What Are the Myths of Cloning?

Cloning is a controversial issue, particularly when the thought of cloning of a human being is taken into consideration. There are many myths about cloning that add to fears. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration seeks to disprove some of these myths.

There is Knowledge About the Effects of Cloning

• Cloning is not a new technique that has never been tested or proven to be safe. Popular plant foods that are eaten every day are actually clones. Fruits and vegetables take a long time to grow and are in very high demand. Thus some fruits and vegetable like bananas, peaches, apples, potatoes are grown from cloned plants rather than seeds.

Cloning Does Occur in Nature

• Cloning is not unnatural and actually does occur naturally in nature. Identical twins are considered to be clones of each other. Some sea animals such as starfish are able to reproduce through natural cloning.

DNA of Clones is not Grafted Into a Host

• Although clones are not created using sperm, an embryo is produced when an egg without a nucleus is fused with a cell containing specific DNA. The resulting embryo is then implanted into a female animal's womb and, in most cases, a normal pregnancy follows.

Clones Are not Identical to DNA Source

• According to the University of Utah Genetic Science Learning Center, animals produced through cloning do not look exactly like the animal from which their DNA came. Identical DNA displays itself slightly differently in each clone, just as identical twin humans have small differences that keep them from being exactly alike.

Clones Do not Behave the Same as DNA Donor

• Clones can have completely different personalities from the animal the clone originated from. Behaviors and responses to situation are not identical. Much of what creates personality comes from the environment. Temperament is partially determined by DNA but life experiences play an even larger role.

Clones Are not Weaker Than Original

• Although some cloned animals grow too large in the womb and are born with problems, animals that are born normal size and healthy are just as strong as the animal the clone originated from. Clones are not weaker than their DNA source, and their offspring are no weaker than any other animal.