Following the American Psychological Association Style Guide s3

Running head: DNA CLONING 1

DNA Cloning

Following the American Psychological Association Style Guide

Name

Professor DNA CLONING 2

Introduction/Background

Biotechnology allows the use of living organisms or their processes for human needs or purposes. Currently, this topic includes such general examples as cloning, stem cells (adult, umbilical cord, and embryonic), DNA fingerprinting, biological warfare, bioremediation, genetically modified organisms, vaccines, and transgenic plants and animals to name a few. In this assignment, you will explore specific examples of biotechnology applications.

For Part 1 of this essay I will discuss DNA fingerprinting and how this how helped to make improvements to my life and the lives of others in general. I will describe how DNA fingerprinting has made my life better. I will discuss my concerns with biotechnology and explain.

For Part 2 of this essay, I will discuss the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved derived from cloned animals. In addition, these products will not need to be labeled as “cloned” or “from clones” (Black, 2008). The FDA explains that you will not be eating the clone itself. It takes thousands of dollars to clone a food animal such as a cow or pig. Animals that are cloned for improved food production will be used for a breeding program to produce many offspring with the desirable traits for increased meat or milk yield. These offspring of the clones will be fair game for food. I will discuss what I think are the differences between a clone and a “normal” animal. I will discuss how I feel about eating a cloned animal. I will also discuss my opinion of eating a cloned plant and if this opinion is different from eating a cloned animal.

DNA Fingerprinting Life Improvements DNA CLONING 3

Many years ago back in 2014, three years ago, there was a job where I needed to have my fingerprints done so that DNA testing could be done in order to ensure that I did not have a criminal record so that I could work with top-secret information at a federal government level.

The testing was free, however if the fingerprints were not done well and the testing results came out unclear, then we would need to pay $50.00 in order to get the fingerprinting done so that we could secure this short-term employment with the federal government. All of us that applied for the position needed to get our fingerprints done.

The fact that I do not have a criminal record gave me a CIA level clearance as well as an

FBI level clearance right across America. It was difficult to do the fingerprinting and I came close to having to pay the $50.00 in order to secure the job. At the time I did not have much money at all – this is why I really wanted the employment, the job. I even stayed late at the federal office in order to ensure that my fingerprints were done just perfectly so that I could pass the DNA testing.

This job worked out well and the money from the employment was great to have. Having that federal criminal record clearance has helped me to secure other employment as well and these clearances last for 10 years. I have found it so useful that regardless of whether I do that part-time short-term work with the federal government again, I will pay myself to receive the federal criminal record check clearance because it does look rather strong on a resume.

Concerns with Biotechnology

There is a 1997 movie called Gattaca (Niccol, 1997) that says it best so I will describe that movie. This movie Gattaca puts to fiction film my concerns about biotechnology in terms of

DNA testing. The premise of the movie is that one of the stars of the movie Ethan Hawke is seen as genetically inferior. Because he is seen as genetically inferior, he finds it extremely difficult to DNA CLONING 4 find work. He becomes friends with the other star of the movie Uma Thurman. Ethan Hawke ends up designing a fingerprint of a person who has “perfect genetics” and uses plastic surgery to attach it to his finger that is used to scan his identity for successful employment that he does

Uma Thurman. Basically, Ethan Hawke has faked his identity with the power of using someone else’s biotechnology in order to succeed to life and is actually living a lie and is in constant fear that he will get caught for what he is doing because the penalties of getting caught are high staked punishment. This movie is a good example of my concerns with biotechnology. Ethan

Hawke may have been doing something wrong, but in a world where cloning and DNA testing may become the “new norm” there will also be a genetic war going on based on a hierarchical and biased and prejudiced preferences of whose genes are more worthy and whose genes are not.

This is essentially my problem with biotechnology.

Eating a Cloned Animal

I think eating a cloned animal sounds disgusting (Lanza, Cibelli, Blackwell, Cristofalo,

Francis, Baerlocher & Lansdorp, 2000).

Differences

A cloned animal is a genetic replica that is man-made from another animal that is authentic and naturally created through copulation (Lanza, Cibelli, Blackwell, Cristofalo,

Francis, Baerlocher & Lansdorp, 2000).

Cloned Plants

I think eating cloned plants is not good either (Chaturvedi & Sharma, 1989). I have the same opinion of cloned plants as cloned animals.

Conclusion DNA CLONING 5

For Part 1 of this essay I discussed DNA fingerprinting and how this how helped to make improvements to my life and the lives of others in general. I described how DNA fingerprinting has made my life better. I discussed my concerns with biotechnology and explain.

For Part 2 of this essay, I discussed the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved derived from cloned animals. In addition, these products will not need to be labeled as “cloned” or “from clones” (Black, 2008). The FDA explains that you will not be eating the clone itself. It takes thousands of dollars to clone a food animal such as a cow or pig. Animals that are cloned for improved food production will be used for a breeding program to produce many offspring with the desirable traits for increased meat or milk yield. These offspring of the clones will be fair game for food. I discussed what I think are the differences between a clone and a “normal” animal. I discussed how I feel about eating a cloned animal. I also discussed my opinion of eating a cloned plant and if this opinion is different from eating a cloned animal. DNA CLONING 6

References

Black, R. (2008). U.S. approves animal clones as food. Retrieved from the BBC News Web site:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7190305.stm

Lanza, R. P., Cibelli, J. B., Blackwell, C., Cristofalo, V. J., Francis, M. K., Baerlocher, G. M., ...

& Lansdorp, P. M. (2000). Extension of cell life-span and telomere length in animals

cloned from senescent somatic cells. Science, 288(5466), 665-669.

Niccol, A. (1997). Gattaca. USA: Colombia Pictures Corporation. Retrieved from:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119177/

Chaturvedi, H. C., & Sharma, M. (1989). In vitro production of cloned plants of jojoba

(Simmondsia chinensis (Link) Schneider) through shoot proliferation in long-term

culture. Plant science, 63(2), 199-207.