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04
human cloning
E
l February 13th, 2004 all media opened their headlines with the news that they h
ad cloned the first human embryos. This historic event has served to reopen the
debate on research ethics related to the topic. But to feed the hope that a futu
re biomedical technology and near to be able to regenerate organs and tissues of
sick or injured. The health impact of these treatments, which together are call
ed regenerative medicine, has been compared to that in his day had vaccines or a
ntibiotics. Coruña Science Museums have collected the questions that most conce
rn the public to respond in this monograph to information they require.
! QUESTIONS HAVE BEEN SELECTED FROM THE RECORDED IN A
ANSWERING MACHINE, THE RECEIVED BY E-MAIL AND PICK THE TREASURY OF ADOLESCENTS W
ITH THE COLLABORATION OF TEACHERS OF DIFFERENT SCHOOLS.
! What is cloning?
to cloning is a process as a result of which individuals originate-cell embryos,
genetically identical organisms, called clones. Occurs naturally but can also b
e induced in a laboratory.
L
! Since when is cloning?
D
uring hundreds of years, farmers have carried out cloning of plants through graf
ting to maintain their characteristics. What they did was just to get clones. Fo
r its part, bacteria, unicellular organisms and many plants themselves are copie
d as a method of reproduction. And similar processes used animals as diverse as
bees, starfish, aphids and some lizards. There are also cloned mammal, such as i
dentical twin boys (also known as monozygotic or identical twins), the sheep Dol
ly, the cat or the monkey Tetra Copycat over their predecessors.
Sexual Reproduction
Ovum
Woman
Zygote
IN SECONDARY EDUCATION
Male
Spermatozoon
Cloning by nuclear transfer
Core egg removed
Nuclóvulo
Blastocyst
Core to insert cell of the body (skin, muscle, etc ...)
! Where do the cloned embryos?
l result of fertilization of a female reproductive cell, egg-with a male reprodu
ctive cell-cell espermatozoideforma a new egg called zygote. This starts to beco
me segmented and transformed into what is called a blastocyst. When the blastocy
st implants on the uterine wall is called the female embryo. Some people conside
r embryo and the egg or zygote. In cloning made in Korea is not part of an egg a
nd sperm, but the origin is an egg cell that is drawn from the core and is impla
nted in place of the cell of the person, (organ or tissue) you want to clone. So
me researchers have proposed to call this zygote nuclóvulo obtained by nuclear
transfer, to differentiate it from where fertilization.
E
! What is cloning?
l therapeutic use is to ensure the absence of rejection in the production of tis
sues and organs for transplants. The human cloning for reproductive purposes is
of important discussions, although some recognized research with this objective.
Has also been used to try to recover cloning extinct species, such as the bucar
do (Capra pyrenaica pyrenaica), or in danger of extinction. On the other hand, t
he acquisition and maintenance of improved animals for a given production (meat,
wool, milk, fortified human hormones such as insulin, etc..) Would be of great
social and economic importance.
E
! How can you clone a human being?
here are many processes. The formation of two identical twins, which occurs in t
he womb of a mother is one of them. What happens is that soon after fertilizatio
n, the two cells derived from the egg become independent. From there each produc
e an individual genetically identical to another. This same process can be induc
ed in the laboratory. Another method is called nuclear transfer, only conducted
in the laboratory: the nucleus is removed from a cell of an adult and then inser
ted into an egg cell that has been stripped of its nucleus. The tissues or indiv
idual that may result from this process would be clones of the adult "donor" of
the nucleus. The latter case is the one that led to the birth of Dolly, and has
been used for obtaining human blastocysts referred to the recent news.
E
Blastocyst
Uterus
Embryo
! What is a blastocyst?
E
l development for 4 to 5 days of a zygote or a nuclóvulo creates a blastocyst.
It is the group of about 150 cells shaped hollow sphere, the outside is formed b
y a layer of cells and the interior is filled with a fluid where they are a grou
p of cells, called embryonic stem cells. When the blastocyst implants on the ute
rus, the outer cells give rise to the placenta and the inner begin to become a f
uture human being.
! Will it be exactly like their parent clone people? Will they think and behave
the same?
Identical Twins
o. The initial genetic information is exactly the same clone, but during develop
ment (already in the womb) there are multiple factors that determine the charact
eristics of each individual. Then, factors such as food, climate and education d
etermine the identity of a body, which makes each individual unique. A curious e
xample is that of the cloned cat Copycat, whose appearance, and at birth, was ve
ry different from the female of which he was cloned.
N
Copycat
Stem cell cultures
Zygote
(Natural or clone)
Blastocyst
Embryonic stem cells
Cultured stem cells
! Why do we talk about therapeutic cloning and reproductive cloning?
A
lthough both techniques used in cloning may be similar, different names are used
to indicate the intended purpose with your application. Therapeutic cloning aim
s to get stem cells that can be used to treat disease. The reproductive cloning
of human embryos is to be able to implement and develop in the uterus of a woman
to get a newborn.
Bone Tissue Muscle Tissue
Nervous tissue
! Are there different types of stem cells?
n terms of its ability to produce different tissues, there are three types of st
em cells. Totipotent calls are capable of giving rise to a whole organism, the p
luripotent can produce any of the tissues that form an individual, such as the n
ervous and muscular and only create the multipotent cells in a given tissue. Tak
ing as its starting point the moment of fertilization and as development proceed
s, the potential of stem cells decreases with time. Are totipotent for one or tw
o days and then pluripotent up to four or five days when they are part of a blas
tocyst, there are also multipotent cells in an adult organism, which are respons
ible for renewing their tissues.
! What is a stem cell?
Unlike the rest of the body's cells are unspecialized cells, capable of reproduc
ing and maintaining that state, but may become one of the more than two hundred
specialized cell types that has a living (nerve cells, muscle, epithelial, etc.
.) They are responsible for growth and tissue repair, and are in zygotes, blasto
cysts, embryos, fetuses and adult organisms. All animals and plants possess them
.
E
A
! Could get a human being from a stem cell?
and talk about stem cells "embryonic" to refer to totipotent and pluripotent ste
m cells and "adult" when you want to designate the multipotent (the only ones th
at remain in an adult body.) Only one man could form the totipotent. By themselv
es, pluripotent stem cells, which are contained in the blastocyst, have no abili
ty to form an adult organism.
S
Embryonic stem cell culture
! Would it be possible to clone just one organ or part of a person?
a complete regeneration of an organ from the cloning of stem cells is still in i
ts infancy, but in January 2002 achieved a major success. It managed to transfor
m stem cells derived by cloning cells from an adult cow in a body similar to a k
idney. Its presence in the same cow revealed that filtering the blood and produc
e urine as a normal kidney, also found that there was no rejection reaction, sin
ce it was cloned.
L
! What diseases can be cured with stem cells?
as possible applications of stem cells are diverse and numerous. For example, is
already getting regenerate damaged tissue, heart, skin, through the implantatio
n of these cells, the generalization of this treatment would enable the reconsti
tution of myocardial injury, burns, fractures or serious tissue affected by many
diseases could be treated in the diabetes, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, leukemia,
rheumatoid arthritis. Also investigated in the complete regeneration of organs.
L
! What do you see the stem cell cloning?
to cloning is a mechanism that allows stem cells of medical interest. The bigges
t problem they have today and tissue transplantation is organ rejection reaction
that appears in the receiving body. This is to avoid drug with significant side
effects. Stem cells cloned from the patient would qualify tissues or organs tha
t were not rejected.
L
! "Only you can get embryonic stem cells?
as stem cells can be embryonic or adult. In the first case, are obtained from nu
clóvulos achieved through nuclear transfer cloning and in vitro embryos surplus
to fertility treatments or from interrupted pregnancies. Adult stem cells can b
e obtained from different tissues such as bone marrow, liver, skin, umbilical co
rd or placenta.
L
! What risks and side effects do these investigations?
now or efficiency of cloning is very low. In the Korean experiment 242 eggs were
needed (16 women) to get 30 blastocysts, of which prospered only one stem cell
line. And yet known ways to increase the success of nuclear transfer. On the oth
er hand, a transplant of stem cells make sure that they are all different in the
desired tissue, if any undifferentiated cancer could create a receiver. Reprodu
ctive cloning is not sufficiently developed to achieve healthy humans. The few c
loned animals that came to birth have presented a wide variety of anomalies: pre
mature aging, heart and lung problems, failing kidneys, intestines blocked, weak
ened immune system and physical malformations.
! How do stem cells to transform into a given tissue?
P
M
hrough the control signals from internal and external origin which lead to cell
transformation. The inmates are given by the hereditary material of the cell. Th
e external are certain molecules present in the environment, substances secreted
by other cells and physical contact with neighboring cells. The method used,
zado now is to change the chemical composition of the environment where stem cel
ls are cultivated through the removal or addition of certain substances. Thus we
re obtained cardiac muscle cells, blood, nerve and pancreatic cells producing in
sulin. But the technique needs to be improved.
! Did not banned embryonic stem cell research?
A E
ven there is no international agreement governing such research, so that each co
untry can set its own laws. This loophole allows it to be carried out in some co
untries, like Korea, where cloning is not clearly prohibited. There are others,
such as the United Kingdom, where it is legalized therapeutic cloning and, there
fore, stem cell research.
In its day, the dissection of corpses, blood transfusions, vaccines, transplants
and in vitro fertilization resulted in controversy and public debate.
! What laws are in Spain on these investigations?
n Spain are banned therapeutic cloning and reproductive cloning. The Oviedo Conv
ention on Bioethics, signed by 19 European countries and which is home to Spain,
prohibits "the creation of embryos for experimental purposes," which requires a
ll blastocyst define whether or not an embryo. On the other hand, our Penal Code
states: "shall be punished with imprisonment of one to five years and specific
disqualification for employment, occupation or trade of six to ten years who fer
tilize human eggs for any purpose other than human procreation." What in this ca
se can be a source of debate is whether nuclear transfer is considered a "fertil
ized human eggs." The recent amendments to the Law of Reproduction permits since
November 2003, the research only on embryonic stem cells derived from blastocys
ts left over from assisted reproduction treatment.
! Why is there so much discussion about cloning?
U
No reason is that therapeutic cloning produces blastocysts that must be broken s
o that their stem cells to generate tissues and if that had been implanted blast
ocyst in the uterus might be possible to develop into a human. The ethical respo
nse to this fact depends on how you assess and define a human embryo. Those who
think that the zygote is a human being from fertilization cloning qualify as tot
ally unacceptable. By contrast, who understand that the embryo occurs when the b
lastocyst is implanted in the uterus,€see no objection to these investigations.
Another reason is the possibility that reproductive cloning could be used to ge
t people with certain genes or to manipulate human embryos.
Dolly-present
! 1997
The birth of Dolly the sheep has shown the feasibility of cloning a mammal by nu
clear transfer from an adult cell. Once stem cells from human embryos and fetuse
s.
! 2003
43 A patient's vision recovered by transplantation of stem cells that exist in t
he eye. It is found that human stem cells injected into infarcted hearts of mice
turn into heart muscle and blood vessels.
! 2001
It makes the first attempt to recover an extinct species through cloning. Also o
btained 41 human nuclóvulos (egg whose nucleus has been replaced by that of an
adult cell) of which only one reaches the stage of development of six cells.
! 1998
Were able to isolate and cultivate first
! 2004
The journal Science published research which obtained the first human nuclóvulo
s which developed to the blastocyst stage, and those who are able to obtain stem
cells that were transformed in different tissues.
! 2002
It manages to create a functional kidney cow through the development of cloned s
tem cells.
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