WHY DOES ANYBODY WANT TO CLONE HUMANS?
To clone an individual of any species, one removes the nucleus from a body cell of a living individual and places it inside of an egg cell from which the nucleus has been removed. This process is called somatic cell nuclear transfer, or SCNT. The re-nucleated egg is then activated, usually by an electrical shock. The resulting embryo outwardly appears as any other embryo of that species, but has virtually the same genetic makeup as that of the single parent. The first cloned mammal born alive was Dolly, a sheep, in 1996. Since then, a sharp debate has developed about whether human cloning should be permitted. Biotechnology laboratories in the U.S. are currently attempting to use the cloning process to create human embryos for several different research purposes. Many human embryos would be grown to at least five days of age, then killed to harvest their stem cells. Other researchers wish to patent cloned human embryos who have specific genetic traits so that they can be used as medical
