known as the
  cloning vector.
• Plasmids are circular molecules found in bacteria
  that are separate from the bacteriums normal
  genome.
• Plasmids are self-replicating, allowing the new
  recombinant DNA molecule to produce its gene
  product in its new environment.

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• Plasmids are not the only cloning vectors that
  can be used, but they are very common.
• Each vector has a limitation to the size (in base
  pairs) of the DNA fragment that can be cloned.
• This technology has been used since the 1970s it
  is fairly common practice in molecular biology
  labs today.

http//www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome
/publicat/primer/fig11a.html
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Reproductive Cloning

• The generation of a new animal that has the same
  nuclear DNA as a previously existing animal.
• Artificial Embryo Twinning A blastomere is
  induced to split, forming identical twins.
• Nuclear Somatic Transfer The nucleus of an adult
  body (somatic) cell is transferred into an egg
  which has had its nucleus removed. After
  treatment to make it begin dividing, the embryo
  is transplanted into a host uterus.
• Dolly was created using nuclear somatic transfer.
• Extremely inefficient, most eggs do not develop
  into an organism.

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http//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thum
b/6/6b/Cloning_diagram_english.png/300px-Cloning_d
iagram_english.png
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Therapeutic Cloning

• Uses the process of nuclear somatic transfer to
  create an embryo.
• However, the embryo is destroyed and harvested
  for stem cells.
• Stem cells are undifferentiated and retain the
  ability to develop into many cell types
  depending on their potency.
• Totipotent cells can develop into any tissue in
  the human body, plus tissues needed for
  development such as placental cells.
• Pluripotent cells can develop into almost all
  cells, but cannot produce a new organism.

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Therapeutic Cloning

• Also multipotent and unipotent cells that can
  only develop into a specific tissue or cell type.
  These are obviously less useful.
• These cell cultures are maintained in a
  lineage. Dr. Hwang claimed to have several
  human stem cell lineages.
• An embryo must be destroyed, whether it be
  naturally or artificially created.
• Can possibly use stem cells to treat cancer,
  regrow damaged nerve or muscle cells, etc.
• Due to the controversy stirred by recent events,
  it is unclear how far science has progressed
  towards creating and maintaing human stem cell
  lines.

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But what about behavior?

• Genetic manipulation can lead to behavioral
  manipulation as long as there is a genetic
  component to behavior.
• The evidence is strong that many behaviors are at
  least partly affected by genetic components.
• First, we are infants in this science. Much of
  what follows is supposition. We estimate there
  are 30-35,000 genes in the human genome. We do
  not agree on what constitutes a gene, nor do we
  know what most genes do. Some genes are
  pleiotropic, meaning they have multiple effects,
  sometimes at different stages of life.

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Genetics and Behavior

• Aggressiveness, altruism, assertiveness,
  impulsivity, and persistence have an estimated
  heritability of gt40.
• Borderline personality trait disorders have an
  estimated heritability of 69.
• Including all proteins and neurotransmitter
  systems, behavioral phenotype is around 50
  genetically determined give or take a few wild
  estimates.

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Possibilities

• So, cloning could be used to at least influence
  some aspects of human behavior.
• Recombinant organisms could produce a specific
  gene product to be introduced in therapy.
• The embryo could be manipulated after
  fertilization.
• Therapeutic cloning/gene therapy could alter an
  organisms genotype.

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Possible Benefits of Cloning
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Genetically-Modified Animals

• The possibility of xenotransplantation (organ
  transplantation from 1 species to another)? Pig
  hearts, for example
• ?Immuno-suppressed animals
• Disease-resistant Farm Animals
• Crops that are disease, insect, and drought
  resistant

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Transgenic Animals

• Allows for the creation of a vast amount of new
  drug development
• Lower cost
• Higher efficiency

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Infertility Patients

• Will allow infertility patients to have their own
  biological child (current infertility treatments
  are only about 10 effective and very costly both
  monetarily and mentally on the parents)
• Will allow parents to have offspring that are
  free of genetic disease (cystic fibrosis,
  Huntingtons, etc)

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Cosmetic Surgery

• Plastic surgeries, breast augmentations,
  reconstructive surgeries would be much safer

• Doctors will be able to manufacture bone, fat,
  connective tissue, or cartilage that matches the
  patients tissues exactly
• This would prevent problems with silicone leaking
  or immune disease associated with plastic surgery

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New Possibilities for Organ Transplants

• Organs, such as livers and kidneys, could be
  cloned
• These clones would be more successful than
  current transplants because they are created from
  the patients body and would be free of immune
  disease reactions
• Also, immuno-suppressed animals can harvest
  organs for more options

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Rejuvenation

• A humans DNA begins to break down when the baby
  is about 6 months old
• Some researchers believe that some of the effects
  of aging could be reversed in the future with the
  use of cloning

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Health Improvement Opportunities

• Heart Disease- New heart cells can be cloned and
  injected into areas of damaged heart tissue
• Defective Genes- The average person has 8
  defective genes, which could be replaced by
  cloning
• Tay-Sachs Disease- an autosomal recessive
  genetic disorder that could use cloning to
  prevent the expression of the gene for the
  disorder
• Spinal Cord Injury Victims- New nerves or spinal
  cord could be re-grown with cloning (this could
  combat paralysis and allow quadriplegics the
  opportunity to walk again)
• Genetic Testing- Cloning could make it easier to
  test for as well as to cure genetic diseases

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Scientific Concerns/Risks Involved in Cloning
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Extremely High Failure Rate

• Animal cloning has proven highly unsuccessful
• Dolly (sheep)- only 20 embryos grew out of over
  400 attempts
• Snuppy- due to the highly complicated
  reproductive system of dogs, the South Korean
  team only obtained three pregnancies from more
  than 1,000 embryo transfers into 123 recipients
• Kittens have very little success as well

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Problems During Later Development

• Out of the 20 sheep embryos that grew, 19 were
  either stillborn or stopped developing due to
  birth defects (Dolly was the only survivor out of
  over 400 attempts)
• 1 of the 3 puppy embryos that was growing
  miscarried and 1 died shortly after birth (Snuppy
  was the only survivor out of over 1,000 attempts)
  
• Most clones are born with Large Offspring
  Syndrome (they are abnormally large) ?This means
  they have larger organs, which leads to
  breathing, blood flow, and other problems

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Abnormal Gene Expression

• Direct comparison of gene expression profiles of
  more than 10,000 genes showed that for both donor
  cell types approximately 4 of the expressed
  genes in the NT placentas differed dramatically
  in expression levels from those in controls and
  that the majority of abnormally expressed genes
  were common to both types of clones
• This study done by MIT on mice also showed an
  abnormal gene expression in the livers of cloned
  mice
• The clones may express different amounts of
  different genes than normal humans or animals at
  different times

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Telomeric Differences

• As cells divide, their chromosomes get shorter
  because their telomeres shrink each time
• If the transferred nucleus is older, telomeres
  could be shorter than normal in the clones
  produced
• Dolly had shorter than normal telomeres
• Scientists do not know the ramifications of
  differences in telomeric length

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Is Cloning Ethical?

• Yes or No?
• What do you think?

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Aspects of Ethics

• Nonmaleficence (Doing No Harm)
• Beneficence (Doing Good)
• Autonomy
• Justice
• Formal
• Material

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Does Cloning Maintain Non-Maleficence?

• Risk factors involved
• Mother/Surrogate, even Clone
• High percentage of animal clones have not
  implanted or gestated due to genetic
  abnormalities
• Reports of congenital malformation
• To date 5 of cloned animals live births

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• Paul Billings, co-founder of GeneSage, says that
  Cloning is not safe , Cloning is not medically
  necessary, Cloning could not be delivered in an
  equitable manner
• Billings has also said that stem cell therapies
  have been wildly oversold
• http//www.genesage.com/index.html

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• Oldest clone to date lived for 5 years
• Premature aging
• Immuno-failures
• Copying an aged cell (Dolly)
• Dolly developed arthritis very early on
• Cells being cloned may develop genetic mutations
  very early on

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• Recessive traits could be phased out
• Recessive traits critical to evolution
• Allele extinction can occur
• Lack of alleles mean less diversity

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Does cloning maintain Beneficence

• Improve the quality of life
• Can avoid defects that occur naturally
• Preserve and perpetuate good genes like
  intelligence, physical attributes, and physical
  skills

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• Allows infertile couples to have children
• Also gives same sex couples ability to have
  children
• In both cases the offspring can have traits from
  each parent

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• Ideal transplant donors for terminally ill
• Guaranteed match for specific blood type and DNA
  match
• Would ensure organs wont be rejected
• Could replace a loved one who died prematurely
• You are clones

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Autonomy of Cloning

• Does the clone consent to exist
• They could be used and abused
• DNA could be used without consent, living or dead
  to make a clone
• They would be property in most cases
• Expectations to live up to

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Justice

• Formal
• Cloning is very expensive
• Rich would benefit, cloning would only be
  available to them
• Superior, genetically altered race vs. normal,
  natural race
• Clone wont stand next to humans as equal,
  theyre created, property
• Billings says we need to work to better the
  situation of the poor so that access to therapies
  is improved

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• Material
• Should the government fund research
• Currently USA is not funding any new research
• Future of cloning is international
• Dolly was cloned in Scotland
• Should healthcare help lower the cost for people
  with terminal illnesses
• Billings favors the go slow approach, until
  the therapies are proven affective

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Legal Aspects Issues
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Past Legal Standards

• Abortion is legal why wouldnt cloning be the
  same?
• Diamond v. Chakrabarty
• Question Is the man-made creation of a live
  organism patentable?
• Answer
• Yes. In a 5-to-4 decision, the Court explained
  that a live artificially-engineered microorganism
  is patentable. The creation of a bacterium that
  is not found anywhere in nature, constitutes a
  patentable "manufacture" or "composition of
  matter. Moreover, the bacterium's man-made
  ability to break down crude oil makes it very
  useful.
• What does this mean for future precedence?

source was http//www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/case
/1125
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Weldon Amendment

• Proposed by Representative Dave Weldon
• Passed in the House and moved to the Senate in
  2003, making it illegal to patent a human
  organism, including a cloned one.
• Big step for Pro-Life supporters

• Wording is vague for human organism what could
  this mean?

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California Proposition 71

• 2004- Regulations allowing 300 million per year
  for 10 years on embryonic and adult stem cell
  research was approved by the voters
• Created the California Institute for Regenerative
  Medicine
• Independent facility that is awarded state grant
  money

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Proposition 71

• This could be seen as a means to go around a
  federal funding ban on new embryonic stem cell
  research.
• Is this ok?

• Could be a means to cure Alzheimers disease or
  even diabetes is it worth the legal risks and
  ethical compromises?

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Human Cloning Prohibition Acts

• 2001- Initial attempt
• 2003- Passed in the House and placed on the
  Senate Calendar
• Amendment to Title 18 to the United States Code,
  which defines terms and calls for financial review

• 2005- Senate Proposed
• Amendment to the Public Health Services Act,
  which makes definitions more clear
• Also calls for a determination if new medical
  technologies are acceptable.

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Current Legal Standards

• State Human Cloning Laws
• The Human Cloning Prohibition Acts of 2001, 2003
  2005 are currently being heavily debated in
  Congress no doubt there will be many more will
  government give in?
• Arguments on each side
• Supporters of Pro-Life
• Supporters of medical research

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Future Legal Considerations

• The fight to defend and protect the cloning
  process is a two sided battle
• Who is really fighting for the overall legal
  rights of people?
• Pro-life for the legal rights of cloned embryos?
• Pro-research for the legal rights of ill people
  that are currently dieing?

• Needs to be a compelling state interest in order
  to ban cloning. Will this ever be realistic?

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Thank you!