Developmental Biology

As biotechnologies are improving and especially in relation to research on stem cell , it provides great potential for  regenerative medicine necessary for treating genetic human defects. Therapeutic cloning is whereby nuclear material that has been isolated from a given somatic cell is transferred into an oocyte that is enucleated so as to derive embryonic lines of cell having similar genome to nuclear donor. While the procedure has continued to attract huge opposition from the scientific community, it could offer invaluable method for therapeutic research for clinical treatment (Konrad &Rudolf, 275).  

The promise offered by therapeutic cloning is that it could proof an effective technique of deriving stem cells from an embryo and then using them to develop therapies that are disease and patient specific. They could also be used to produce stem cells that have characteristics of a specific disease.  The process also includes clinical applications by using the therapeutic cloning product as way of delivering genes m creating animal models of various diseases affecting humans and also, therapy that involves cell replacement in regenerative medicine (Kfoury, 112).  The technique can offer an effective way of enhancing the treatment of various diseases including blood disorders, neurodegenerative diseases and even diabetes. Recent breakthroughs especially in relation to the two diseases mentioned lastly offers great potential for improved treatment for humans (Greggains & Gareth D., et al, 3844).

 However, there are various risks involved which relates to the fact that the process can be inefficient and prone to many errors which can result to failures. The process can lead to other immune disorders and other drawbacks such as oncogenic activation and past research have shown possibility of inducing leukemia in some patients (Kfoury, 112).  There is much that remains to be known regarding the specific characteristics of stems cells from human embryo which further complicates the issue.

Works cited

 

Greggains, Gareth D., et al. "Therapeutic potential of somatic cell nuclear transfer for degenerative disease caused by mitochondrial DNA mutations." Scientific reports 4 (2014): 3844.

 

Hochedlinger, Konrad, and Rudolf Jaenisch. "Nuclear transplantation, embryonic stem cells, and the potential for cell therapy." New England Journal of Medicine 349.3 (2003): 275-286.

 

Kfoury, Charlotte. "Therapeutic cloning: promises and issues." McGill Journal of Medicine: MJM 10.2 (2007): 112.