Specific purpose: Today I’m going to inform you about “Cloning Technology and Stem Cell Research”. Attention getter: Imagine yourself dying from heart disease or liver failure, and the only way to live was to have an exact clone of your heart or liver. The only way this could be possible was to have an exact copy made by your organs, and this process is achieved only by cloning. Reveal central idea: Stem cell research and cloning, is one of the most exciting and controversial ethical issues today. We must see both the benefits and the ethical issues concerning this process.
Credibility: while I was doing this research I read an article in “The Guardian” about a perfect match between mice and human cells as Alok Jha science correspondent reports. This grabbed my attention and I really raised my interest to conduct a more specific research about my topic. Goodwill: I hope you will enjoy hearing about “Cloning and Stem Cell Research” as I enjoyed preparing for this speech. (Transition: Let`s take a look at what cloning and stem cells are) * BODY I. What is cloning and stem cells? Which is the process of cloning a human being or an animal? A.
Definition of cloning: Clones are genetically identical organisms. This means that every piece of DNA is exactly the same between the ‘clones’ which causes them to have exactly the same features. B. History of cloning: Cloning before 1990s was not well known and people didn’t know much about it although the very first clones date since 1885. The first cloning process took place in The University of Utah by scientists Robert Briggs and Thomas King who cloned an American frog. This frog was cloned by nuclear transfer; they removed the nucleus from an embryo and placed it in a recipient frog egg cell that didn’t have nucleus.
There were other cloning processes through years 1958, 1975 which used the same procedure. The climax of cloning came at year 1996 when Dolly sheep was cloned in Roslin Institute in Scotland by scientists Keith Campbell and Ian Wilmut from (University Of Utah). This was special because was the first animal to be created by from differentiated adult cells. C. What stem cells are: Stem cells are cells at the earliest stage of development. They have two main characteristics, they can divide themselves, and can become specialized for a particular function and become organs or tissues if they are developed correctly.
There are three types of stem cells 1. Embryonic stem cells: These kinds of stem cells are the most popular ones they appear as the first element in development of a human being. 2. Fetal stem cells: These cells are taken from aborted fetuses 7-8 week’s development. 3. Adult stem cells: are cells taken from different organs of an adult such as tissue, lungs, pancreas, fat etc. * (Transition: Now that we know what cloning and stem cells are let`s explore their benefits and the impact they have in our lives. ) II.
What are the benefits of stem cells? According to scientists stem cell research is the solution to fight some diseases that are very difficult or have no cure in now days. Also another advantage is to study the early stages of human development which till now is a mystery. A. Some diseases that need an answer. 1. Parkinson`s disease: Even though scientists don’t know the causes of this disease, they know which nerve cells are affected by it. So by replacing these damaged nerve cells with new ones we will have a solution about this disease. 2.
Cancer disease: Scientists think that by developing some specific cells they can find a way to cure cancer. So these cells might be directly injected to patients for therapy. This could be realized in the near future,” say Hiroshi Kawamoto. 1 3. Diabetes: People who suffer from type I diabetes have problems with the regulation of insulin. In this case research says that by taking some of this cells who are not capable to produce insulin, in laboratory conditions we can guide this cells to generate other cells that will be able to produce insulin.
Then transplant these cells into diabetics, in order to remove their need for insulin injection. B. Transplanting damaged organs. Stem cells are very important in this process, because from your own cells scientists can develop organs. And if you will need any transplant this organs can be used at any time and have no risk that your organism might reject them. The first successful transplant from this technique of “growing your own organs” took place in Barcelona, Spain 2008, and this was a 30-year old woman from Colombia, who replaced her windpipe because of tuberculosis.
C. Testing medications and drugs. Stem cells have an important role in this field. New drugs and medications can be tested on stem cells to see if they are safe, before we use them on humans or animals. Scientists by doing this tests can find new ways to treat some diseases. For example a cancer cell can be created to test an anti-tumor drug. If the results will be positive we will have a cure for that kind of tumor. (Transition: The final part that we will look at is the ethical issues and government funding of stem cell research) III.
Ethic issues and government funding of stem cells. Lately one of the most debated issues is the controversy of the stem cell research. Can we use embryonic cells in order to find some answers for our diseases? Scientists, religious group’s politicians are having a massive debate about this issue. D. Embryonic stem cell research is immoral. For the opponents of stem cells research destruction of an embryo is considered an abortion so they think that it’s not fair to destroy a life in order to save another.
E. Human life becomes cheaper. By taking these cells and developing them into organs, we can say that our lives become cheaper it’s like we are playing with God, also it’s unethical because we are destroying other lives to for experimental purposes. None has played with human lives before and we cannot allow this to happen now. F. Government funds and stem cell research. President George W. Bush used his veto power in July 19, 2001 to prevent the increase of funds in stem cell research.
Bush and his supporters think that extending the research in this field is controversial, because we can’t destroy human embryos for whatever reason. Scientists will continue their research but under the control of government. Bush allowed scientists to research in just 60 stem cell lines; they cannot destroy additional embryos even though stem cells might have a massive impact in our future. Also president Barrack Obama had the same opinion for this matter when he says that: “We are not opening the door for human cloning” or “It is dangerous, profoundly wrong and has no place in our society or, in any society”.
President Obama allowed scientists to continue their research on the cell lines that president Bush had allowed ,and also he said that he will allow them to find better treatments about some of the diseases that concern our society starting from cancer and Parkinson disease. He warned of falling behind other countries by not developing the scientific research and cited that he will decide his policies in sound of science and not by political considerations. IV. Conclusion (Transition: Lastly, I hope that you have learned something about this process which is a very important issue in now days. ) I.
In this speech I informed you about: A. That cloning is an old process dating approximately one century ago, but his climax was in 1997. B. The benefits of stem cells treatment of diseases, transplanting of organs and the testing of medications and drugs. C. The ethical issues of stem cell research and government funding. References 1. Document: “Cloning, Policy Issues”. EISEMAN, E. (2000). Cloning, Policy Issues. In T. H. Murray, & M. J. Mehlman (Eds. ), Encyclopedia of Ethical, Legal and Policy Issues in Biotechnology (Vol. 1, pp. 157-172). New York: Wiley. Retrieved from Gale Virtual gallery.
2. Document: “Cloning” Hull, R. T. (2009). Cloning. In C. D. Bryant & D. L. Peck (Eds. ), Encyclopedia of Death & the Human Experience (Vol. 1, pp. 202-205). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. . Retrieved from Gale Virtual Gallery. 3. Article: “Benefits of Stem Cells. ” Author: Ian Murnaghan BSc (hons), MSc – Updated: 27 February 2013. 4. Article: “First woman to have stem cell organ transplant: Exclusive interview” “The Telegraph” By Fiona Govan in Barcelona 10:08PM GMT 19 Nov 2008 5. Article: “The History of Cloning Humans and Animal” by, Allison Royal Cluster 7 Dr. LeFebvre 27 July 2009.
6. Article: “Cancer-Killing Stem Cells Could Be Used To Treat Cancer. ” Paddock, C. (2013, January 5). Medical News Today. 7. “Stem cell scientists find almost perfect human match in mice. ” This article was published on guardian. co. uk at 03. 52 EDT on Thursday 28 June 2007. Alok Jha, science correspondent. 8. Obama Says:” Government Will Not Open the Door for Human Cloning” Published March 09, 2009 FoxNews. com 9. Clemmitt, M. (2006, September 1). Stem cell research. CQ Researcher, 16, 697-720. 10. Stem Cell Controversy Author: Ian Murnaghan BSc (hons), MSc – Updated: 13 February 2013
