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Issue Description
Advances made in cloning and stem cell research could lead to new treatments for many illnesses, yet there are those who question the ethics of cloning. Where could cloning take us in the future and why does it remain such a controversial subject? This book looks at the developments that have been made and examines the debate surrounding this issue.
The information comes from a variety of sources, including government reports and statistics, newspapers and magazine articles, surveys and polls, academic research and literature from charities and lobby groups; articles have been tailored to an 11 to 14 age group. Additionally, at the end of each chapter are two pages of activities relating to the articles and issues raised in that chapter.
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Key Facts
- A clone is a group of cells or organisms which are genetically identical and have all been produced from the same original cell. (page 1)
- There are three main types of cloning – adult cell or reproductive cloning, embryo cloning and therapeutic or biomedical cloning. (page 1)
- 21st century medicine could be transformed by research into using human embryos as a source of tissue-repairing cells, often called 'therapeutic cloning'. This is different from 'reproductive cloning', where cloned embryos would be grown from a cell taken from one individual and then implanted in a womb where they would develop into near-replicas of their one parent. (pages 2-3)
- Scientists believe stem cells could prove to be the ultimate body repair kit, with no need for donated organs, man-made joints or drugs to keep failing body parts working. (pages 10-11)
- Scientists have created embryonic stem cells in mice without destroying embryos in the process, potentially removing the major controversy over work in this field. (page 14)
- On 5 July, 1996, British scientists Ian Wilmut and Keith Campbell created the first clone of an adult mammal, Dolly the sheep. (pages 18-19)
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Table of Contents
Chapter One: Human Cloning and Stem Cell Research
Cloning: new horizons in medicine, Human cloning – the ethical issues, A humanist discussion of embryo research, Stem cell research: new horizons in medicine, FAQs on stem cells, Your stem cell body repair kit, Stem cell milestones, An ethical solution to stem cell debate?, Activities.
Chapter Two: Animal Cloning
Man or mouse, Dolly, Hybrids and 'cybrids', Can we be sure no cloned animals are in food chain?, Animal-human hybrids: it makes sense to say no, Cloned meat and milk 'safe', Biologists want to drop the word 'cloning', Activities.