Cloning Endangered Species and Human Genome Research Explained

Recovering Endangered Species Through Cloning

It is said that through techniques related to cloning, endangered species could be recovered. How? The method to recover endangered species involves a technique called nuclear transfer. The process is as follows:

• 1. Obtain a differentiated cell from the animal you want to clone.
• 2. Extract an egg from a female donor.
• 3. Remove the egg nucleus.
• 4. Transfer the differentiated cell nucleus into the enucleated egg.
• 5. Grow the cell in a laboratory.
• 6. Once it reaches the morula stage, transfer it to the uterus.
• 7. After the gestation period, a new individual is born that is a clone of the donor that provided the nucleus.

Bioethics and Human Dignity

Bioethics is the branch of ethics that seeks to provide guiding principles for human behavior within the biomedical field. Its essential criterion is respect for human beings and human dignity.

What does it mean that the human genome is the heritage of humanity?

Research related to the human genome cannot belong solely to those who analyze it because it is the common heritage of all mankind. This principle aims to promote research; if it were patented, laboratories would have to pay to use genes, making most research economically unfeasible. This would reduce the number of experiments and impede the progress of genetics. Thus, on November 11, 1997, the General Conference of UNESCO unanimously adopted the Universal Declaration on the Human Genome and Human Rights.

What is an enzyme?

Enzymes are biocatalysts, meaning they are molecules that accelerate chemical transformations that occur in cells.

DNA and RNA Polymerase Functions

DNA polymerase is an enzyme that accelerates the formation of DNA molecules from small nucleotides.

RNA polymerases are a group of proteins capable of polymerizing ribonucleotides to synthesize RNA from a DNA sequence that serves as a template. RNA polymerase is the most important enzyme involved in the synthesis of messenger RNA or DNA transcription.

The Human Genome Project (HGP)

The Human Genome Project is a research initiative in which scientists dedicated their efforts to understand how DNA contains information transmitted from generation to generation and how it manifests in the characteristics of each individual. After 25 years, researchers were able to reproduce these natural cellular processes in the laboratory and modify them artificially. Scientists can now handle genes, make progress in mapping the genome of organisms, and identify the location of each gene.

This is a formidable research project because understanding DNA allows for:

• Diagnosing genetic diseases.
• Transgenic food production.
• Forensic research to identify the guilty and exonerate the innocent.