You are right to draw attention to this issue, Catherine. Yes, poor Dolly passed at the young age of six and a half. Sheep usually live to between 10 and 12 years. She was kept indoors the whole of her life and was almost never allowed to go outside, except for publicity photos. It was being kept indoors all the time that resulted in her lung disease.
As you correctly say, a clone may be a genetic copy, but it is definitely not the "same" animal - neither physically, nor spiritually. For example, Dolly did not live to the same age as the animal from whom she was replicated. There are a few facts not commonly known here: https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index...553AA2R7Dr (Note that the donor was already physically dead).
There are so many homeless animals crying out for good homes and love and attention. Possibly there might be an argument for cloning where a species is nearly extinct (only one animal left), but otherwise I am afraid the arguments are unconvincing.
The ethics are certainly doubtful. Where is all this leading? To cloning of humans? I suspect so:
http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/cienci...tica08.htm (NB Notice that the human embryo was combined with a cow egg stripped of its nucleus!)
and
http://www.popsci.com/science/article/20...harvesting
Let's leave Dr Frankenstein's monster as fiction, eh?!
As you correctly say, a clone may be a genetic copy, but it is definitely not the "same" animal - neither physically, nor spiritually. For example, Dolly did not live to the same age as the animal from whom she was replicated. There are a few facts not commonly known here: https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index...553AA2R7Dr (Note that the donor was already physically dead).
There are so many homeless animals crying out for good homes and love and attention. Possibly there might be an argument for cloning where a species is nearly extinct (only one animal left), but otherwise I am afraid the arguments are unconvincing.
The ethics are certainly doubtful. Where is all this leading? To cloning of humans? I suspect so:
http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/cienci...tica08.htm (NB Notice that the human embryo was combined with a cow egg stripped of its nucleus!)
and
http://www.popsci.com/science/article/20...harvesting
Let's leave Dr Frankenstein's monster as fiction, eh?!
