Cloning, defined as the production of an organism that is genetically identical to its parent, either by vegetative production or by a laboratory technique, has been center stage in ethical and moral issues world wide. Some of these issues include; ethical issues that ask us to consider the potential moral outcomes of cloning technologies, legal issues that require researchers and the public to aid policymakers to determine whether and how cloning technologies should be regulated by the government, and social issues that involve how it will affect the society as a whole.
It has also been an issue that is subject to debate, especially when human cloning is involved. These so called assisted reproductive technologies have paved the way in the advancement of the capability to boost Virginia’s animal industry, which remains to be a multi-million dollar one. This article explains why.
The Center for Reproductive Excellence Using Advanced Technology and Endocrinology or CREATE, has been based in the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary medicine in order to manage the university’s expertise and paraphernalia within this area. The laboratory of CREATE offers an inter-disciplinary education type of research, as well as a clinical source that is one of its kind in the Mid-Atlantic States. Dr. Bill Lev, a professor at the Large Animal Clinical Sciences Department is co-author of the grant which aided in the funding of the center. Their research is aided by using a variety of microscopes from compound ones to metallorgraphic microscopes.
There are three generations of assisted reproductive technologies, or ARTs, using the fresh or frozen semen that has been described sixty years ago. The second, explains Dr. Lev, is the embryo transfer or ET and is about forty years old since its discovery. The third is a combination of ebryo sexing, oocyte recovery and in vitro fertilization or IVF. It also includes gamete intrafallopian transfer or GIFT, zygote intrafallopian transfer or ZIFT and inntracytoplasmic sperm injection or ICSI. These methods of assisted reproductive technologies are believed to be less than two decades old.
The fourth and most controversial generation of assisted reproductive technologies involves embryo cloning, transgenic production, DNA (a nucleic acid molecule in the form of a twisted double strand, called the double helix that is the major component of chromosomes and carries genetic information) transplantation and parthenogenesis (a form of reproduction, especially in plants, insects, and arthropods, in which a female gamete develops into a new individual without fertilization by a male gamete) or auto fertilization. DNA strands can be looked at a closer view by using microscopes, metallorgraphic microscopes are an example of the wide array of microscopes.
Although cloning might be an effective solution to dwindling populations of well bred horses, researchers must take into consideration the fact that the success rate in cloning is quite low. Horse owners and equine breeders must weigh the risks involved when cloning. Even if researchers increase the odds of success, problems can stem from the clone’s development, both before and after pregnancy. Despite these risks, cloning seems to be a reasonable answer when it comes to infertility problems.
The possible implications of cloning as a society as a whole and not only what benefits they may have in the equine breeding industry should be considered. Researchers, policymakers and the public have a responsibility to explore the potential effects of assisted reproductive technologies on our lives so that informed decisions may be made.

ORIGINAL TEXT:
(Mar 28) The possibility of human cloning and other advancements in assisted reproductive technologies have recently captured a niche on the news agenda and focused ethical issues for a national debate. But these same advancements have the capability to significantly boost Virginia’s multi-million dollar agricultural animal industry.
In an effort to better organize university expertise and equipment in this area, the Center for Reproductive Excellence Using Advanced Technology and Endocrinology (CREATE) has been established at the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine.
The CREATE Lab serves as an inter-disciplinary educational, research, and clinical resource that is unique throughout the Mid-Atlantic states, according to Dr. Bill Ley, professor, Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences, and co-author of the grant which funded the center.
Three distinct generations of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) with fresh or frozen semen, was initially described about six decades ago, according to Ley. The second, embryo transfer (ET), is about four decades old. The third, which includes embryo sexing, oocyte recovery and in vitro fertilization (IVF); gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT); zygote intrafallopian transfer (ZIFT); and inntracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), is less than 20 years old.
The fourth generation of assisted reproductive technologies is now on the horizon and entails embryo cloning, transgenic embryo production, nuclear (DNA) transplantation or transfer, and parthenogenesis (auto-fertilization). Read more on this article