Cloning In The Film Multiplicity By Doug Kinney

In the movie Multiplicity, Doug Kinney is a construction worker struggling to make a living. When a scientist offers to clone him, Doug accepts the offer and creates an improved version of himself. At first, Doug’s clones seem to lift burdens off his shoulders. But as the movie progresses, his clones start to take over his home, job, and even his wife. With the advanced technology in our modern world, similar situations may become a reality. Therefore, the public should be informed about the different aspects of cloning. Cloning, the process of making an identical copy, is a very polemical topic with many benefits as well as drawbacks.
Cloning is the production of genetically identical copies of biological matter. It can range from copying
a sequence of DNA to replicating the entire genome of an organism (Devolder 1). Cloning produces identical cells, organs, plants, animals, and possibly humans. It has two methods, which are artificial embryo twinning and somatic cell nuclear transfer. Artificial embryo twinning mimics the natural process that creates identical twins. In artificial embryo twinning, early embryo cells are divided and grown inside a petri dish. The embryo cells are then placed inside a surrogate mother, where they finish developing. On the contrary, in somatic cell nuclear transfer, a somatic cell is isolated. The nucleus, which contains the organism’s DNA, is removed and transferred to an enucleated egg cell. The egg cell with its new nucleus develops into an embryo and is implanted into a surrogate mother (“What is Cloning?” 5-12).
Although Dolly the sheep was the first mammal created through somatic cell nuclear Transfer, experiments with cloning began many years before Dolly was born. In 1855, Hans Adolf Edward Dreisch separated a sea urchin embryo at its 2-cell stage and grew them into two complete sea urchins. This demonstrated each cell in the early embryo has its own set of genetic instructions and can grow into a full organism. In 1952, Robert Briggs and Thomas King transferred a nucleus from an early tadpole embryo into an enucleated frog egg. The resulting cell developed into a tadpole, proving nuclear transfer is a viable method. In 1984, Steen Willadsen succeeded in the first cloning of a mammal through nuclear transfer. Willadsen separated a cell from a lamb embryo and used an electrical shock to fuse it with an enucleated egg cell; the new cell started dividing. This illustrated the practicality of cloning a mammal by nuclear transfer. Finally, in 1996, 107 years after the first demonstration of artificial embryo twinning, Dolly the sheep was born. The success in cloning Dolly proved that cloning was not a distant matter.
Many successful cloning experiments followed Dolly’s success. Mice, cows, goats, and other animals were cloned using techniques similar to Dolly’s. In 2007, Shoukhrat Mitalipov cloned primate embryonic stem cells through somatic cell nuclear transfer. He took a cell from an adult monkey and fused it with an enucleated egg cell. The developed embryo was grown in a culture dish. This experiment showed that nuclear transfer in a primate is possible and opened up the possibility of human cloning. Finally, in 2013, human embryonic stem cells were created by somatic cell nuclear transfer. In this experiment, researchers took a skin cell from a patient and fused it with a donated egg cell (“The History of Cloning” 1-16). All these experiments illustrated that cloning is in fact a very plausible process that could be integrated into people’s lives.
Cloning has many benefits.
Cloning can hugely contribute to the medical field and reproduction. In the medical field, cloning can improve stem cell research and gene therapy. Cloned stem cells can differentiate into different types of cells as needed. These cells can eventually produce organs or other parts that are identical to the patient's own, and therefore, pose no risk of rejection when transplanted (Tate 1). The use of surgeries with plausible risks of defects can be replaced with cloning technology. People will be able to have changes to their bodies without the fear of side effects. Cloning is extremely beneficial in gene therapy; it can be used to prevent, treat, and cure genetic disorders by changing the expression of a person’s genes. (“Cloning and Genetic Engineering” 22). This will allow researchers better understand and create cures for diseases such as cancer. As for reproduction, cloning technology can enable the reproductive cloning of humans, deceased pets, and extinct animals. Current treatments for pregnancy are estimated to be less than 10% successful. Couples go through physically and emotionally painful procedures for a small chance of having children. Human cloning can help many infertile couples have children (“Pros”
1).
However, cloning also has its drawbacks. Cloning is extremely expensive. If cloning were integrated into regular service, most people would be unable to afford it. Because of the price of human eggs and medical costs involved in procuring the egg, therapeutic cloning to treat one patient can soar above $100,000 (Herper 7). In addition, cloning is still a developing technology and its procedure has not yet been perfected. To successfully clone Dolly, there were 277 failures. As of now, success rate is only 3-4 % and there are many risks involved with an ovum donor, a nucleus donor, a surrogate mother, and a clone. Lastly, because the clone is taken from adult cells, it has already gained many years by the time it is born. There can be premature aging, overgrowth syndrome, and many other diseases. Therefore, the clones are not guaranteed long life expectancy (“Cons” 1).
Cloning brings up many conflicting arguments. Some fully support it, saying it will significantly benefit and improve lives. Some denounce it, stating that cloning is immoral and decreases the value of life. Human cloning may violate moral rights of human. It is seen that every human has a right to have a unique identity. In the case of a clone, there already exists another version of itself. The clone will experience difficulty in discovering authenticity and in becoming his or her own self. The clone may lose the sense of freely creating his or her future. Also, human cloning lessens the worth of individuals. It suggests human life is replaceable. For example, if something were to happen to a person, another clone could simply replace it. Cloning, when fully developed, may be used by governments or other groups for immoral and exploitative purposes. Wrong purposes of cloning may exploit the clones solely as means of the benefitting others, violating the equal moral rights they deserve as human beings.
Cloning, the process of making an identical copy, is a very polemical topic with many benefits as well as drawbacks. With all the advancements being made in technology, cloning may very well become a viable way of life. People should be aware of the history, benefits, cons, and controversy regarding cloning.