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What is biotechnology?
Biotechnology is a set of scientific tools
which uses living things to solve problems
and make products.
It covers many kinds of technology.
Some, like using yeasts for brewing, have
been around for centuries. Others, like
genetic testing, are very recent.
Cloning and stem cell research form
another branch of biotechnology
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Introduction
The word cloning simply means copying.
When people think about cloning they usually
think about copying complete human beings or
animals like Dolly the sheep.
But cloning is also used for purposes other
than making exact copies of animals or people.
Individual cells of plants, animals and human
beings are copied every day in research and
clinical laboratories.
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What is a Clone?
An organism that has
the same genetic
information as another
organism
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Why Clone?
1. To mass produce organisms with desired
qualities
2. Repopulate endangered or even extinct
species
3. Organ transplants for humans
4. Recovery of lost loved ones
5. Infertility: cloning a fertile copy of
themselves
6. Creation of spare body parts (Organs,
blood, kidneys, etc.)
7. Reproduction of their own body parts
8. Eugenics: making a superhuman race
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Eugenics
Is the choosing of specific traits
and the deleting of others.
Scientist could eliminate all the
disease-causing genes and
guarantee a healthy baby.
But is that ethical?
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GENES
Genes are strings of chemicals that
help create the proteins that make up
your body.
Genes are found in long coiled chains
called chromosomes.
They are located in the nuclei of the
cells in the body.
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GENES
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II. "THREE WAYS TO MAKE AN
EMBRYO"
1. Sexual reproduction
2. Cloning or asexual reproduction
3. Parthenogenesis
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1. SEXUAL REPRODUCTION
In sexual
reproduction
a child gets
half its genes
from the
mother (in her
egg) and half
from its father
(in his
sperm):
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2. CLONING OR ASEXUAL
REPRODUCTION
Cloning is an asexual form of
reproduction.
All the child's genes would
come from a body cell of a
single individual.
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2. CLONING OR ASEXUAL
REPRODUCTION
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Who is the clonal child's genetic
mother or father?
As we understand those
terms, a clonal child
wouldn't have a genetic
mother or father, it would
have a single 'nuclear donor
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If a man cloned himself, would
the child be that man's son or his
twin brother?
It would be neither, it would
be a new category of
biological relationship: his
clone.
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3. PARTHENOGENESIS
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History of cloning
5000 B.C.- humans plant hearty seeds to reproduce crop for following
year.
1952- A tadpole is cloned being the first cloned animal in history.
1976- Human DNA injected into a newly fertilized mouse egg to produce
mice that are part human.
1978- Worlds first test tube baby.
1987- First mammals are cloned from embryonic cells.
1998- Japanese researchers announce they have produced two calf clones
using Dolly method.
1998- University of Hawaii researchers announce they have produced
more than 50 mouse clones.
2000- Britain becomes the first country to grant a patent for cloned early-
stage human embryos. Geron Corporation, which received the patent, says
is has no intention of creating cloned humans.
2000- The group that created Dolly the sheep announces the first cloned
pigs. Scientists hope that pigs could be genetically engineered for use in
human organ transplants.
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There are three levels of
cloning:
1) Molecular cloning
2) Cellular cloning
3) Cloning of animal
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Molecular cloning:
At the simplest level, molecular biologists
routinely make clones of
deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), the
molecular basis of genes.
DNA fragments containing genes are
copied and amplified in a host cell,
usually a bacterium.
The process of molecular cloning allows
the scientists to produce large quantities
of identical DNA to be use in many
scientific experiments.
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Cellular cloning:
At the cellular stage, cellular cloning copies
are made of cells derived from the soma, or
body, by growing these cells in a laboratory.
The genetic makeup of the resulting cloned
cells, called a cell line, is identical to that of
the original cell.
Since molecular and cellular cloning of this
sort does not involve germ cells (eggs or
sperm), the cloned cells are not capable of
developing into a baby.
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Cloning of animal:
This type of cloning aims to reproduce
genetically identical animals.
This level of cloning can typically be
divided into two distinct processes,:
1. Blastomere separation and
2. Nuclear transplantation cloning.
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Three Ways to Clone Mammals:
1. Twinning (Embryo cloning) ,
(spitting off a cell from an
embryo)
2. The Roslin Technique
(nuclear transfer),
(which was used to create Dolly)
3. The Honolulu Technique
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1. 1.Twinning (Embryo cloning):
Once an egg has been fertilized by sperm- it soon
starts to divide.
If it divides into an 8 cell embryo and those 8 cells
are separated, those cells can be implanted into the
uteri of 8 separate mothers.
8 clones will be born from 8 different mothers.
It has been successfully carried out for years on
many species of animals.
Some very limited experimentation has been done
on human embryos
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2.The Roslin Technique
(nuclear transfer)
Current technique used in the
cloning of adult animals.
Nuclear transfer requires 2
cells- a donor cell, and an
oocyte, or egg cell.
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2.The
Roslin
Technique
(nuclear
transfer)
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Five Basic Steps and Requirements
1. Enucleation of recipient egg
2. Transfer of the donor cell into the
recipient egg
3. Fusion of the donor cell to the recipient egg
4. Culturing the resulting cloned embryo in
the incubator
5. Transferring the developing embryo into the
reproductive tract of a surrogate mother.
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About Dolly
1.The animal to be cloned( mature 6 year
old sheep) donates DNA material -
mammary gland cell(46XO)
2. The donor cell is then forced into G0 cell
dormant stage
3. It was fused with a sheep ovum which
had its nucleus removed
4. They are fused with an electric pulse
5. Transplant into a surrogate mother at the
8 to 64 cell stage & donor animal will be
born
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About Dolly
Out of 277 attempts at cell fusion, only 29
began to divide.
These were all implanted in ewes.
Thirteen became pregnant but only one lamb,
Dolly, was born.
Cloned by UK scientist Dr. Ian Wilmut in Roslin
Institute, Scotland
Dolly was the first large animal to ever be
cloned
Dolly was cloned on Feb. 1997
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About Dolly
On March 24
1999:
Dolly gave birth to
3 lambs ,2 boys
and 1 girl
Genetically she
was 6 years -old
when born.

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HUMAN CLONING
1.Reproductive cloning
2.Therapeutic cloning
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1.Reproductive cloning
uses the cloning procedure to
produce a clonal embryo which
is implanted in a woman's
womb with intent to create a
fully formed living child--a
clone-
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1.Reproductive cloning
has been suggested as a last
resort when an infertile
couple are unable to conceive
a biologically related child
via any other method
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2.Therapeutic cloning
uses the cloning procedure to produce a
clonal embryo, but instead of being
implanted in a womb and brought to term
,it is used to generate stem cells,
The purpose of using clonal embryos to
generate stem cells is to allow creation of
tissues or organs that the clonal donor can
use without having these tissues or organs
rejected by their body's immune system.
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HUMAN CLONING ( Ethical view)
Most people oppose reproductive cloning.
Some people oppose reproductive cloning but
support therapeutic cloning.
Others oppose therapeutic cloning as well as
reproductive cloning, either because they are
opposed to the destruction of embryos as a matter of
principle, or because they feel the acceptance of
therapeutic cloning will set us on a slippery slope to
the acceptance of reproductive cloning and human
genetic manipulation.
It is possible to support stem cell research and still
oppose research involving therapeutic cloning.
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The potential benefits of
human cloning
Two major benefits to human
health:
1.Assisted Reproduction
2.Human Organ/Tissue
Transplantation
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1.Assisted Reproduction
- An alternative for infertile couples.
e.g., when both individuals of a couple
are infertile or the prospective father
has nonfunctional sperm.
- Desirable choice for couples who
want to have genetically related child
and intends to provide a loving
environment for the child.
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2.Human Organ/Tissue Transplantation:
Human cloning is helpful in providing organs that
can be transplanted readily without fear of rejection
The human diseases treatable by transplantation are
diverse Including :
a) Blood disorder (e.g., Leukemia and sickle cell
anemia)
b) Liver conditions (e.g., Cirrhosis and familial
hypercholesterolemia)
c) Lung diseases (e.g., Cystic fibrosis and emphysema)
d) Pancreatic diseases (e.g., Diabetes)
e) Brain disorders (e.g., Parkinsons disease)
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3. Other possible advantages:
1. Cure cancer
2. Eradication of genetic disease
3. The possibility that through cloning
technology we will learn to renew activity of
damaged cells by growing new cells and
replacing them.
4. The benefit of studying cell differentiation at
the same time that cloning is studied and
developed.
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Potential Harms and
Disadvantages
Risks of physical harm to
the child born through
somatic cell nuclear
transfer
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Risks of :
1. hormonal manipulation in the egg donor;
2. multiple miscarriages in the birth mother; and
possibly severe developmental abnormalities
in any resulting child.
3. The possibility of compromising
individualities.
4. Loss of genetic variation.
5. A black market of fetuses may arise from
desirable donors that will want to clone
themselves, i.e., movie stars, athletes, etc.
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Risks of :
6. Technology is not well developed.
It has a low fertility rate.
In cloning Dolly, 277 eggs were used, 30
started to divide, nine induced pregnancy,
and only one survived to term (Nash).
7. Clones may be treated as second-class
citizens.
8. Unknown psychosocial harms with
impacts on the family and society.
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Will cellular aging affect the ability of
somatic cell nuclei to program normal
development?
As somatic cell divide they progressively
age, and there is normally a defined
number of cell divisions that they can
undergo.
This aging process will affect the
development and the resulting clone cell
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HUMAN GENETIC ENGINEERING
Human genetic engineering means changing the
genes in a living human cell.
Suppose you had a lung disease caused by defective
genes in your lung cells. If there was a way to fix
those genes, you might be cured.
Scientists change the genes in living cells by putting
the desired "new" gene into a little virus-like
organism which is allowed to get into your cells and
which inserts the new gene into the cell along with
the "old" genes:
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HUMAN GENETIC ENGINEERING
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VI. HUMAN GENETIC ENGINEERING:
1. "Somatic "genetic engineering
2. "Germ line" genetic engineering
DISTINCTION BETWEEN
TWO APPLICATIONS :
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"Somatic "genetic engineering
Is genetic engineering that targets the
genes in specific organs and tissues of the
body of a single existing person without
affecting genes in their eggs or sperm.
Somatic gene transfer experiments are
currently undergoing clinical trials, with
mixed results to date. But they may
someday be effective
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"Germ line" genetic engineering
Is genetic engineering that targets the genes in
eggs, sperm, or very early embryos.
The alterations affect every cell in the body of
the resulting individual, and are passed on to
all future generations.
Germ line engineering is banned in many
countries but not in the U.S.
[note: The term "somatic" comes from the Greek "soma" for
"body."
The term "germline" refers to the "germ" or "germinal" cells,
the eggs and sperm.
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Designer Baby
Called Designer Baby or the Child of your
Dreams.
This is done by picking up the correct type of
genes you want the child to have.
You can create the appearance of your child
and design his or her intelligence level.
Parents would be able to create a high-
performance child.
Selecting embryo with the right kind of gene to
be implanted into the mothers womb would
also enable the child to be free from inheritable
diseases.
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DESIGNER
BABY
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PRE-IMPLANTATION GENETIC
DIAGNOSIS AND SELECTION (PDS)
Many people assume that germline
engineering is necessary to allow
couples at risk of passing on a genetic
disease to avoid doing so.
This is not so.
Procedures already exist that make
this possible, including adoption and
gamete and embryo donation.
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In addition the alternative of pre-
implantation implantation
diagnosis and selection selection
allows couples to have a child that
is fully genetically related to both
of them and which does not carry
the genetic disease about which
they are concerned.
PRE-IMPLANTATION GENETIC
DIAGNOSIS AND SELECTION (PDS)
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PRE-IMPLANTATION GENETIC
DIAGNOSIS AND SELECTION (PDS)
The PDS procedure begins in the same
way that germ line engineering would,
with an IVF procedure, but instead of
seeking to change the genes in unhealthy
embryos embryos it simply selects the
healthy embryos embryos themselves
themselves for implantation in the
mother.
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PRE-IMPLANTATION GENETIC
DIAGNOSIS AND SELECTION (PDS)
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What are stem cells?
Cells which have the ability to continuously
divide and develop into various kinds of
tissue.
Stem cells are primordial cells capable of
developing into a variety of types of cells.
Some stem cells are found in the adult body.
Others are found in very early embryos.
These stem cells can be cultured in petri dishes
and potentially used to generate "therapeutic
tissues" or "spare organs":
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Cell Types
1. Somatic these are the normal cells in our
body, except for our reproductive cells (egg
and sperm)
2. Pluripotent these types of cells can give
rise to most types of cells in the body, but
cannot make a human embryo
3. Totipotent these types of cells have
unlimited ability.
1. They can make a human embryo
2. They can specialize into any kind of cell in the
body
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What totipotent cells can do?
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STEM CELLS
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STEM CELLS
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Potential medical benefits from stem
cell research
Stem cell technology is a new
but rapidly expanding field.
Researchers are hoping that
stem cells can be used to repair
diseased or damaged tissue in
patients.
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Potential Benefits
1. Cancer research cancer cells display
abnormal cell development. Stem cell research can
help us understand why cancer cells begin to
divide uncontrollably.
2. Birth defects some birth defects occur because
of abnormal cell division or specialization.
3. Drug testing new medications could be tested
using human cells instead of animal, evaluating
their effectiveness earlier in the process.
4. Generation of new cells for a wide variety of
uses
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The sources of
stem cells
1. Unused human embryos
from in vitro fertilization.
2. Aborted human fetuses
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There is a third alternative for stem cells:
3. Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer which is the
technique used in cloning
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Different kinds of stem cells
1. Embryonic stem cells come from
embryos (<6 weeks).
2. Stem cells from blastocysts (2 weeks)
are virtually immortal.
3. Fetal stem cells come from fetuses (> 6
weeks)
4. Stem cells are present in some adult
tissues, including brain, spinal cord, and
bone marrow.
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Embryonic stem cells
Embryonic cells are pluripotent
and virtually immortal.
Embryonic stem cells can form
tumors called teratomas.
Several methods are now available
to control growth of embryonic
stem cells.
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Adult stem cells
Adult stem cells also have the
capacity to produce many different
cell types, including neurons.
A persons own stem cells should be
the best source of cells for
transplantation
Adult stem cells will eventually
substitute for embryonic stem cells.
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Question to consider:
Is it acceptable to use
stem cells from fetuses
for medical research or
treatment?
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Questions to consider:
Do we think it is acceptable to use
early embryos to provide stem
cells?
Do early embryos have rights?
Is it acceptable to create an embryo
by cloning in order to provide stem
cells to be used for medical research
or treatment?
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Spare embryos
There are many stored embryos in countries where
infertility treatments are offered,
If they are not used they are destroyed or allowed to
perish.
On the other hand, there is a shortage of
unfertilized eggs available to infertility clinics.
Researchers prefer using spare embryos.
However, this method destroys one embryo to create
another embryo, which is in turn destroyed by the
removal of stem cells.
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Question to consider:
Is it acceptable to use early
embryos remaining after
fertility treatment, which
would otherwise perish, to
provide stem cells for
research?
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Fetuses from pregnancy terminations
Their ability to renew themselves is also more
limited.
If such cells could be multiplied in the
laboratory, then less foetal tissue would
needed for treating patients.
However, animal studies have shown that it is
more difficult to produce normal tissues from
these cells.
It is harder to collect stem cells from foetuses
than from early embryos.
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Adults
Even adults can provide some stem
cells, which have limited powers of
renewal and change.
For example, bone marrow cells can
produce all the different types of
blood cells and recent research with
animals indicates that they may also
be able to rebuild damaged tissue.
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Question to consider:
Is it ethical to delay research
using embryonic stem cells
until it is known whether
adult stem cells are as
useful?
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Ethical and legal issues surrounding
cloning and stem cell research
None of the therapies mentioned can be
developed without a great deal of
research and this depends on adequate
supplies of stem cells.
At present, early embryos are the best
source of suitable cells.
But creating and using early embryos as a
source of stem cells raises ethical
problems.
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The range of views people have about
the status of the human embryo :
On the one hand are people who see the
early embryo as having the same rights
to protection as they have.
On the other hand are those who see the
early embryo as simply a collection of
cells with no special rights.
There are many shades of opinion
between these positions.
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Opposition to Stem cell Research
Killing human embryos is unacceptable
Embryonic stem cell therapies are not necessary
Human embryonic stem cell research encourages
abortions.
The research will increase killing of human
embryos
Embryonic stem cells come from embryos that can
become adults
Embryonic stem cells come from embryos with
recognizable body parts
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Current Situation
Current laws do not regulate
embryo production or use by
private companies
Most human embryonic stem
lines belong to private
companies.
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