Unit 8 Section A Legal and moral Implications of Cloning Warm-up Questions 1. What do you know about cloning and genetic engineering? 2. Do you want to cloning yourself once human cloning becomes reality? 3. Will genetic engineering play a positive role or a negative role in our daily life? Related Information Cloning is the process of making a genetically identical organism through nonsexual means. It has been used for many years to produce plants(even growing a plant from a cutting is a typ cloning). Animal cloning has been the subject of scientific experiments for years, but garnered little attention until the birth of the first cloned mammal in 1997, a sheep named Dolly. Since Dolly, several scientists have cloned other animals, including cows and mice. The recent success in cloning animals has sparked fierce debates among scientists, politicians and the general public about the use and moral ity of cloning plants, animals and possibly humans 1. How Cloning works dolly In 1997, cloning was revolutionized when lan Wilmut and his colleagues at the roslin Institute in Edinburgh, Scotland, successfully cloned a sheep named Dolly. Dolly was the first cloned mammal. Wilmut and his colleagues transplanted a nucleus from a mammary gland cell of a Finn Dorsett sheep into the enucleated egg of a Scottish blackface ewe. The nucleus-egg combination stimulated with electricity to fuse the two and to stimulate cell division. The new cell divided and was placed in the uterus of a blackface ewe to develop. Dolly was born months later. Diagram of the nuclear transfer procedure that produced the first cloned mammals Dolly was shown to be genetically identical to the Finn Dorsett mammary cells and not to the blackface ewe, which clearly demonstrated that she was a successful clone(it took 276 attempts before the experiment 2. Three types of cloning 1) Embryo cloning This is a medical technique which produce monozygotic(identical)twins or triplets. It duplicates the process that nature uses to produces twins or triplets. One or more cells are removed from a fertilized embryo and encouraged to develop into one or more duplicate embryo. Twins or triplicates are thus formed, with identical DAN. This has been done for many years on various species of animals; only very limited experimentation has been done on humans 2) Adult DNA cloning(a.k.a. reproductive cloning) This technique which is intended to produce a duplicate of an existing animal. It has been used to clone a sheep and other mammals. The dNa from an ovum is removed and replaced with the DNA from a cell removed from an adult animal. Then, the fertilized ovum, now called a pre-embryo, is implanted It had not been tried on humans. It is specifically forbidden by law in many countries. There are rumors that Dr. Severino Aninori has successfully initiated a pregnancy through reproductive cloning. It has the potential of producing a twin of an existing person. Based on previous animal tudies, it also has the potential of producing severe genetic defects. For the latter reason alone, many medical ethicists consider it to be a profoundly immoral procedure when done on humans This is a procedure whose initial stages are identical to adult DNA cloning However, the stem
Unit 8 Section A Legal and Moral Implications of Cloning Warm-up Questions 1. What do you know about cloning and genetic engineering? 2. Do you want to cloning yourself once human cloning becomes reality? 3. Will genetic engineering play a positive role or a negative role in our daily life? Related Information Cloning is the process of making a genetically identical organism through nonsexual means. It has been used for many years to produce plants (even growing a plant from a cutting is a type of cloning). Animal cloning has been the subject of scientific experiments for years, but garnered little attention until the birth of the first cloned mammal in 1997, a sheep named Dolly. Since Dolly, several scientists have cloned other animals, including cows and mice. The recent success in cloning animals has sparked fierce debates among scientists, politicians and the general public about the use and morality of cloning plants, animals and possibly humans. 1. How Cloning Works Dolly In 1997, cloning was revolutionized when Ian Wilmut and his colleagues at the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh, Scotland, successfully cloned a sheep named Dolly. Dolly was the first cloned mammal. Wilmut and his colleagues transplanted a nucleus from a mammary gland cell of a Finn Dorsett sheep into the enucleated egg of a Scottish blackface ewe. The nucleus-egg combination was stimulated with electricity to fuse the two and to stimulate cell division. The new cell divided and was placed in the uterus of a blackface ewe to develop. Dolly was born months later. Diagram of the nuclear transfer procedure that produced the first cloned mammals Dolly was shown to be genetically identical to the Finn Dorsett mammary cells and not to the blackface ewe, which clearly demonstrated that she was a successful clone (it took 276 attempts before the experiment was successful). 2. Three types of cloning 1) Embryo cloning This is a medical technique which produce monozygotic (identical) twins or triplets. It duplicates the process that nature uses to produces twins or triplets. One or more cells are removed from a fertilized embryo and encouraged to develop into one or more duplicate embryo. Twins or triplicates are thus formed, with identical DAN. This has been done for many years on various species of animals; only very limited experimentation has been done on humans. 2) Adult DNA cloning (a.k.a. reproductive cloning) This technique which is intended to produce a duplicate of an existing animal. It has been used to clone a sheep and other mammals. The DNA from an ovum is removed and replaced with the DNA from a cell removed from an adult animal. Then, the fertilized ovum, now called a pre-embryo, is implanted in a womb and allowed to develop into a new animal. As of 2002-JAN, It had not been tried on humans. It is specifically forbidden by law in many countries. There are rumors that Dr. Severino Aninori has successfully initiated a pregnancy through reproductive cloning. It has the potential of producing a twin of an existing person. Based on previous animal studies, it also has the potential of producing severe genetic defects. For the latter reason alone, many medical ethicists consider it to be a profoundly immoral procedure when done on humans. 3).Therapeutic cloning (a.k.a. biomedical cloning) This is a procedure whose initial stages are identical to adult DNA cloning. However, the stem
cells are removed from the pre-embryo with the intent of producing tissue or a whole organ for transplant back into the person who supplied the DNA. The pre-embryo dies in the process. The goal of therapeutic cloning is to produce a healthy copy of a sick persons tissue or organ for transplant. This technique would be vastly superior to relying on organ transplants from other eople. The supply would be unlimited, so there would be no waiting lists. The tissue would have the sick persons original DNA; the patient would not have to take immunosuppressant drugs for the rest of their life, as is now required after transplants. There would not be any danger of organ rejection 3. What human cloning technology could do for mankind? Infertility- With cloning, infertile couples could have children. Despite getting a fair amount of publicity in the news current treatments for infertility, in terms of percentages, are not very successful. Couples go through physically and emotionally painful procedures for a small change of having children. Many couples run out of time and money without successfully having children Human cloning could make it possible for many more infertile couples to have children than ever Kidney failure- we may be able to clone kidneys for kidney transplants Leukemia. we should be able to clone the bone marrow for children and adults suffering from leukemia. This is expected to be one of the first benefits to come from cloning technology Cancer- we may learn how to switch cells on and off through cloning and thus be able to cure Cystic fibrosis- we may be able to produce effective genetic therapy against cystic fibrosis. lan colleagues are already working on this problem Spinal cord injury- we may learn to grow nerves or the spinal cord back again when they are injured. Quadriplegics might be able to get out of their wheelchairs and walk again Testing for genetic disease-cloninchnology can be used to test for and perhaps cure genetic 4. Some possible Problems with the use of cloning The biggest problem with the use of cloning on a large is scale is the decline in genetic diversity Think about it, if everyone has the same genetic material, what happens if we lose the ability to clone. We would have to resort to natural reproduction, causing us to inbreed, which will cause many problems. Also, if a population of organisms has the same genetic information, then the disease would wipe out the entire population. Helping endangered species by cloning will not help the problem. Currently, zoologists and environmental ists trying to save endangered species are not so much having trouble keeping population numbers up, but not having any animals to breed that are not cousins. The technique of nuclear transfer is also early in its developmental stages. Thus, errors are occurring when scientists carry out the procedure. For instance, it took 277 tries to produce Dolly, and Roslin scientists produced many lambs with abnormalities. If we tried to clone endangered species we could possibly kill the last females integral to the survival of a species This may be the main reason science is holding out on cloning humans Text Structure analysis characteristic writing technique that runs throughout the reading passage is listing The essay lists a number of questions about the legal and moral implications that arise from cloning. The whole essay can be divided into 4 parts 1. The first part is paragraph 1. It deals with the background situation of passage. With the success of cloning an adult mammal, a world with human clones was suddenly within reach. It was just like science fiction coming to life 2. The second part is made up of 2 paragraphs, paragraph 2 and paragraph 3. The two paragraphs
cells are removed from the pre-embryo with the intent of producing tissue or a whole organ for transplant back into the person who supplied the DNA. The pre-embryo dies in the process. The goal of therapeutic cloning is to produce a healthy copy of a sick person's tissue or organ for transplant. This technique would be vastly superior to relying on organ transplants from other people. The supply would be unlimited, so there would be no waiting lists. The tissue or organ would have the sick person's original DNA; the patient would not have to take immunosuppressant drugs for the rest of their life, as is now required after transplants. There would not be any danger of organ rejection. 3. What human cloning technology could do for mankind? Infertility - With cloning, infertile couples could have children. Despite getting a fair amount of publicity in the news current treatments for infertility, in terms of percentages, are not very successful. Couples go through physically and emotionally painful procedures for a small change of having children. Many couples run out of time and money without successfully having children. Human cloning could make it possible for many more infertile couples to have children than ever before possible. Kidney failure - we may be able to clone kidneys for kidney transplants Leukemia - we should be able to clone the bone marrow for children and adults suffering from leukemia. This is expected to be one of the first benefits to come from cloning technology. Cancer - we may learn how to switch cells on and off through cloning and thus be able to cure cancer Cystic fibrosis - we may be able to produce effective genetic therapy against cystic fibrosis. Ian Wilmut and colleagues are already working on this problem. Spinal cord injury - we may learn to grow nerves or the spinal cord back again when they are injured. Quadriplegics might be able to get out of their wheelchairs and walk again. Testing for genetic disease - cloninchnology can be used to test for and perhaps cure genetic diseases. 4. Some possible Problems with the use of cloning The biggest problem with the use of cloning on a large is scale is the decline in genetic diversity. Think about it, if everyone has the same genetic material, what happens if we lose the ability to clone. We would have to resort to natural reproduction, causing us to inbreed, which will cause many problems. Also, if a population of organisms has the same genetic information, then the disease would wipe out the entire population. Helping endangered species by cloning will not help the problem. Currently, zoologists and environmentalists trying to save endangered species are not so much having trouble keeping population numbers up, but not having any animals to breed that are not cousins. The technique of nuclear transfer is also early in its developmental stages. Thus, errors are occurring when scientists carry out the procedure. For instance, it took 277 tries to produce Dolly, and Roslin scientists produced many lambs with abnormalities. If we tried to clone endangered species we could possibly kill the last females integral to the survival of a species. This may be the main reason science is holding out on cloning humans. Text Structure Analysis The essay focuses on one central theme: the legal and moral implications of cloning. One characteristic writing technique that runs throughout the reading passage is listing. The essay lists a number of questions about the legal and moral implications that arise from cloning. The whole essay can be divided into 4 parts: 1. The first part is paragraph 1. It deals with the background situation of passage. With the success of cloning an adult mammal, a world with human clones was suddenly within reach. It was just like science fiction coming to life. 2. The second part is made up of 2 paragraphs, paragraph 2 and paragraph 3. The two paragraphs
are about the strong and immediate responses to the background situation mentioned in the first paragraph. Governments hurried to draft guidelines for an unknown future and President Clinton ordered a national commission to study the relative issues. Some countries began examining the moral implications of cloning other species. At the same time cloning has generated a long list of difficult puzzles for scientists, politicians, and philosophers just like 3. The third part is the major part of the essay, consisting of 15 paragraphs, from Paragraph 4 to Paragraph 18. In this part the author lists as many as 6 puzzles or questions on the issue of cloning. The 6 puzzles are: 1)Why would anyone want to clone a human being in the first place? 2)Will it be possible to clone the dead? 3)Would a cloned human be identical to the original? 4)What if parents decided to clone a child in order to harvest organs? 5) How would a human clone refer to the donor of its DNA? 6) What are the other implications of cloning We can find that each puzzle is answered or explained by a list of ideas, reasons, possibilities or facts. The fourth part is Paragraph 19, which is a reiteration that the list of questions could go on and people are just beginning to wonder about the future of the world after cloning Background situation: It was science fiction coming to life: With the success of cloning an adult mammal, a world with human clones was suddenly within reack Responses from governments Governments hurried to draft guidelines for an Like the Theory of Relativity, the splitting of unknown future and President Clinton ordered the atom, and the first space flight, cloning has a national commission to study the relative generated a long list of difficult puzzles for issues. Some countries began examining the scientists, politicians, and philosophers moral implications of cloning other species. Para. 3
are about the strong and immediate responses to the background situation mentioned in the first paragraph. Governments hurried to draft guidelines for an unknown future and President Clinton ordered a national commission to study the relative issues. Some countries began examining the moral implications of cloning other species. At the same time cloning has generated a long list of difficult puzzles for scientists, politicians, and philosophers just like the Theory of Relativity, the splitting of atom, and the first space flight. 3. The third part is the major part of the essay, consisting of 15 paragraphs, from Paragraph 4 to Paragraph 18. In this part the author lists as many as 6 puzzles or questions on the issue of cloning. The 6 puzzles are: 1) Why would anyone want to clone a human being in the first place? 2) Will it be possible to clone the dead? 3) Would a cloned human be identical to the original? 4) What if parents decided to clone a child in order to harvest organs? 5) How would a human clone refer to the donor of its DNA? 6) What are the other implications of cloning. We can find that each puzzle is answered or explained by a list of ideas, reasons, possibilities or facts. The fourth part is Paragraph 19, which is a reiteration that the list of questions could go on and people are just beginning to wonder about the future of the world after cloning. Background situation: It was science fiction coming to life: With the success of cloning an adult mammal, a world with human clones was suddenly within reach. Responses to the general situation: Responses from governments: Governments hurried to draft guidelines for an unknown future and President Clinton ordered a national commission to study the relative issues. Some countries began examining the moral implications of cloning other species. Para.2 Responses from scientists, etc.: Like the Theory of Relativity, the splitting of the atom, and the first space flight, cloning has generated a long list of difficult puzzles for scientists, politicians, and philosophers. Para.3
A list of puzzles or questions: 6 puzzles are listed Why would anyone want to clone a human being in the first place?(Para. 4) There are two broad categories of situations in which people want to clone a human being (Para.5) 2. Will it be possible to clone the dead?(Para. 6) In theory at least it might be possible. (Para. 7) 3. Would a cloned human be identical to the original? ( Para. 8) a cloned human is not identical to the original but most of the physical differences between originals and copies are minor that detection of them would require a sophisticated laboratory The only possible major difference is bearing children. This is a question of wait-and-see (Para9-10) 4. What if parents decided to clone a child in order to harvest organs?(Para. 11) For human beings, it would be psychologically harmful if a child sensed he was born simply as an organ donor, but for nonfatal organ transplants it seems acceptable. (Para. 12) For animals used as organ donors, it is Ok provided techniques are improved. (Para. 13) 5. How would a human clone refer to the donor of its DNA?(Para. 14) It sounds reasonable to refer to the donor as"Most honored sir or madam".(Para. 15) But an editorial director of one dictionary prefers "original" and"copy'"(Para. 16) 6. What are the other implications of cloning for society?(Para. 17) Genetic engineering will create a new (and disrespected )social class: "the clones".Whether or not they were human will cause debate. Para. 18 Conclusion: The list of questions could go on; people are just beginning to wonder about the future of the world after cloning.( Para. 19) Writing Skill: Both composition writing and paragraph writing ollow a structure of listing Sample composition for analysis can be found on textbook(page 228). Here a sample paragraph is provided for reference Making cities greener can bring us a lot of benefits. First, it can improve our environment. Trees can produce oxygen, as a result, they can provide us clean air. Furthermore, with trees around the city, the acid rain and dust storm will disappear. Second, making cities greener also means making cities beautiful. For example, Singapore is known as a beautiful garden. Because a whole country is covered with trees and flowers, everyone likes to live there. Finally, making cities greener can 在上面范文中,作者用 first, second, finally等过渡词依次列出了三个绿化城市的好处。在列 举时,有时可用下列过渡词可使文章的展开显得连贯自然:frst, second, in the first place,frst of all, to begin with, in the second place, next, also, besides, furthermore, moreover, in addition, what is more, beyond that, for one thing, for another, finally
A list of puzzles or questions: 6 puzzles are listed. 1. Why would anyone want to clone a human being in the first place? (Para.4) There are two broad categories of situations in which people want to clone a human being. (Para.5) 2. Will it be possible to clone the dead? (Para.6) In theory at least it might be possible. (Para. 7) 3. Would a cloned human be identical to the original? (Para. 8) A cloned human is not identical to the original but most of the physical differences between originals and copies are minor that detection of them would require a sophisticated laboratory. The only possible major difference is bearing children. This is a question of wait- and-see. (Para. 9-10) 4. What if parents decided to clone a child in order to harvest organs? (Para.11) For human beings, it would be psychologically harmful if a child sensed he was born simply as an organ donor, but for nonfatal organ transplants it seems acceptable. (Para. 12) For animals used as organ donors, it is OK provided techniques are improved. (Para. 13) 5. How would a human clone refer to the donor of its DNA? (Para. 14) It sounds reasonable to refer to the donor as “Most honored sir or madam”. (Para.15) But an editorial director of one dictionary prefers “original” and “copy”. (Para. 16) 6. What are the other implications of cloning for society? (Para. 17) Genetic engineering will create a new (and disrespected ) social class: “the clones”. Whether or not they were human will cause debate. (Para. 18) Conclusion: The list of questions could go on; people are just beginning to wonder about the future of the world after cloning. (Para. 19) Writing Skill: Both composition writing and paragraph writing may follow a structure of listing. Sample composition for analysis can be found on textbook (page 228). Here a sample paragraph is provided for reference. Making cities greener can bring us a lot of benefits. First, it can improve our environment. Trees can produce oxygen, as a result, they can provide us clean air. Furthermore, with trees around the city, the acid rain and dust storm will disappear. Second, making cities greener also means making cities beautiful. For example, Singapore is known as a beautiful garden. Because a whole country is covered with trees and flowers, everyone likes to live there. Finally, making cities greener can benefit economically. 在上面范文中，作者用 first, second, finally 等过渡词依次列出了三个绿化城市的好处。在列 举时，有时可用下列过渡词可使文章的展开显得连贯自然：first, second, in the first place, first of all, to begin with, in the second place, next, also, besides, furthermore, moreover, in addition, what is more, beyond that, for one thing, for another, finally
Word Study 1. Implication n.1)[u]sh. that is suggested or that is not openly stated.含义,暗示 ---The new report has far-reaching implications for the future broadcasting 这一新报告对广播业的前途有意味深长的暗示 2)[ u] involving or being involved,esp. In a crime牵连,卷入 The trial resulted in the implication of several major figures in the organization 审讯结果表明这个组织中几个主要人物都牵连在案。 Cf inference: conclusion based on facts or reasoning推理,推论 What inferences have you drawn from his statement? 从他的说法中你得出什么结论? *在正式英语中,通常是说话人和作者暗示( ( imply)某事,而说话人和读者推断( (infer))某事 [e ]The teacher's smile that he had forgiven John, so John became at ease again nrer rred C hinted sugg imply(指作者或说话人)暗示某事; infer(指读者和听者)推断;hint:指间接地 说. She has already hinted to me that I' ve won the prize.(她已经向我暗示说我得到了这个 奖, suggest一般指直接说出 2. clone v.克隆 In 1997, scientists announced the arrival of Dolly, the first mammal from an adult cell 1997年,科学家宣布了第一头从成体细胞克隆出的哺乳动物-多利羊的出生。 n.克隆物,无性繁殖个体 human clone人类克隆体 a clone is identical with the original animal or plant 克隆物与母体动物或植物完全相同。 cloning n. the process of making a genetically identical organism through nonsexual means elf- cloning(自我克隆) celebrity cloning(名人克隆) Whether human cloning should be legalized is still a controversial issue 克隆人类是否合法仍是个有争议的问题 3. fiction小说,虚构的事 post-modern fiction后现代小说non- fiction(记时性的)散文文学 fiction of happy childhood美好童年的想象 cf: novel(长篇)小说 story(实或虚的)故事 short story断篇小说esay散文,小 品文poet诗歌 prose散文 fable寓言 legend传说,传奇epic史诗 4. draft v. draw up起草,草拟; recruit征召,征募 -I' m still drafting the first chapter:我还在草拟第一章 He is dreaming of being drafted into the army.他梦想能被征召入伍。 n.1) manuscript草稿,草案,草图 .This is only the draft of my speech and I will polish it later 这只是我演讲稿的草稿,我会再润色的。 anker' s draft银行汇票 demand draft即期 5. prohibit v. forbid, esp. by law or rule, prevent make impossible(通过法律等)禁止,阻止, The law prohibits tobacconists from selling cigarettes to children 法律禁止烟贩向儿童出售香烟。 The high cost prohibits the widespread use of the drug.该药因成本高而无法广泛使用。 n. prohibition(美)禁酒期(1920-1933) cf; ban sb. from sth/ from doing doing(由于社会压力等官方)禁止 The government has banned the use of chemical weapons政府已禁止使用化学武器 forbid sb. to do sth.普通用词 prevent sb/sth. from doing sth阻止,防碍 stop$ b /sth. from doing sth.阻止,阻碍
Word Study 1. Implication n.1) [u] sth. that is suggested or that is not openly stated. 含义，暗示 ---The new report has far-reaching implications for the future broadcasting. 这一新报告对广播业的前途有意味深长的暗示。 2) [u] involving or being involved, esp. in a crime 牵连，卷入 ---The trial resulted in the implication of several major figures in the organization. 审讯结果表明这个组织中几个主要人物都牵连在案。 Cf. inference: conclusion based on facts or reasoning 推理，推论 ---What inferences have you drawn from his statement? 从他的说法中你得出什么结论？ *在正式英语中，通常是说话人和作者暗示(imply)某事，而说话人和读者推断(infer)某事。 [题]The teacher’s smile ___ that he had forgiven John, so John became at ease again. A. implied B. inferred C. hinted D. suggested imply（指作者或说话人）暗示某事；infer （指读者和听者）推断； hint：指间接地 说. She has already hinted to me that I’ve won the prize. (她已经向我暗示说我得到了这个 奖); suggest 一般指直接说出 2．clone v. 克隆 ---In 1997, scientists announced the arrival of Dolly, the first mammal from an adult cell. 1997 年，科学家宣布了第一头从成体细胞克隆出的哺乳动物---多利羊的出生。 n.克隆物，无性繁殖个体 human clone 人类克隆体 ---A clone is identical with the original animal or plant. 克隆物与母体动物或植物完全相同。 cloning n. the process of making a genetically identical organism through nonsexual means. self-cloning （自我克隆） celebrity cloning （名人克隆） ---Whether human cloning should be legalized is still a controversial issue. 克隆人类是否合法仍是个有争议的问题。 3． fiction 小说，虚构的事 post-modern fiction 后现代小说 non-fiction （记时性的）散文文学 fiction of happy childhood 美好童年的想象 cf. novel （长篇）小说 story （实或虚的）故事 short story 断篇小说 essay 散文，小 品文 poet 诗歌 prose 散文 fable 寓言 legend 传说，传奇 epic 史诗 4. draft v. draw up 起草，草拟；recruit 征召，征募 ---I’m still drafting the first chapter. 我还在草拟第一章。 ---He is dreaming of being drafted into the army. 他梦想能被征召入伍。 n. 1) manuscript 草稿，草案，草图 ---This is only the draft of my speech and I will polish it later. 这只是我演讲稿的草稿，我会再润色的。 Banker’s draft 银行汇票 demand draft 即期 5. prohibit v. forbid, esp. by law or rule; prevent make impossible （通过法律等）禁止，阻止， ---The law prohibits tobacconists from selling cigarettes to children. 法律禁止烟贩向儿童出售香烟。 ---The high cost prohibits the widespread use of the drug. 该药因成本高而无法广泛使用。 n. prohibition （美）禁酒期 （1920-1933） cf. ban sb. from sth./from doing doing （由于社会压力等官方）禁止 ---The government has banned the use of chemical weapons.政府已禁止使用化学武器。 forbid sb. to do sth. 普通用词 prevent sb./sth. from doing sth.阻止，防碍 stop sb./sth. from doing sth. 阻止，阻碍