What Affects Does Cloning Have on the Environment?
Lastly, one disease could wipe out an entire species that is vulnerable to a particular disease. Going back to the article on library.thinkquest.org, the writer explains that “cloning could cause endangered animals that have been cloned to be wiped out by the same disease. Because they would share the same genetic structure, they might all be susceptible to a particular disease” (Cloning, 2011). Although cloning would be an attempt to save the lives of animals that are in danger of being extinct, cloning could actually help wipe out the population faster. Since all the clones would have the same genetic information, they would all have the same immune systems that would all be weak to one disease. Another article on library.thinkquest.org called Con: Anti-Cloning Research describes how disease could affect an entire population of clones. It is said that “if a large percentage of an nation's cattle are identical clones, a virus, such as a particular strain of mad cow disease, could effect the entire population. The result could be catastrophic food shortages in that nation” (Con: Anti Cloning Research, 2011). Genetic diversity is the different combinations of genes. Having diversity increases chances of survival of a species. This explains that genetic diversity is needed because one cow’s genetics could have been immune to the disease. But since a cow that was vulnerable to the disease was cloned, the original cow and all its clones would be affected. The extinction of animals would not only affect animals, but humans as well since food sources would then lower. Although in Kwon’s article that stated cloning “can prevent endangered species from disappearing as well as allow healthier human beings” (Kwon, 2008), it is not true because even if endangered species were cloned successfully, all the clones would soon die from the same disease, thus putting the animals at risk of extinction again. In conclusion, cloning would be hazardous to the environment.