S T E M
BODY
CLONING
humans
by Leah Kaminski
Cloning Humans
STEM Body
Copyright 2021
Published by Full Tilt Press
Written by Leah Kaminski
All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
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permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
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Editorial Credits
Design and layout by Sara Radka
Edited by Renae Gilles
Copyedited by Nikki Ramsay
Image Credits
Flickr: Jun Seita, 27 (top); Getty Images: Brand X Pictures/Science Photo Library/Seonello
Calvetti, 9, E+/RichLegg, 4, Getty Images News, 9, 28 (left), iStock/abezikus, 18, iStock/
Antiv3D, 15, iStock/berya113, background, iStock/wildpixel, 13, Science Photo Library/
Christoph Burgstedt, cover, 11, Westend61, 14; Newscom: Luis Sevillano, 26 (top); Shutterstock:
Blue Andy, 12, Designua, 15, Drop of Light, 24, Emre Terim, 16, Monkey Business Images, 21,
Nathan Devery, 22, phipatbig, 29, Tatiana Shepeleva, 20, Yurchanka Siarhei, 6, 28 (right);
Wikimedia: Nissim Benvenisty, 8, PuppyEggs, 26 (bottom), The He Lab, 27 (bottom)
ISBN: 978-1-62920-837-4 (library binding)
ISBN: 978-1-68452-083-1 (ePub)
PRESS
CONTENTS
Introduction ........................................ 4
Growing Organs .................................6
Gene Therapy .................................... 12
Designer Babies ................................ 18
The Cloning Community ............... 24
Quiz ......................................................................... 28
Activity ................................................................... 29
Glossary ............................................................... 30
Read More ........................................................... 31
Internet Sites ...................................................... 31
Index ........................................................................ 32
INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION
4 STEM BODY
While many people imagine a
future of full-body human clones ,
almost countries have banned
human cloning . Lawmakers fear
the process would not be safe .
A body without a brain lies on a
table . A dying child is wheeled in . e
child and the body on the table are
identical . In surgery , the boys healthy
brain is taken out . It is placed in the
clone . e clone opens its eyes . Is it the
same child ? Whole body transplants are
not yet possible . But cloning science is
moving fast .
Scientists can already clone
small parts of people . ey can also
copy entire animals . is is called
reproductive cloning . Copying
humans is not allowed . But it is possible
to change babies before they are born .
is is called gene editing . It is closely
related to cloning .
A clone is a genetic copy of a
cell or an entire living thing . Genes
are in every cell . Parents pass them
to children . Genes control how the
organism grows . Cloning happens
in nature . Identical twins are clones .
Scientists can also clone cells , genes , or
animals on purpose.
reproductive : having to do with creating
new life
cell : a very small part of a living being
organism : a living thing
CLONING HUMANS
It is estimated that people die
every day waiting for an organ
transplant in the United States . Cloned
organs could help solve this problem.
6 STEM BODY
Growing Growing ORGANS ORGANS
Scientists can clone animal
cells , including human cells .
It is called therapeutic
cloning . One method is
called SCNT . at stands
for somatic cell nuclear
transfer . SCNT helps
scientists clone cells . Cloned
cells are put into a patient .
ey treat disease .
ere are many future
possibilities for SCNT . One is
making cloned organs from a
patients own cells .
A cloned organ would be
very safe . e organ would
match a patients body .
ere would be no rejection .
Rejection is when the body
attacks something . It thinks
the intruder does not belong .
Rejection is a common
and dangerous reaction to
organ transplants.
therapeutic : having to do with
health and healing
somatic : having to do with the
body rather than the mind
CLONING HUMANS
Cloning an organ would start with one cell . SCNT would be
used . In SCNT , a scientist takes a tiny needle . ey pull out the cells
nucleus . ey place it in a mothers egg cell . e changed egg cell
is shocked . is is done with electricity or special chemicals . e
cell begins dividing . Each new cell is a clone . ese clones are stem
cells . Stem cells are unique . ey can turn into any of the kinds of
human cells . is includes organ cells .
Once there are about stem cells , they can be taken out .
Scientists are on their way to growing organs from this kind of stem
cell . e organ would form from a clone of the original cell . e
