ISSN-L: 0798-1015 • eISSN: 2739-0071 (En línea)

https://www.revistaespacios.com Pag. 18

DOI: 10.48082/espacios-a22v43n06p02

Disagreements in cloning for business purposes

In the next one hundred years, about half of Earth’s species could have been disappeared. In fact, the human

activities of the past two centuries might have had the severest impact on mass extinction of all time (De Salle,

means the artificial conception of a genetically identical individual through Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer (SCNT).

The genetic information is thereby not manipulated but copied. By means of cloning of animals, mostly

Doctorate Candidate in Business Administration . International Management School Geneva, Switzerland. Chair: Mutations & Agility. Email:

harmful consequences are considered (IUCN, 2016). The Cambridge dictionary defines biodiversity as “the

number and types of plants and animals that exist in a particular area or in the world generally, or the problem

This paper aims to analyze the modification of somatic cells by nucleus transfer for multiplication, also known as

cloning, with a literature review on governance (policy and ethics), scientific view, cases, and possible business

focused on the specifics of cloning.

1.1. Cloning historical background

publication of the paper, also with European countries and China prohibiting human cloning (Kolata, 1998).

histocompatibility marrow to save her from leukemia. So, in this book he discussed the possibility of human

cloning for saving lives.

Although the sheep Dolly seems the most prominent case in cloning. According to the Genetic Science Learning

Center of the University of Utah (2017), its history goes back to 1885 when Hans Dreisch showed that by shaking

a two-cells embryo of a sea urchin, it would separate it cells and generate two sea urchins, showing for the first

time that each cell holds a complete set of genetic information.

division in advanced stages of the embryo.

clone of an extinct species - the Bucardo – which ended up dying right after birth due to a lung problem (Genetic

The term cloning refers to different practices that generates an identical copy of a living organism (National

Human Genome Institute (NHGI), 2017), that can also occur naturally, like in identical twins. According to the

NHGI (2017) for artificial cloning there are three types:

Also, SCNT gives more room to replicate species that are endangered or extinct, since only requires a nucleus

from a non-reproductive cell and a female reproductive cell without its nucleus. Even when considering the

uterus for the conception of the specie, it may be possible for the usage of foster mothers from similar species.

2.1. Disagreements in the application of cloning technologies – should we?

ethical and moral concerns of the implementation of cloning. Cloning for saving endangered species is a

controversially discussed topic, where some scientists are in favor of the procedure, while others’ view is more

skeptical (Lee, 2001).

when there are only a few dozen of these animals left and they are positive, that clones could increase the genetic

extinction (Lee, 2001).

the tissues on ice and keeping them in so-called “frozen zoos”. In the hope that in the future, when the technique

has improved, the DNA would already be there. (Jabr, 2013, West, 1988, Lee, 2001). Also, it is argued that cloning

techniques of endangered species may be a possible choice to maintain animals in captivity in poor countries,

without sufficient resources for conservation (Lanza et al, 2000).

destruction, they fear that funds, which would go into habitat preservation, may divert away (Lee, 2001).

Critics also see a decline in the genetic variety within a species when cloning, which could bring possible

emergence of inheritable anomalies and diseases through cloning (Camenzind, 2010). Furthermore, scientists

are critical of the present technology of cloning, which they say is too ineffective to make much of a difference.

The average success rate is of less than five percent, concerning wild animals even less than one percent (Jabr,

The low success rate is mostly because clones are not exact replicas of their counterparts, by a procedure of

surrogate mothers from a related domestic species are being used to carry out the offspring. The problem is that

the embryo often fails to develop properly in the womb of its surrogate mother (Jabr, 2013). Therefore, clones

have problems in developing abnormalities and premature aging, which leads to suffering and short lives (IUCN,

The policy structure is also divided into the direct regulations in cloning (e.g. COM/2013/0892 - European

Parliament and the Council proposal on cloning of animals for farming procare), which does not apply to the

cloning of endangered species, and into indirect regulations in cloning, like regulation for biodiversity protection

and/or genetic manipulation that may direct or indirect affect cloning (e.g. 16 U.S.C. Section 1536(a)(2) of the

USA Endangered Species Act (ESA)).

The regulation of Animal welfare takes ethical considerations into account through a cost-benefit analysis of the

harm to the animal versus the benefit to humans (West, 1988). Therefore, this chapter also discusses ethics

(Sossin & Smith, 2003).

3.1. Direct cloning regulations

addressing the threats LMOs pose to biological diversity and possibly to human health. Animal cloning does not

appear to fall within the scope of the Cartagena Protocol, since a cloned animal does not fit the definition of an

On the European level, an EU proposal (COM/2013/0892) might be introduced to organize the cloning of bovine,

porcine, ovine, caprine, and equine species that are kept and reproduced for farming processes (European Union

Law, 2013). The aim of these laws in the European Union is to try at least a preliminary approval of the agriculture

used - as examples given in chapter 4 - for cloning high valued cattle for trading purposes which could diminish

Contrary to the EU proposal, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) (FDA, 2018) considers that

animal products derived from clones are safe for human consumption, according to their research and expert

There are regulations regarding endangered species protection, where the cloning them, may be seen as risky

for introducing animals sharing the same genetic material inside a group, that might in the long term cause

problems due to the low genetic variability. Like the case presented by the ESA in USA (16 U.S.C. Section

The ESA in the USA, more precisely 16 U.S.C. Section 1536(a)(2) (Endangered Species Act, 2000, p.1), says that

agencies cannot authorize or fund activities that are: “not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of any

The benefit in the classic utilitarismus of Bentham is described as lust, in Singer’s “preference utilitarianism”, as

social density can be a reason for suffering (Camenzind, 2010). The question remains, how far this position goes.

It is obvious that it includes animals, but it does not determine if all animals are considered or only selected

About the application of cloning of animals, two main issues need to be considered: Do the animal feel pain or

would those animals be integrated in nature and learning their behavior? Some might argue that foster families

from similar species could play the role, but this wouldn’t teach specifics of the species culture. Thus, under the

pathocentrism optcs it is concluded that against the application of cloning of endangered species.

In 2001 a group of European researchers (Loi et al., 2001.) published a paper about their cloning of a Mouflon

(Ovis orientalis musimon), a specie of a wild sheep which is in risk of extinction, using the ovary cells (oocytes) of

a close related domesticated specie.

The nuclear donor of those cells were dead animals, which may imply the possibility of cloning already extinct

species, as long as there is a close related animal. This means that the cloning of dead animals is a real possibility

and the constraint would be the low success rate of cloning (1-2% of embryos becomes viable offspring).

Loi et al. (2013), points out that, although possible to clone, the finding of a close related specie to be a foster

mother, for the cloning process could be a major problem. Given the low success rates there are researches on

how to optimize and increase success rate, and the optimal use of foster mothers (e.g. Wakai et al., 2013).

(Paes, 2009), the agency reserved cells from dead animals in the Brasília zoo and plan on using roadkill. (ibidem)

and being more resistant to diseases (West, 2006).

for cloning of “special” individuals of a specie, leading - if lead to an extreme - to a decrease in intraspecies

There are many applications, as a value proposition, for the utilization of cloning in different industries, such as

food and agriculture, healthcare and medical, tourism, and cosmetics. Cloning applications can be used on a vast

array of animals, to produce the desired genotypes, such as award animals or near to extinction (Westhusin et

al., 2001). Therefore, the applications for more efficient natural inputs attributions (e.g. larger animals, fruits

biodiversity in the sense of repeating genetic material, which may lead to a weakening of the specie in the long

animals for hunting in 2070, and that cloning extinct animals could become a value proposition to increase the

cloning through SCNT, but adding a step of doing genetic modification to increase the diversification, the

technique may be beneficial for increasing the number of living organisms in a certain species, with genetic

One has to consider that cloning can be used not only for large, macro-species but as well it can be used in

enzymes, bacteria, fungus, etc. which can be used in industrial processes in food, pharmaceutical, and other

applications, from bread, dairy, wine, to fish and juice extraction, between many. Also, enzymes are being used

for vaccines, for antigens delivery in oral covid-19 vaccines, for example (Kaur & Gupta, 2020).

dairy production, or cloning Rhizomucor miehei, which is a fungal glycogen breaching enzyme, that can increase

On the medical industry, another example would be cloning for organ harvesting. Iran has legalized the sale of

harvesting become an acceptable practice?