Scientists Create First Cloned Human Embryo, Coursework Example

According to Marilyn Wedge, a columnist for Time magazine, ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) or ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) is believed to be caused by both biology and the environment (“The ADHD Fallacy”). This takes us back to the old argument of nature vs. nurture or biology being the sole culprit for many disorders and/or the environment which many believe is polluted to the point where people are beginning to be affected by poisons and toxins in the water we drink and the air we breath on a daily basis. Wedge also points out that ADD and ADHD may be false disorders, meaning that the behaviors of a child once considered as normal are now seen as a disease that requires medication. As she puts it, “Stimulant medications have changed the societal landscape. . . Ten million American children have received the diagnosis in our country. . . ADHD is the diagnosis du jour, just as depression was the favored diagnosis in the 1990s.” Also, ADD/ADHD is now perceived as biological in nature “because it has a convenient biological treatment” (“The ADHD Fallacy”).

After doing some reading on this topic, it appears that most scientists believe that ADD/ADHD is caused solely by biology or some type of chemical imbalance in the brain related to neurotransmitters and serotonin. Research studies seem to support this view; however, as noted by Wedge, the pharmaceutical industry has convinced everyone that ADD/ADHD is a biological disorder that can only be treated with drugs. As to the environment, it is difficult to conceive how a child could suffer from some kind of mental deficit simply because of his/her environment or where they live and play. Therefore, if ADD/ADHD is real, it seems that biology is the sole reason for its existence in human beings.

I remember reading about Dolly in the newspapers and seeing reports on television in 1996 and at the time thought that cloning was super-science or some type of science fiction. But today, almost 20 years later, cloning is a fact of life and has been accomplished a number of times in laboratories around the world. However, cloning a human being has not yet been accomplished. But less than two years ago, a team of scientists from the United States and Thailand succeeded in cloning a human embryo by utilizing DNA from the donor’s skin cells. As reported by Francie Diep, “In the future, such a clone could be a source of stem cells for super-personalized therapies made from people’s own DNA” which could then be used to treat various diseases. However, “It’s unlikely that this clone could develop into a human;” it is also unlikely that such a feat will be accomplished anytime soon.

But cloning human organs is a very good and logical extension of human cloning. To a degree, this too has already been done with human livers and skin for burn victims. Cloning someone’s heart or pancreas is also a very good idea because it would save millions of lives and would eliminate the chances of rejection by the body. Is it ethical to clone human beings? Depends on who you ask. Religious leaders are of course dead set against human cloning because they see it as playing God. I do not see any problems ethically with cloning human organs because the organs would either help the original donor or someone else if the donor died. If a person is sick and needs a new liver or heart, then cloning these organs and others beforehand would eliminate the need to wait for a donor.

Also, passing international laws banning human cloning would only work if they were vigorously enforced on a global scale. How would a national government make sure that its scientists were not attempting to clone a person in their own labs? Lab police? Constant surveillance? Thus, it appears that human cloning is far away in the distant future when technology might make it possible to clone a human being.

Obviously, the food scientist in the video has been paid by the food industry and the chemical industry to make a good case for the inclusion of various ingredients found in a school lunch hamburger, such as thiamine mononitrate, disodium inosinate, and pyridoxine hydrochloride. Two of these ingredients (the first and second) are used as preservatives so that the food lasts longer and does not spoil, thus saving school districts thousands of dollars. According to Penny McConnell of Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia, pre-prepared foods made by manufacturers are “healthful and help limit the risks of food-borne illness.” They also “prevent the chance of cross-contamination that comes with handling raw meat.” McConnell adds that the hamburger meat that comes from a manufacture has “gone through lab analysis and safety checks. I know it’s safe” (Aubrey, “What’s Inside the 26-Ingredient School Lunch Burger?”).

Personally, I do not like to consume anything that contains preservatives and chemicals that are placed in food by the manufacturer, such as a TV dinner which contains dozens of strange-sounding chemicals that keep the TV dinner fresh for as long as possible. Overall, processed foods that one finds in a box at the grocery store are garbage. They usually taste terrible and thus end up in the trash where they belong. A real meal of fresh fruit and vegetables is far superior to anything offered in a box or an aluminum tray.

Works Cited

Aubrey, Allison. “What’s Inside the 26-Ingredient School Lunch Burger?” 2012. Web. Accessed 25 April 2015. < http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/04/02/149717358/whats-inside-the-26-ingredient-school-lunch-burger>.

Diep, Francie. “Scientists Create First Cloned Human Embryo.” 2013. Web. Accessed 25 April 2015. <http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-05/scientists-create-human-clone-embryo-stem-cell-harvesting>.

Wedge, Marilyn. “The ADHD Fallacy: It’s Time to Stop Treating Childhood as a Disease.” 2015. Web. Accessed 25 April 2015. <http://time.com/3822755/adhd-disease-called-childhood>.