Cloning is an identical genetic copy of a living organism. In the year 1996, scientists successfully cloned a sheep, naming the clone Dolly. This is the most commonly known clone that has existed. According to the article Cloning by Biotechnology: In Context, cloning is used for many things from Therapeutic cloning to reproductive cloning. These types of cloning can be beneficial, but have some side effects.
Reproductive cloning is when you create a baby version of an animal from an adult with the same genes. Due to the presence of genes in the mitochondria of the parent, these clones are not identical. This has application in the future for mass producing animals for medicinal and food purposes. This can also be used to help a species near extinction by producing thousands more of that species. However, due to lack of variety in the genes of this species, we are unsure if this is a long-term solution. Also, the success rates of cloning are 10 percent or less.
Therapeutic cloning is the creation of a cloned embryo, or unborn offspring, for research purposes. Specifically, this is the production of embryonic stem cells, or organisms that are created with the exact same cell. This could help cure diseases like Alzheimer's in the future. Another possibility of therapeutic cloning is the growth of replacement tissues in laboratories. The ability of these cells to create entire organs from one cell could save thousands of lives. There are concerns of problems with this. This type of cloning is very similar to cancer cells. Sometimes stem cells have mutated into cancerous cells. Also, this has to do with the creation and destruction of embryos, leading to many moral issues.
Cloning has many uses, but just as many drawbacks. You could try to give someone an organ and instead give them cancer. There are moral objections to cloning and it has been banned to clone humans in many countries. Cloning is a marvel of science and could lead to many scientific breakthroughs, but this would come a a cost.