Scientists have successfully cloned sheep and cattle for several years. A farmer is considering the advantages and disadvantages of having a flock of sheep cloned from a single individual. Discuss the issues the farmer should take into account before making a decision.

Cloning is the mechanism by which one living organism takes genetic material and produces identical copies of it. Cells, organs, chromosomes and whole species have been cloned by geneticists.

The scientist need to take of some of the issues before cloning of sheep are as following:

Conflict with long-standing religious and social values about human dignity, probably infringing the principles of equality, identity and autonomy of each person. Cloned embryos face the same difficulties as naturally occurring pregnancies, plus others that are unique to cloning, so embryonic condition should be maintained. Cloned embryos surviving pregnancy may be born with a number of birth defects and other health issues. However, cloned cells can lack the programming required to tell the genes when to turn on and off. The outcome could be disorganised cell growth or abnormal functioning of the cell, all of which may lead to death of an organism.