Difference Between Cloning & Stem Cell Research

Despite the differences, both cloning and stem cell research are closely linked and may be used together in the laboratory. The scientific goals are to use cloning to duplicate life and stem cell research for healing life. Though each offer beneficial promises for mankind, ethical, social and political controversy circle both areas of research.

Cloning

• Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), which engages in genetic biochemistry for the U.S. government, notes the three types of cloning: DNA, reproductive and therapeutic. DNA cloning is “the transfer of a DNA fragment of interest from one organism to a self-replicating genetic element.” This is also known as "recombinant DNA technology," molecular cloning and gene cloning. Reproductive cloning re-creates animal life that is a genetically identical DNA copy of an existing animal. Therapeutic cloning, also known as embryo cloning, is the method of production to create human embryos for research purposes, including stem cell research.

Stem Cell Research

• Biomedical researchers find stem cells important, because according to ORNL “they can be used to generate virtually any type of specialized cell in the human body.” Research involves stems cells found in the adult human body, with the most accessible being in the skin. Stem cells are also extracted from umbilical cord blood and human embryos. The stem cells are used to replace diseased or damaged human tissue. The theory is that stem cells are the key method to heal most health conditions such as heart disease, spinal cord injury, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, diabetes, arthritis and cancer. In the embryonic research, removing the stem cells destroys the embryo, which ORNL acknowledges as raising “a variety of ethical concerns.”

Genetic Engineering

• Both cloning and stem cell research are used in genetic engineering, a science or technology that makes changes in the DNA structure of a cell or living organism. Stem cell research is involved in the process to make the genetic improvements, while cloning duplicates altered cells, according to the Pew Research Center of Washington D.C. In its October 2005 report published by the Pew Charitable Trusts, "Exploring the Moral and Ethical Aspects of Genetically Engineered and Cloned Animals," “genetic engineering and cloning go hand in hand” to create identical copies of a genetically engineered animals.

Patents and Profits

• Researchers involved in both cloning and stem cell research are afforded the opportunity to obtain patents on a DNA product. According to ORNL, “DNA products usually become patentable when they have been isolated, purified, or modified to produce a unique form not found in nature.“ A patent right may be obtained on genes or gene fragments, gene tests, proteins, stem cells or alterations in the genome sequence. The main difference in patent rights is the industries from which the profits are obtained. For cloning, the duplicated animal is primarily intended for sale to industrial or agricultural markets. Patents currently on record include sheep, monkeys, fish and cats.

  In stem cell research, laboratories and researchers pay for the right to use an altered cell. ORNL cites the problems to include “undue costs to the researcher who wants to examine the sequence” and the need for staff to review legal documents regarding existing and new patents.

Controversy

• Ethical discussions bring both cloning and stem cell research into public controversy and dispute. The controversial aspect of stem cell research revolves around destruction of a human embryo that many believe is a human life. For cloning, concerns revolve around the safety of genetically modified meats from agricultural animals and a number of issues if progressing into human cloning. Glenn McGee for ActionBioScience lists a number of concerns that include basic human rights, safety, responsibility for children and alternatives for deformed offspring. Summarizing that human cloning crosses “a natural barrier that is moral in character.”