BIOLOGY ASSIGNMENT

RESUME AND OPINION

SYAFA ARUM AFSARI
18/423131/PA/18214

How to Build a Human: Creation (BBC Documentary)

SUMMARY
We are setting into a fantastic voyage. A journey into inner space. A journey into the world of our cells
because this is where our future lays inside each one of us. Never before can we navigate this microscopic
universe or view it so clearly. At the heart of each cell is DNA, a substance that builds every living creature in
this planet. And not only can we read our own DNA, we can manipulate it. The future is here now. It promises
to rebuild broken lines. Cells will be engineered to grow new organ. It heralds the brave new world of prediction-
superhuman with unhuman abilities; the hope of extended life, a true elixir of youth.
In the beginning all cells are single-celled. Then, it multiplied into cloning itself. Cloning is makin an
identical copy of itself. Biologist made a cloning by mixing gene to create a new species but, first they become
molecular experts they studied. Thw impact of that work triggers leaders in their fields such as Lee Silver from
Princeton. A girl named Sarah Waddington will give birth for an identical triplet. The triplet occur from the
process of cloning that is natural cloning, the embryo made an identical copy of itself.
With the improvement in technology and science, biologists and doctors can now manipulate genes.
Doctors make it using cloning. One of them is Dr. Jose Cibelli who wants to clone a human embryo. As he said,
it is not to create a human being but to repair damaged people. He calls it ‘therapeutic cloning’, a revolutionary
medicine that can transform the lives of many people especially the ones with sickness and disease. Doctors
make use of cloned stem cells to create human tissues which are essential for human organs. Doctor Anthony
Atala as a Doctor of Tissue Engineering have been growing body organs which he tested in animals. In the near
fturue, he thinks that these built organs will be available.
Human embryo has the capacity to grow and develop because of embryonic stem cell. Stem cells alone
transform themselves into any cells. He will need a stem from Dr. Judson Somerville, who had broken his back
from an accident, his spine is only supported by steelpin, to grow into spinal tissues.
To get stem cells, one must grow a human embryo. To create human embryo, Dr. Cibelli need an egg
and only one cell from Dr. Judson. He removed the nucleus of the egg and implanted one only cell of Dr. Judson
into the egg. He used electric shock to fertilize the egg instead of sperm. If it works, it will divide. Dr. Cibelli had
injected 30-40 eggs with the same DNA but nothing happened. By October 21, the egg had successfully
divided- the first cloned human embryo. But the egg has 6 cells only. In order to get stem cells, he will need to
grow an embryo with at least 50 cells. With this achievement, it is only the beginning for Dr. Cibelli and for
other doctors, biologists and scientists because the future of science is unpredictable.

OPINION
Through the improvement of science and technology, scientists and even biologists have already found
a way to manipulte our genes. It is contain a good effect and bad effect for human being in the future. The good
effect of cloning human embryo for stem cells is that it can provide treatment for those who are sick. It can
transform the lives of so many people . It will cause these people to go back to a normal living, being able to do
activities which they normally do before without the burden of sickness and disease. Meanwhile, bad effect of
cloning human embryo for stem cells is that a parent of dying child or a parent of a dead child might resort to
cloning his child just to bring him back to life. An hour after death, a person’s cell is still alive.
According to Prof. John Burn, a clone might look the same but it can never have the samwhich is e influence
of environment. The outside world has an impact on a person development. A human is a combination of nature
and nurture. For me, bringing back someone who has been dead is somehow immoral because it is already time
to let go of him/her. Cloning a dead person’s cell is different from a miracle, God’s way of restoring or
saving a life. With this, it will only decrease the mortality rate which might be bad in an economy.