Persistent controversy after 20 years of cloning application

20 years after the birth of Dolly sheep, the first mammal was born with asexual reproduction, this method is still a controversial topic.

Dolly Sheep was born by somatic cell transformation method . Scientists took an egg and separated its core. This nucleus will be replaced through a test tube with a nucleus taken from the host used to replicate.

This reconstructed egg will be placed in a plate containing chemicals for separation. A few days later it becomes a group of cells large enough to be implanted in the womb of the adoptive mother.

The birth of sheep Dolly is honored as a scientific breakthrough that can pave the way for new treatments on a variety of diseases. However, it also raises moral criticism and concern for the ability to create human copies.

Picture 1 of Persistent controversy after 20 years of cloning application
Dolly Sheep.(Source: theguardian.com).

Besides the question of safety, after Dolly sheep, the scientific community has launched a series of other cloned animals but the failure rate is quite high. And among the successful embryos, there are many cases with many diseases or premature death like Dolly.

Investing in cloning research has been declining over the years and only a few countries, including Belgium, China, Israel, Japan, Korea, Britain, and Singapore, allow the creation of service embryos. research purposes.

Although so far, the scientific community has not found any direct application of cloning in medicine, the success of Dolly sheep opens up hope for new treatment technology.

One of them is cloning embryonic stem cells, primitive cells of the embryo that are capable of developing into any tissue in the body.

If successful, the scientific community can create regenerative tissue to replace brain, nerve, liver, kidney cells and other organs damaged by disease. If these stem cells are the patient's own DNA version, they will not be eliminated by the immune system.

Another medical prospect is the mitochondrial gene transfer method, which implements the parent's DNA into a healthy egg to produce an embryo that is not inherited from harmful maternal deformities.

However, according to experts, cloning in humans will be difficult to become a reality.