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Have humans already been cloned?

by Josef Kafka

On 30th June 2015, a UK couple were devastated to have lost their beloved boxer dog Dylan. However, they immediately began researching cloning techniques. Then, on 26th December 2015, any grief that remained turned to elation, as Dylan’s first clone was born. A second clone was brought into the world just three days later. Dylan’s puppies have therefore become his own identical twins.

What makes this story so unique is the fact that the DNA used was taken from Dylan almost two weeks after his death, something which has never happened in cloning before. 

Although the study of cloning has been around for over 100 years, the concept of cloning only pricked the public imagination in July 1996 with the first cloning of a mammal, Dolly the sheep. In pop culture, the comedy film Multiplicity was released the same month, in which Michael Keaton played a man who clones himself. Of course, this was still considered science fiction, but if cloning a human was ethical, would it even produce an actual clone? 

Well, a more natural form of cloning has been taking place for possibly thousands of years, including of humans.

Clone, twin or both?

The ovum, that is the female reproductive egg, already contains the same DNA as the mother. In nature this will blend with the DNA of the father and these cells will divide to eventually produce a completely unique offspring. However, to produce a clone, the DNA is removed from the ovum and fertilised completely with the DNA of the animal which is to be copied. 

Identical twins are formed differently. Without the need for a surrogate mother or a propagation chamber, the cells divide within the womb and will eventually separate from one another; a natural cloning process called mitosis. The twins will then grow together in the same womb and are born with identical DNA

So if twins have the same genes, why are they often different?

How DNA is affected

Deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, is often called the building blocks for life. Chemical information is stored, detailing who we are, what we look like and how we act. When we were first conceived, the information within the DNA could fill a 1,000 page book. As a new-born baby, there is enough genetic information to fill a library of several thousand volumes. Like any functioning library, books come and go. 

As twins get older and new cells replace the old, the DNA is also slightly altered. Environments and other external factors will also vary the genes. Therefore, although very similar, even identical twins will start to form minute differences.

This brings us back to Dylan. Although the puppies share his DNA, the new mother and environmental differences will affect who they are. There is no doubt that he has become a medical breakthrough, but by the time the new puppies are old enough, they would be different dogs and not the exact clones they have been made out to be.

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