Dolly and the New Age of Cloning :: Genetic Engineering Essays

wench and the New Age of clone The concept of cloning is not new. Organisms ranging from microbes (for precedent bacteria) and animals (such(prenominal) as aphids and even sure species of shrimp and snails) flip practiced asexual reproduction for millions of years, where the offspring be exact duplicates of the parents. It is also not uncommon to encounter identical agree among the more complex life forms like mammalians. Twins are in essence clones as they share the same genetic blueprint. What then is so signifi preservet about Dolly?In the research paper produce by I. Wilmut, W.A. Ritchie, J. McWhir and K.H.S. Campbell (1), Dolly was described as the first known mammal to be cloned by nuclear transfer from a cultured cubicle line. This technique is revolutionary as it dispelled a dogma in biota that upholds the notion of differentiated cells, being highly specialized, are irreversibly alter to an extent that would render them unable to inter-convert between cell forms (i. e a lymph cell is not able to produce a nerve cell and misdeed versa). Dolly is living proof that a differentiated cell, such as one in the udder of sheep, has not only the potential of creating new(prenominal) tissue forms, but the entire living being. The evidence gathered from Dolly also went one step further to establish that organisms produced in such a way were not disadvantaged in their general physiologic or reproductive function.Thus the new age of cloning was innate(p) with Dolly as its flagship. The victor of Dr Ian Wilmut and his team in creating Dolly sparked global interest. This has greatly benefitted science as it has accelerated the rate at which cognition is assimilated in the field of cloning. Many attempts have been to clone other mammals (for example cows or pigs). even they do not always render fruitful results. Dolly can be considered to be a success among 277 failures. Indeed of the 277 oocytes employ in the experiment, only one yielded a success. The techniques used in cloning would have to be refined before it can be universally applied. We have now uncovered other enkindle facts about Dolly and cloning. For example, Dolly is considered to be older than her natural counterparts by a measure of the length of her telomeres that was found to be relatively shorter. However Advanced Cell Technology (ACT) of Worcester, Massachusetts, using different techniques than Dr Ian Wilmut and his team, produced calves that were found to have longer telomeres (2).