In 1997, the first successful cloning of an adult mammal occurred. Dolly the Sheep was born in Britain, and since then goats, mice and pigs have been cloned as well. Cloning is done by “[taking] embryos and inserting these nuclei into egg cells. The resulting eggs could be implanted in surrogate mother animals.” However, cloning really is not that effective- for Dolly to be born, “The team that created Dolly placed nuclei in 277 eggs. Only 29 of those eggs developed into embryos that could be implanted, and of these, only one resulted in a live birth. ” So to create another person would be hard. But scientists think that cloning could help paralyzed or sick people, even possibly curing Parkinson’s disease. This type of cloning is called therapeutic cloning.

The other problem with cloning humans is who would be cloned, what makes someone “clone-able”? Would the rich only be able to afford it- or even what is the best human race to be cloned? Would they be more like property or have the same rights an individual has? Remember, clones are the same exact genetic make up of whoever is being cloned. Is it ethical to make a clone? In a way, it is unethical to make a clone, how would the clone feel about being a clone? Would they get the same opportunities as everyone else or be expected to follow in the original’s footsteps? In the US it has remained one of the most controversial issues, as some lawmakers and scientists want to allow limited research and other want to completely ban it.

There is some belief though that cloning could help bring back extinct/endangered species. Approximately 100 species of animals go extinct each day. Scientists think that if the embryos are placed within an animal somewhat relative to the extinct animals, it could possibly bring back the species.

Cloning could either help us – by bringing back extinct animals or helping cure diseases- or it could potentially be our demise. Human cloning in my opinion is unethical, as great as it would be to meet Ghandi or Audrey Hepburn, the amount of problems it would cause is not worth it. Imagine having to tell a certain nationality that they’re not worthy of being cloned, WWIII would probably break out! For now, the science of cloning should be stuck with animals or finding the cure to diseases.