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What countries have banned human cloning? What is Canada’s position on this issue? Are there any "news-worthy" examples of contraventions of these rules?
Cloning is something that has been discussed for ages, whether that's in the media or courts. Its portrayed by the media as a way to create an identical version of yourself, where that person contains all your memories and looks, talks and acts the exact same way you do. This way of thinking however is marginally mistaken however as medically the term cloning can be defined as a number of different processes that lead to the production of a genetically identical entity. Cloning has gone through various different stages and trials and it continues to do so as scientists try and clone human beings. Although cloning has been established there has not been clear evidence stating anyone has cloned human embryos successfully. There has been cases where scientists have claimed to have successfully clone a human embryo. For example in 1998 South Korean scientists declared they had done it, but the experiment that was being conducted was thwarted in its earlier stages as the clone only consisted of 4 cells in a group. There have been various other groups such as the religious group clonaid, where their belief was that humans were created by extraterrestrials and claimed to have provided the world with the first cloned human. When asked for evidence however none was provided. There has been success with cloning animals though as in 1997 the announcement of dolly's birth engraved a milestone in science and medical advancement. Dolly was a female Finn Dorset sheep who lived from 1996 to 2003.Dolly was created through the process of SCNT which stands for somatic cell nuclear transfer. The technique is performed in which the cytoplasm of an enucleated egg(which is an egg that has been removed of its own nucleus) has a nucleus of a somatic (body) transferred into it. Now once it enters the egg the somatic nucleus is reprogrammed by the cytoplasmic factors which in turn causes the formation of a zygote(fertilized egg) nucleus which will continue to multiply and eventually sprout out an organism. For humans however there have been outstanding issues, whether that is medically, socially or even ethically.

Ethical Concerns
One of the main factors that caused the ban of human cloning were the different concerns such as the ethical concerns involved.A cloned embryo which has been intended to be implanted into a womb needs meticulous molecular testing to ensure the embryo is healthy and whether the cloning process is complete. This process has further been condemned because of the 100 failed attempts by scientists to clone a macaque in 2007.Te risks have just proven to be highly dangerous and can lead to the loss in lives.There have also been talks about eugenics which is the notion that states cloning can be used to deliver "preferable" humans which many believe violates human freedom, dignity and decency.The matters aforementioned don't particularly cover therapeutic cloning. Some groups such as religious groups have voiced their opinion on therapeutic cloning and state that encourages the idea that human life can be created and expended for any desirable outcome and it can be seen as the manufacture and destruction of human life. There are supporters however who believe that it should be publicly funded because of the potential it has to help those in need.

Social Concerns
Social concerns on the matter directly tie into the ethical concerns,as the ethics behind the matter dictate how people will react based on affair.One of the most important things that is not adequately realized is the education on the topic,a lot of the opinions on the matter are taken by face value which causes misunderstandings and fear. Educating people on the various benefits and risks are equally important so that people can voice their own opinions.Another issue that arises is the cost and availability if the ban was not in play, can the average person afford its use and who gets to choose how its utilized? Another social/ethical issue is one that tackles it in the case of its success, which means the production of human who is essentially parentless depersonalized. It creates this notion psychologically that the person has been tripped of their individuality and uniqueness because they have not been made the traditional way.

Relevancy
What makes human cloning such a big deal? Why is it advocated thoroughly by scientists around the world? The main reason why it is talked about so much is because of the potential it has to help individuals. For example therapeutic cloning is relevant as it can provide a pathway for allowing an individual's own cells to be utilized to treat whatever disease they may possess. It can assist in producing replacements in skin cells, cartilage and bone tissue which is beneficial for those who have been in accidents and traumatic events. In therapeutic cloning once the process of implanting the somatic cell has been completed the process of division occurs and in around 5 or 6 days the cells can be extracted. The process however still utilizes egg cells which scientists in the future hope to remedy as they learn how the different protein factors in the egg cause the somatic cells to become stem cells(de-differentiation).One of the major misconception surrounding the matter is that they think of sexual reproduction when the word cloning is mentioned, which is inaccurate as SCNT has nothing to do with it.Its a revolutionizing research technique that can be used to treat various illnesses and diseases such as Parkinson's Disease, diabetes, ALS, etc. In a hypothetical scenario, lets say a man has suffered a heart attack and hes taken to the hospital to be treated, by the time he has reached there its been too long and he wont be able to return to his daily activities. If a small sample of his skin cells are taken,they can be used to create heart muscle cells via SCNT(somatic cell nuclear transfer).These cells can then be implanted into the man with no resistance from his immune system and in time it will aid in his full recovery.

Human cloning case
One particular case of human cloning that demonstrated promise was on October 13th where a group of scientists attempted to clone a human embryo.Their mission started with consulting the ethics advisory board which consisted of counselors,lawyers,fertility experts,and independent ethicists.They allowed the mission to proceed with various issues that the board considered.Their next step was to recruit women who could provide eggs for the procedure to be conducted.They only accepted women who were between ages 24 and 32 and had one child at least.They tried Parthenogenesis, which is a method of reproduction where the egg develops into an embryo without the use of sperm to fertilize it.The idea was to arrange the embryos at an early stage to divide into hollow spheres called blastocysts.From there the plan was to isolate the human stem cells from the blastocysts for treatment for diseases and such.However only one of the embryos made it to the six-cell stage where then the division was thwarted by unknown methods.