Imagine being able to cure diseases like Parkinson's disease or diabetes. Today, more than one million Americans are living with Parkinson's disease (Parkinson's Disease Statistics) and more than twenty-five million have been diagnosed with diabetes (Diabetes Statistics). Cloning could offer a cure for these diseases and more. A clone is defined as an identical copy of an organism or cell, made from the genetic material of a single organism (Cloning). Although the cloning process is still in development, it is quickly becoming a reality. There are two distinct types of cloning: reproductive and therapeutic. Both processes can be accomplished using the same technology called nuclear transfer. Nuclear transfer is defined by the Encyclopedia Britannica as “the introduction of the nucleus of a cell into an enucleated egg cell (an egg cell from which the nucleus has been removed)”. This process can be accomplished by direct removal of the nucleus from the cell or by fusion of the cell with the egg. The transferred cell then begins to divide and develop into an embryo. Therapeutic cloning involves creating an embryo from a somatic cell, such as a skin cell, and then using the embryo's cells to develop cells and tissues of various types, such as neural cells. or blood, which can be used to repair the body. In reproductive cloning, the goal is to create an embryo that could be implanted into a surrogate female and allowed to develop to term rather than being harvested for its cells. Although both processes may be referred to as cloning, they produce two distinct results. Cloning, in one form or another, has been around for millennia. People have been cloning plants for thousands of years by cutting off pieces of roots, stems or leaves and...... middle of paper ......man Reproductive Cloning HL Bill (2001-02) 57, cl 1 “Nuclear Transfer”. Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica online. EncyclopædiaBritannica Inc., 2014. Web. April 9, 2014.Nüsslein-Volhard, Christiane. “Cloning for research purposes should be allowed, but not reproductive cloning.” Cloning. Ed. Jacqueline Langwith. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2012. Opposing Viewpoints. Rep. of “Manipulation of the human embryo”. USA Today January 2011: 30-33. Opposing viewpoints in context. Internet. April 9, 2014. “Diabetes Statistics: American Diabetes Association.” American Diabetes Association.NP, nd Web. April 11, 2014. “Parkinson’s Disease Statistics.” Parkinson's Disease Foundation (PDF). Np, and Web. April 12, 2014. “Therapeutic cloning”. Therapeutic cloning. Np, January 24, 2002. Web. April 13, 2014. “Why organ, eye and tissue donation?” » Organ Donor.gov. Np, and Web. April 13. 2014.