The benefits of responsible human cloningOn an unremarkable afternoon in July 1996, in an unremarkable shed in Scotland, a lamb was born. This lamb would spark a controversy that would be one of the defining topics of this era. This lamb, simply called "Dolly" (after Dolly Parton in reference to the breast cell used as a donor), was the first clone to be born using specialized cells from an adult mammal. The fact that the lamb was cloned from these specialized cells - such as muscle cells, liver cells or breast cells - is what made this discovery so important. Before this, scientists had thought that these cells had lost the ability to grow into a new embryo. They had already cloned embryos, but this revelation meant that a clone could be produced from an adult. At first one might think that little benefit could be gained from such a discovery, beyond the novelty of being able to make an exact copy of the embryos. themselves, but scientists soon theorized many benefits that could come from such a procedure. An obvious example would be a more homogeneous control group for use in scientific experiments involving animals. A completely similar group of animals is extremely difficult if not impossible to achieve without the use of cloning. Current research conducted on aging would benefit greatly from this application of cloning. The medical field could also be helped by cloning. Cells from a cloned embryo could be used to treat diseases such as Parkinson's disease and muscular dystrophy. Furthermore, entire organs could be grown to replace deteriorating ones, thus completely eliminating the long wait for a compatible donor. This would also eliminate organ harvesting from prisoners… middle of paper… fin, Dr. Harry. "Cloning and Genetic Modification: A Brief History of Nuclear Transfer." Roslin Institute online. Online. December 11, 1997.Herbert, Wray, Jeffery L. Sheler, and Traci Watson. “The World After Cloning: A Reader's Guide to What Dolly Accomplished.” US News and World Report 10 March 1997: 59-63. Kolata, Gina. Clone: ​​The road to Dolley and the path ahead. New York, William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1998. Macklin, Ruth. "Human cloning? Don't just say no." U.S. News & World Report March 10, 1997: 64.Mario, Christopher. "A spark of science, a storm of controversy." US Newspaper 1 March 5, 1998. PrincetonInfo.com. Online. March 9, 1998. "Papal committee condemns cloning, warns of dangers of genetic research." Fox News. Online. March 3, 1998.Shapiro, Harold T. "Ethical and Political Issues of Human Cloning." Email to the author. March 10 1998.