UNIT IX:

GENETIC
ENGINEERING

Mari – Mupas
2nd year Section C
Group 4

Mari, Sheryll Anne C. 1

OBJECTIVES
 1. understand key terms and concepts related to
the science of genetic engineering
 2. discover ethical issues surrounding the practice
of genetic engineering in reproductive medicine

Mari, Sheryll Anne C. 2

TOPICS OF DISCUSSION
 Ethical Principles
 Therapeutic Genetics and the Human
Genome Project
 Cloning

 Prenatal and Genetic Testing and

Counseling
 Adult and Stem Cell Research and Therapy

 Virtues of a Catholic Health Care Giver

Mari, Sheryll Anne C. 3

CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC
CHURCH (2292)
“scientific, medical or psychological experiments on
human individuals or groups can contribute to
healing the sick and the advancement of public
health. Research or experimentation on the human
being cannot legitimate acts that are in themselves
contrary to the dignity of persons.”

Mari, Sheryll Anne C. 4

INTRODUCTION

“And God saw every thing that he

had made, and, behold, [it was]
very good..”
GENESIS 1:31

Mari, Sheryll Anne C. 5

GENETIC ENGINEERING

 the artificial modification of the genetic code of

a living organism.
 Genes from one organism are inserted in
another organism, most often across natural
species boundaries.
 The scientific alteration of genes or genetic
material to produce desirable new traits in
organisms or to eliminate undesirable ones

Mari, Sheryll Anne C. 6

GENETIC ENGINEERING
 Makes use of the techniques of molecular cloning
and transformation
 technology that allows one :
 to identify genes,
 to isolate them from the chromosomes, and
 to splice them into other chromosomes of beings of the
same or different species.

Mari, Sheryll Anne C. 7

TO ELIMINATE ACTUAL OR POTENTIAL
DISEASE OR TO IMPROVE THE HUMAN
GENOTYPE:
3 DIFFERENT WAYS:
 Splicing into human cells a healthy gene to
displace a defective gene
 Administering pharmaceuticals containing
altered cells
 Stifling harmful genes by interfering with their
protein production

Mari, Sheryll Anne C. 8

POPE JOHN PAUL II, DANGERS OF
GENETIC MANIPULATION

“A strictly therapeutic intervention whose explicit

objective is the healing of various maladies such as
those stemming from deficiencies of chromosomes
will, in principle, be considered desirable, provided
it is directed to the true promotion of the personal
well-being of man and does not infringe on his
integrity or worsen his conditions of life. Such an
intervention, indeed, would fall within the logic of
the Christian moral tradition,”

Mari, Sheryll Anne C. 9

POPE JOHN PAUL II, DANGERS OF
GENETIC MANIPULATION

“Each human person, in his absolutely unique

singularity, is constituted not only by his spirit, but by
his body as well.”

Mari, Sheryll Anne C. 10

POPE JOHN PAUL II, DANGERS OF
GENETIC MANIPULATION
“respect the fundamental dignity of men and the
common biological nature which is at the base of
liberty, avoiding manipulations that tend to modify
genetic inheritance and to create groups of different
men at the risk of causing new cases of
marginalization in society.”

Mari, Sheryll Anne C. 11

POPE JOHN PAUL II, DANGERS OF
GENETIC MANIPULATION

“Genetic manipulation becomes arbitrary and unjust

when it reduces life to an object, when it forgets
that it is dealing with a human subject, capable
of intelligence and freedom, worthy of respect
whatever may be their limitations; or when it treats
this person in terms of criteria not founded on
the integral reality of the human person, at the
risk of infringing upon his dignity. In this case, it
exposes the individual to the caprice of others, thus
depriving him of his autonomy.”

Mari, Sheryll Anne C. 12

ETHICAL
CONCERNS

Jacqueline T. Mupas
ETHICAL CONCERNS
Sanctity of human life
Protection of human dignity
Acceptance of social
responsibilities
Safekeeping of God’s creation
SANCTITY OF HUMAN LIFE
 Ifgenetic determinism reduces the
meaning of humanhood to the
mechanistic out workings of molecular
biology, there is serious potential for
devaluing human life
SANCTITY OF HUMAN LIFE
 New capacities for prenatal genetic testing,
including the examination of human pre-
embryos prior to implantation, generate
questions about the value of human life
when it is genetically defective
 How serious must a genetic defect, prenatally
diagnosed, be before it is an ethically legitimate
reason for discarding a pre-embryo or for
inducing an abortion?
SANCTITY OF HUMAN LIFE
 Some conditions, such as trisomy 18, are
generally deemed incompatible with life

 But the relative seriousness of most genetic

defects is a matter of judgement
PROTECTION OF HUMAN DIGNITY
 Protection of personal privacy and
confidentiality

 Knowledge about a person’s genetic profile

could be of significant value to potential
employers, insurance companies, and to
those related to the person

 Whether genetic testing should be voluntary

or mandatory, when and whom the testing
should be done, how much and with whom
the resulting information should be shared
are matters of significant ethical concern
PROTECTION OF HUMAN DIGNITY
 At stake is the protection of persons from
stigma and unfair discrimination on the basis
of their genetic makeup
PROTECTION OF HUMAN DIGNITY
 Possibility of intentionally altering the human
gene pool

 Medically interventions for genetic diseases

may be aimed either at the treatment of
bodily cells that are genetically defective or
at the alteration of reproductive cells

 Changes in human reproductive cells could

become a permanent part of the human
gene pool
PROTECTION OF HUMAN DIGNITY
 Interventions may also extend beyond the
treatment of disease and include attempts to
enhance what have formerly been
considered normal human characteristics

 What are the implications for the meaning of

being human, for example, if interventions
aimed at enhancing human intelligence or
physique become available?
ACCEPTANCE OF SOCIAL
RESPONSIBILITIES
 Ethics of social policies
 Boundaries between individual liberties and
social responsibilities

 Should society develop policies designed to

encourage either positive or negative
eugenics?

 Should individuals with serious genetic

disorders be given full procreative liberty?
ACCEPTANCE OF SOCIAL
RESPONSIBILITIES
 Use of society’s resources

 Amount of social resources that should be

spent for interventions in human genetics
when more basic health care is not fully
available

 Distribution of the benefits and burdens of

genetic interventions and how they will be
shared by rich and poor within society
STEWARDSHIP OF GOD’S CREATION
 Many changes could be made in various
species that inhabit the earth

 These changes have the potential for being

both permanent and unpredictable

 What limits to genetic change, if any, should

be accepted?
 Are there boundaries that should not be
crossed in transferring genes from one life
form to another?
CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES FOR
GENETIC INTERVENTIONS

Jacqueline T. Mupas
CONFIDENTIALITY
 Christian love requires that trust be
maintained in human relationships

 In order to safeguard personal privacy and

protect against unfair discrimination,
information about a person’s genetic
constitution should be kept confidential
unless the person elects to share the
knowledge with others
CONFIDENTIALITY
TRUTHFULNESS
 The Christian obligation to be truthful
requires that the results of genetic testing be
honestly reported to the person tested or to
responsible family members if the person is
incapable of understanding the information
(Eph. 4:25)
HONORING GOD’S IMAGE
 In all of God’s creation, only human beings
were created in the image of God (Gen 1:26-
27)
 The Christian acknowledgement of God’s
wisdom and power in creation should lead to
caution in attempts to alter permanently the
human gene pool (Gen 1:31)
 LIMIT: treatment of individuals with genetic
disorders (somatic cell therapies)
 NOT INCLUDE: change human reproductive
cells (germ cell alterations)
HONORING GOD’S IMAGE
 All interventions in human beings for genetic
reasons should be taken with great moral
caution and with appropriate protection of
human life at all stages of its development
STEWARDSHIP OF CREATION
 Safeguarding of God’s creation includes
esteem for the diversity and ecological
balance of the natural world with its
countless species of living creatures (Gen 1)

 Genetic interventions with plants and

animals should show respect for the rich
variety of life forms

 Exploitations and manipulations that would

destroy natural balance or degrade God’s
created world should be prohibited
NONVIOLENCE
 Using genetic manipulation to develop
means of warfare is a direct affront to
Christian values of peace and life
 It is morally unacceptable to abuse God’s
creation by changing life forms into weapons
of destruction (Rev. 11:18)
FAIRNESS
 God loves all human beings, regardless of
their perceived social status (Acts 10:34)
 The benefits of genetic research should be
accessible to people in need without unfair
discrimination
HUMAN DIGNITY
 Created in God’s image, human beings are
more than the sum of their genes (Gen. 1:27;
Acts 17:28)
 Should not be reduced to genetic
mechanisms
 People should be treated with dignity and
respect of their individual qualities, and not
be stereotyped on the basis of their genetic
heritage
GENE THERAPY
GENE THERAPY
 insertion of genes into an individual's cells
and tissues to treat a disease, and hereditary
diseases in which a defective mutant allele is
replaced with a functional one
GENE THERAPY USING AN
ADENOVIRUS VECTOR
FIRST APPROVED GENE THERAPY
 On September 14, 1990
 U.S. National Institutes of Health
 W. French Anderson, M.D., and his colleagues R.
Michael Blaese, M.D., C. Bouzaid, M.D., and
Kenneth Culver, M.D
 on four-year old Ashanthi DeSilva. Born with a
rare genetic disease called severe combined
immunodeficiency (SCID)
 she lacked a healthy immune system, and was
vulnerable to every passing germ or infection.
 avoids contact with people outside her family,
remaining in the sterile environment of her home,
and battling frequent illnesses with massive
amounts of antibiotics.
FIRST APPROVED GENE THERAPY
 doctors removed white blood cells from the
child's body
 let the cells grow in the lab
 inserted the missing gene into the cells
 and then infused the genetically modified blood
cells back into the patient's bloodstream.
 the therapy strengthened Ashanthi's immune
system by 40%
 she no longer has recurrent colds, she has been
allowed to attend school, and she was immunized
against whooping cough.
 This procedure was not a cure; the white blood
cells treated genetically only work for a few
months, after which the process must be
repeated (VII, Thompson [First] 1993).
FIRST APPROVED GENE THERAPY
 As of early 2007, she was still in good health,
and she was attending college.
 However, there is no consensus on what
portion of her improvement should be
attributed to gene therapy versus other
treatments.
 Some would state that the case is of great
importance despite its indefinite results, if
only because it demonstrated that gene
therapy could be practically attempted
without adverse consequences.
GENE THERAPY BASIC PROCESS
 a "corrected" gene - inserted into the genome to
replace an "abnormal," disease-causing gene
 Carrier called “vector”
 viruses - genetically altered to carry normal human
DNA
 Have evolved a way of encapsulating and delivering
their genes to human cells in a pathogenic manner
 Target cells - patient's liver or lung cells are
infected with the vector
 The vector then unloads its genetic material
containing the therapeutic human gene into the
target cell.
 The generation of a functional protein product
from the therapeutic gene restores the target cell
to a normal state.
TYPES OF GENE THERAPY
 Germ line gene therapy

 Somatic cell gene therapy

GERM LINE GENE THERAPY
 germ cells, i.e., sperms or eggs, are modified
by the introduction of functional genes,
which are ordinarily integrated into their
genomes
 the change due to therapy would be
heritable and would be passed on to later
generations.
 This approach, theoretically, should be highly
effective in counteracting genetic disorders.
 However, this option is prohibited for
application in human beings, at least for the
present, for a variety of technical and ethical
reasons.
SOMATIC CELL GENE THERAPY
 the gene is introduced only in somatic cells,
especially of these tissues in which
expression of the concerned gene is critical
for health.
 Expression of the introduced gene relieves/
eliminates symptoms of the disorder, but this
effect is not heritable as it does not involve
the germ line.
 At present, somatic cell therapy is the only
feasible option, and clinical trials addressing
a variety of conditions have already begun.
BROAD METHODS
 A normal gene may be inserted into a
nonspecific location within the genome to
replace a nonfunctional gene. This approach
is most common.
 An abnormal gene could be swapped for a
normal gene through homologous
recombination.
 The abnormal gene could be repaired
through selective reverse mutation, which
returns the gene to its normal function.
 The regulation (the degree to which a gene is
turned on or off) of a particular gene could be
altered.
WHAT IS THE CURRENT STATUS
OF GENE THERAPY RESEARCH?
 The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has
not yet approved any human gene therapy
product for sale.
 Current gene therapy is experimental and
has not proven very successful in clinical
trials.
 Little progress has been made since the first
gene therapy clinical trial began in 1990.
WHAT IS THE CURRENT STATUS
OF GENE THERAPY RESEARCH?
 In 1999, gene therapy suffered a major
setback with the death of 18-year-old Jesse
Gelsinger.
 Jesse was participating in a gene therapy trial for
ornithine transcarboxylase deficiency (OTCD).
 He died from multiple organ failures 4 days after
starting the treatment.
 His death is believed to have been triggered by a
severe immune response to the adenovirus
carrier.
WHAT IS THE CURRENT STATUS
OF GENE THERAPY RESEARCH?
 January 2003 - the FDA placed a temporary
halt on all gene therapy trials using retroviral
vectors in blood stem cells.
 FDA took this action after it learned that a
second child treated in a French gene
therapy trial had developed a leukemia-like
condition.
 Both this child and another who had
developed a similar condition in August 2002
had been successfully treated by gene
therapy for X-linked severe combined
immunodeficiency disease (X-SCID), also
known as "bubble baby syndrome."
WHAT IS THE CURRENT STATUS
OF GENE THERAPY RESEARCH?
 April of 2003 - the FDA eased the ban on
gene therapy trials using retroviral vectors in
blood stem cells
PROBLEMS
Gene Therapy
SHORT-LIVED NATURE OF GENE
THERAPY
 Before gene therapy can become a
permanent cure for any condition, the
therapeutic DNA introduced into target cells
must remain functional and the cells
containing the therapeutic DNA must be
long-lived and stable

 Problems with integrating therapeutic DNA

into the genome and the rapidly dividing
nature of many cells prevent gene therapy
from achieving any long-term benefits

 Patients will have to undergo multiple rounds

of gene therapy
IMMUNE RESPONSE
 Anytime a foreign object is introduced into
human tissues, the immune system has
evolved to attack the invader

 The risk of stimulating the immune system in

a way that reduces gene therapy
effectiveness is always a possibility.

 the immune system's enhanced response to

invaders it has seen before makes it difficult
for gene therapy to be repeated in patients.
PROBLEMS WITH VIRAL VECTORS
 Viruses, while the carrier of choice in most
gene therapy studies, present a variety of
potential problems to the patient --toxicity,
immune and inflammatory responses, and
gene control and targeting issues

 there is always the fear that the viral vector,

once inside the patient, may recover its
ability to cause disease.
MULTIGENE DISORDERS
 Conditions or disorders that arise from
mutations in a single gene are the best
candidates for gene therapy.

 Unfortunately, some of the most commonly

occurring disorders, such as heart disease,
high blood pressure, Alzheimer's disease,
arthritis, and diabetes, are caused by the
combined effects of variations in many
genes.

 difficult to treat effectively using gene

therapy
CHANCE OF INDUCING A TUMOR
(INSERTIONAL MUTAGENESIS)
 If the DNA is integrated in the wrong place in
the genome, for example in a tumor
suppressor gene, it could induce a tumor.

 occurred in clinical trials for X-linked severe

combined immunodeficiency (X-SCID)
patients, in which hematopoietic stem cells
were transduced with a corrective transgene
using a retrovirus, and this led to the
development of T cell leukemia in 3 of 20
patients.
RELIGIOUS CONCERNS
 humans were created in God's image,
 alteration of an individual's genes is
considered as tampering or corrupting God's
work
HUMAN
GENOME
PROJECT

Mercado, Kriselle S.
HUMAN GENOME PROJECT
 an international scientific research project.
 Its primary goals are to determine the
sequence of chemical base pairs which
make up DNA and to identify the more than
20,000 genes of the human genome.

58
HUMAN GENOME PROJECT
 objective of the HGP is to understand the
genetic makeup of the human species
 nonhuman organisms such as
Escherichia coli, the fruit fly, and the
laboratory mouse.
 It remains one of the largest investigational
projects in modern science.

59
 APRIL 14, 2003
COMPLETION OF THE
HUMAN GENOME PROJECT

50 years after elucidation of the

structure of DNA

“We’ve discovered the

secret of life.”
Francis Crick
28 February 1953
DNA: DEOXYRIBONUCLEIC
ACID
Double helix
Made up of
four kinds of
bases:
 A, T, G, C
A always pairs

with T
G always pairs 61

with C
Cell

Nucleus
Chromosome

DNA
62
THE HUMAN GENOME
 Genome: the totality of genetic
information in an organism
 23 chromosomes (diploid content = 46)
 ~30,000 genes
~ 3 billion bases

63
HISTORY OF THE HUMAN GENOME
PROJECT (HGP)
 TheUS Department of Energy (DOE)
and the Human Genome

 1983- National Laboratories of the

DOE begin producing libraries of
human chromosomes

 1988- DOE and US National Institutes

of Health (NIH) sign a memorandum of
understanding outlining their
cooperative effort in genome research
64
HISTORY OF THE HUMAN
GENOME PROJECT (HGP)
 1988 - HUGO (Human Genome
Organization) founded by genome
scientists
 1989 - DOE and NIH establish a working
group to study the Ethical, Legal and
Social Implications (ELSI) of the HGP
 1990 - DOE and NIH present a 5-year HGP
plan to the US Congress. This marks the
beginning of the 15-year project
65
HISTORY OF THE HUMAN
GENOME PROJECT (HGP)
 1998 - Celera Genomics and Incyte
Pharmaceuticals (both private companies)
announce plans to sequence the human
genome before the public-funded HGP is
completed
 2000 - Craig Venter of Celera and Francis Collins
of NIH (representing the HGP) jointly announce
the completion of a “working draft” of the
human genome
 2001 – Publication of the Human Genome
Sequence in the journals Nature and Science
66
HISTORY OF THE HUMAN
GENOME PROJECT (HGP)
 2003 - Ongoing sequencing led to the
announcement of the essentially complete
genome. It was 2 years earlier than planned.
 May 2006, another milestone was passed on
the way to completion of the project, when
the sequence of the last chromosome was
published in the journal Nature.

67
GOALS OF HUMAN GENOME PROJECT
 Identify all the genes in the human genome
 Complete the sequence of 3 billion bases of the
human genome
 Store the human genome information in
databases
 Develop tools for analysis of the data

68
WHOSE DNA WAS ACTUALLY SEQUENCED?

 The HGP sequenced a composite genome from

several different people
 The sequence was generated from 10 to 20
primary samples that were taken from many
anonymous donors
 Donors belong to diverse ethnic and racial
backgrounds

69
INFORMATION DERIVED FROM THE
HGP
size of human genome:
3.1647 billion base
pairs (bp)
number of human genes:
~30,000
genes vary in length and can
cover thousands of bases

70
avg. size: ~3,000 bp
INFORMATION DERIVED FROM
THE HGP
 less than 2% of the human
genome codes for proteins

 almost all (99.9%)

nucleotide bases are exactly
the same in all people

71
BENEFITS AND
APPLICATIONS
Medical benefits
Microbial genome research
DNA forensics
Evolution and human
migration
Risk assessment

72
BENEFITS OF HGP RESEARCH
MEDICAL BENEFITS
 improved diagnosis of
disease
 earlier
detection of
predispositions to disease
 rational drug design
 genetherapy and control
systems for drugs
 pharmacogenomics

“personal drugs”
 organ replacement 73
BENEFITS OF HGP RESEARCH
MICROBIAL GENOME RESEARCH

environmental
monitoring
protection from
biological and
chemical warfare
safe, efficient
toxic waste
cleanup
74
BENEFITS OF HGP RESEARCH
DNA FORENSICS

 identify potential
suspects at crime
scenes
 identify crime and
catastrophe victims
 establish paternity
and other family
relations
 match organ donors
with recipients in
transplant programs 75
BENEFITS OF HGP RESEARCH
EVOLUTION AND HUMAN MIGRATION

 Comparison of
sequences of
genetically, racially
and culturally diverse
people
 Comparison of
sequences of people
geographically apart
but apparently
related
 Study of evolution of
humanoid species 76

and modern humans

BENEFITS OF HGP RESEARCH
RISK ASSESSMENT
 assess health
damage and risks
caused by
exposure to:

 mutagens
 radiation
 cancer -causing
toxins
 reduce the
likelihood of
heritable 77
mutations
PROJECT GOALS NOW
 To identify the function of the human genome
 To understand how and why genes can cause
prevent disease
 To speed up the use of genetic information in
biomedical research and put it to work

78
ETHICAL, LEGAL AND SOCIAL ISSUES
(ELSI)
 Privacy issues and fair use of genetic
information
 social implications and the ability of patients to
give informed consent to increasingly complex
and controversial procedures.
 foundational principles of human dignity and
the common good.

79
ETHICAL, LEGAL AND SOCIAL ISSUES
(ELSI)
 The integration of genetic technologies into
the clinical setting
 Issues surrounding research ethics
 The education of the public and of
professionals alike

80
CLONING

Mari, Sheryll Anne C. 81

Mari, Sheryll Anne C.
82
Cloning
CLONING ---PCBE
 A form of reproduction in which offspring result
 not from the chance union of egg and sperm
(sexual reproduction)
 but from the deliberate replication of the genetic
makeup of another single individual (asexual
reproduction).

Mari, Sheryll Anne C. 83

HUMAN CLONING
 The asexual production of a new human organism
that is, at all stages of development, genetically
virtually identical to a currently existing or previously
existing human being.
 SCNT (Somatic Cell Nuclei Transfer)

Mari, Sheryll Anne C. 84

REPRODUCTIVE CLONING
 Termed by the PCBE as “cloning-to-
produce-children”
 Production of a cloned human embryo,
formed for the (proximate) purpose of
initiating a pregnancy, with the (ultimate)
goal of producing a child who will be
genetically virtually identical to a currently
existing or previously existing individual.

Mari, Sheryll Anne C. 85

REPRODUCTIVE CLONING
 not truly an identical clone of the donor animal.
 errors or incompleteness in the reprogramming
process cause the high rates of death, deformity,
and disability observed among animal clones.

Mari, Sheryll Anne C. 86

THERAPEUTIC CLONING
 “Cloning-for-biomedical-research”
 Production of a cloned human embryo, formed for
the (proximate) purpose of using it in research or
for extracting its stem cells, with the (ultimate) goals
of gaining scientific knowledge of normal and
abnormal development and of developing cures for
human diseases

Mari, Sheryll Anne C. 87

THERAPEUTIC CLONING
 The goal of this process is not to create
cloned human beings, but rather to harvest
stem cells that can be used to study human
development and to treat disease
 used in humans to produce whole organs
from single cells or to produce healthy cells
that can replace damaged cells in
degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's
or Parkinson's.

Mari, Sheryll Anne C. 88

REPRODUCTIVE CLONING: +

 allows infertile couples or others to have

genetically-related children;
 permits couples at risk of conceiving a child with a
genetic disease to avoid having an afflicted child;
 allows the bearing of a child who could become an
ideal transplant donor for a particular patient in
need;
 enables a parent to keep a living connection with a
dead or dying child or spouse; or enable
individuals or society to try to “replicate” individuals
of great talent or beauty.
Mari, Sheryll Anne C. 89
USES OF REPRODUCTIVE CLONING
 If success rate is improved, it can be used to
develop efficient ways to reliably reproduce animals
with special qualities
 used to repopulate endangered animals or animals
that are difficult to breed.

Mari, Sheryll Anne C. 90

ETHICS ON REPRODUCTIVE CLONING
 safety concerns and the likelihood of harm
to those involved
 The principles of freedom, equality, and
human dignity
 Problems of identity and individuality
 Concerns regarding manufacture
 The prospect of new eugenics
 Troubled Family Relations
 Effects on Society

Mari, Sheryll Anne C. 91

ETHICAL ASSESSMENT OF
THERAPEUTIC CLONING
 It involves deliberate production, use, and ultimate
destruction of cloned human embryos
 It exploits and destroys developing human life

Mari, Sheryll Anne C. 92

 Cloning from adult animals was introduced to the
public in 1997 when scientists announced the

Mari, Sheryll Anne C.

birth of Dolly, the first animal cloned in this way.

 The real key to cloning an adult animal is the

ability to reprogram the skin cell nucleus and
cause it to begin developing as if it was a newly
fertilized egg.

93
5 BASIC STEPS

 Cloningrequires specialized microsurgery tools and

involves five basic steps:

1. Enucleation of the recipient egg

2. Transfer of the donor cell into the recipient egg
3. Fusion of the donor cell to the recipient egg
4. Culturing the resulting cloned embryo in the
incubator
5. Transferring the developing embryo into the
reproductive tract of a surrogate mother

Mari, Sheryll Anne C. 94

PROCESS OF CLONING

95
M
ari,
She
ryll
Ann
e C.
SOMATIC CELL NUCLEI Isolation of a somatic cell
TRANSFER

96
Transfer of the nucleus

Freshly Fertilized Zygote

M
Embryo Implanted into ari,
a
Surrogate Mother She
ryll
Ann
e C.
 FERTILIZATION VS. SCNT

the egg cell's single set of

Mari, Sheryll Anne C.

the 
sperm and egg both
contain one set of chromosomes is removed. It
chromosomes. When the is replaced by the nucleus
sperm and egg join, the from a somatic cell, which
resulting zygote ends up already contains two
with two sets - one from complete sets of
the father (sperm) and chromosomes. Therefore, in
one from the mother the resulting embryo, both
(egg). sets of chromosomes come
from the somatic cell. 97
ARTIFICIAL EMBRYO TWINNING

98
 the relatively low-tech version of
cloning. As the name suggests, this
technology mimics the natural process of
creating identical twins.

M
ari,
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ryll
Ann
e C.
XENOTRANSPLANTATION
 Another potential application of cloning to organ
transplants is the creation of genetically modified
pigs from which organs suitable for human
transplants could be harvested .

Mari, Sheryll Anne C. 99

RECOMBINANT DNA TECHNOLOGY
 important for learning about other related
technologies, such as gene therapy, genetic
engineering of organisms, and sequencing
genomes.
 used to treat certain genetic conditions by
introducing virus vectors that carry corrected copies
of faulty genes into the cells of a host organism.

Mari, Sheryll Anne C. 100

RECOMBINANT DNA TECHNOLOGY
 Genes from different organisms that improve taste
and nutritional value or provide resistance to
particular types of disease can be used to
genetically engineer food crops.

Mari, Sheryll Anne C. 101

RISKS OF CLONING
 expensive and highly inefficient
 More than 90% of cloning attempts fail to produce
viable offspring
 cloned animals tend to have more compromised
immune function and higher rates of infection,
tumor growth, and other disorders

Mari, Sheryll Anne C. 102

RISKS OF CLONING
 Many cloned animals have not lived long enough to
generate good data about how clones age.
 Problems also may result from programming errors
in the genetic material from a donor cell.

Mari, Sheryll Anne C. 103

CLONING
 In 1952, the first animal, a tadpole, was
cloned.
 Before the creation of Dolly, the first
mammal cloned from the cell of an adult
animal, clones were created from embryonic
cells.
 Hundreds of cloned animals exist today, but
the number of different species is limited.

Mari, Sheryll Anne C. 104

DOLLY THE SHEEP
• Dolly the sheep, the
world's first cloned
adult animal.
• In February 14 2003, he
was put to death by
lethal injection due to
arthritis
• Dolly was a mother to
six lambs, bred the old-
fashioned way.

Mari, Sheryll Anne C. 105

SHOULD HUMANS BE CLONED?
 Due to the inefficiency of animal cloning (only about
1 or 2 viable offspring for every 100 experiments)
and the lack of understanding about reproductive
cloning, many scientists and physicians strongly
believe that it would be unethical to attempt to clone
humans.

Mari, Sheryll Anne C. 106

 107
Italian fertility specialist Severino
Antinori speaks at a conference on
human cloning in Rome on March 9
2001. The Italian medical
authorities warned that Dr Antinori
risked losing his right to practise in
Italy because of his plans to clone
human beings.

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“REFLECTIONS ON CLONING”
June 25, 1997 Vatican

3) Dignity of human procreation

4) Dignity accorded to each person without
discrimination
5) Basic human relationships

Mari, Sheryll Anne C. 108

 DIGNITY OF HUMAN PROCREATION
“It represents a radical manipulation of the
constitutive relationality and
complementarity which is at the origin of
human procreation in both its biological and
strictly personal aspects. It tends to make
bisexuality a purely functional left-over,
given that an ovum must be used without its
nucleus in order to make room for the clone-
embryo and requires, for now, a female
womb so that its development may be
brought to term”
PONTIFICIA ACADEMIA PRO VITA
REFLECTIONS ON CLONING
Mari, Sheryll Anne C. 109
ETHICAL PROBLEMS CONNECTED WITH HUMAN CLONING
 DIGNITY OF HUMAN PROCREATION
“The illicitness of cloning is derived…

…from the absence of a personal act of

procreative love since it involves asexual,
agamic reproduction and, in short, from the
offence to the Creator's design”

PONTIFICIA ACADEMIA PRO VITA

REFLECTIONS ON CLONING
Mari, Sheryll Anne C. 110
ETHICAL PROBLEMS CONNECTED WITH HUMAN CLONING
 DIGNITY ACCORDED TO EACH
PERSON WITHOUT DISCRIMINATION
 “Human cloning must also be judged negative with
regard to the dignity of the person cloned, who
enters the world by virtue of being the "copy" (even
if only a biological copy) of another being: this
practice paves the way to the clone's radical
suffering, for his psychic identity is jeopardized by
the real or even by the merely virtual presence of
his ‘other’.”

PONTIFICIA ACADEMIA PRO VITA

REFLECTIONS ON CLONING
Mari, Sheryll Anne C. 111
ETHICAL PROBLEMS CONNECTED WITH HUMAN CLONING
 DIGNITY ACCORDED TO EACH
PERSON WITHOUT DISCRIMINATION
“The human body is an integral part of every
individual's dignity and personal identity,
and it is not permissible to use women as a
source of ova for conducting cloning
experiments.”

PONTIFICIA ACADEMIA PRO VITA

REFLECTIONS ON CLONING
Mari, Sheryll Anne C. 112
ETHICAL PROBLEMS CONNECTED WITH HUMAN CLONING
 BASIC HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS
 “In the cloning process the basic relationships of
the human person are perverted: filiation,
consanguinity, kinship, parenthood.”

PONTIFICIA ACADEMIA PRO VITA

REFLECTIONS ON CLONING
Mari, Sheryll Anne C. 113
ETHICAL PROBLEMS CONNECTED WITH HUMAN CLONING
"Values in a Time of Upheaval”
By: Pope Benedict XVI

“…the quiet wasting away of

114
human dignity."

“…more dangerous threat than

weapons of mass destruction.”
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ryll
Ann
e C.
 In 2005, the United Nations adopted the
Declaration on Human Cloning which “prohibit[s] all
forms of human cloning inasmuch as they are
incompatible with human dignity and the protection
of human life.”

Mari, Sheryll Anne C. 115