Topic: Cloning and Gene Modification

Country: Canada

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E: Events
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A: Agreements
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R: Reports
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Hook
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Scroll down to next page this is what i do in mun

Topic Guide Notes:
- Scientists Cloned Plants
- in order to maintain food supplies worldwide, as well as manipulate
the genetic makeup of crops, in order to make them more resistant to
diseases
- Scientists Cloned Animals
- helped in the preservation of endangered species by cloning those
whose existence as a species is considered threatened
- Human Cloning: process of producing an identical copy of an existing
human
- creation of this copy is artificial, and involves the copying of human
cells and tissues to make a clone
- Genetic Modification: process of manipulating an organism’s genes to
change the genetic makeup of its cells in order to produce new and improved
organisms

Pros
1) Reproductive Cloning
Purposes: it would give infertile
couples the opportunity to have a
baby using their own genetic
information, allowing the child
to possess similar genes to its
parents.
2) Potentially Eliminate
Hereditary Genetic Diseases:
through selective breeding and
genetic manipulation, in which
DNA would only be used from
healthy individuals when
creating babies.
Quality of life ^
3) Therapeutic Cloning: healthy
human cells are cloned in order
to be used in transplants and
medicine. This is different then
Cons
1) Medically Based Unstableness:
cloning process for humans is
unstable, and that a cloned
individual may have an
accelerated aging process, or be
born with unforeseen genetic
diseases due to the incompetent
transferring of DNA.
2) Well-being Of The Cloned
Individual: The cloning of a
human can reduce that
individual’s self-identity by
designing it to be the perfect
human with perfect genes, and
ridding it of its original
uniqueness.
3) Rifts in Social Class: by
allowing the wealthy access to
creating better children through
 reproductive human cloning,
which would create an entirely
new cloned human, rather then
just the creation of specific
tissues.
genetic manipulation.
4) Fundamental Rights : critics of
human cloning and genetic
manipulation, cite such
experimentation with human life
as a violation of human dignity,
and as a contravention to the
fundamental rights of an
individual.

If these member states continue to partake in these questionable methods, it is

possible that their experiments for curing hereditary diseases will soon extend to
include procedures aimed at producing “superior” humans, which arguably,
infringes on human dignity.

genetic cloning and manipulation ought to be resolved once and for all, on the
basis of preserving human dignity and an individual’s fundamental natural rights

- UNESCO passed the Universal Declaration on the Human Genome and

Human Rights in 1997.
- expressed opposition to human cloning on the basis that it abused the
human genome and violated human dignity.
- Declaration on Human Cloning in 2005.
- prohibits “all forms of human cloning an as much as they are
incompatible with human dignity and the protection of human life,”
and calls on all member states to ban human cloning.
- With 191 nations voting, there were 84 votes in favor of the
declaration, 34 against the declaration, and 37 abstentions. This
showed that the UN General Assembly was divided on the issue.7
Canada (2004) passed a bill that bans human cloning but permits research using
stem cells derived from embryos -- research that scientists hope will lead to
therapies for many of the worst human diseases.

The bill states that "No person shall knowingly create a human clone by using any
technique," which would include therapeutic cloning, a technology researchers
believe could lead to revolutionary treatments.

In addition, Canada's bill allows researchers to use embryos leftover from in vitro
fertilization treatments to create stem cells, but bans payments to donors of the
sperm, egg or whole embryo.

Genetic Modification Canada (Animals/Plants)

Animals:

Canada takes a unique stance on gene editing by regulating any products that
contain novel traits, including gene edited animals, regardless of the process (e.g.
conventional breeding, mutagenesis, transgenesis or gene editing) used to develop
the product. Any animals that contain novel traits require environmental and safety
assessments to be approved. Most mutagenic products currently being developed
are not considered organisms with novel traits, and it is likely that this will also be
the case for most gene edited organisms, which will therefore be regulated as
conventional.

Plants:

A coalition of 13 countries announced this week that it would “support policies

that enable agricultural innovation, including genome editing.” They detailed their
policy prescriptions in a statement released at a World Trade Organization meeting
in Geneva, Switzerland on November 2. Signatories include Argentina, Australia,
Brazil, Canada, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, Jordan,
Paraguay, the United States, Uruguay, Vietnam and the Secretariat of the Economic
Community of West African States.

However, In 2021, the Canadian government proposed regulatory guidance that

would remove oversight from many gene-edited plants entering the marketplace.
The Non-GMO Project is a significant stakeholder in the GMO debate, and the
Product Verification Program includes many items produced or sold in Canada. In
support of our Canadian colleagues at the Canadian Biotechnology Action
Network (CBAN), we submitted the following letter to the Canadian Minister of
Agriculture and Agri-Food.

Health Canada assesses the safety of all novel foods proposed for sale or
advertising in Canada.
Manufacturers are required to submit detailed scientific data for review by Health
Canada before such foods can be authorized for sale.
A team of Health Canada scientists carries out the assessment. The team includes:
● chemists
● nutritionists
● toxicologists
● microbiologists
● molecular biologists
The Guidelines for the Safety Assessment of Novel Foods Derived from Plants and
Microorganisms outlines the specific criteria for the safety assessment of novel
foods.
Health Canada also:
● stays up to date on all new scientific advances involving GM foods
● maintains a complete list of assessed novel foods (including novel GM
foods)
● administers the provisions of the Food and Drug Regulations relating to
novel foods
Motion for a 5 min mod with 30 second speaking time regarding plant genetic
modification on food.

Plant Speech:

Honorable Chair and Fellow Delegates,

The delegation of Canada believes that we should assess the safety of all
genetically modified foods proposed for sale or advertising in your respective
countries. We should require manufacturers to submit detailed scientific data for
review before such foods can be authorized for sale. We should develop a team of
scientists to carry out the assessment. The team should include:
● chemists
● nutritionists
● toxicologists
● microbiologists
● molecular biologists
The delegation of Canada urges other countries to implement these ideas to keep
citizens safe.
Thank you, I yield my time to the chair.

Don’t have to motion for anything because it is opening speech

Opening Speech:

Honorable Chair and Fellow Delegates,

Hook: In Canada, the Assisted Human Reproduction Act of 2004 passed. It was
designed to protect the health and well-being of children

Point: As said in that Act, the delegation of Canada believes that editing the human
genome in any way that could be inherited (as in creating human clones,
prescribing any thing that would ensure or increase the probability that an embryo
will be of a particular sex, etc.) is punishable up to 5 years in prison.

The law allows an adult to take skin or muscle cells from their body and alter them
through gene editing (perhaps to fix a protein deficiency) and replacing them. The
law only takes issue if there are any changes to “germ line” cells–those that could
pass on edits to a future human. (Eggs or sperm)

This law continues to be current in 2022. If a person were to contravene any

provision of this Act, they are liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding
$250,000 or to imprisonment not exceeding five years, or both.

Action: The delegation of Canada urges other countries to establish laws such as
the Assisted Human Reproduction Act to help preserve human dignity and
preserve individual’s fundamental natural rights.

Thank you, I yield my time to the chair.

https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/a-13.4/
Editing Human Genome for reproductive purposes not allowed

Under the Assisted Human Reproduction Act of 2004, therapeutic cloning is

prohibited.