Cloning is like photocopying a life form. An exact copy wont effect the food chain. We can use cloning for such things as preserving life by sustaining certain species on the planet and keeping the food chain in correct balance. I would say that we should try and stop killing off species, but we can't go back in time and fix past mistakes like endangering a species very easily.
I think youre more thinking along the lines of how does genetics affect the balance of things. Yes, we rushed into genetics and caused some problems. If anyone is familiar with this type of science, one notable instance of a mistake was BT corn. A genetically modified type of corn engineered to resist insects. Not only did it resist them, but tests showed that the milkweed leaves (the primary diet of monarch caterpillars) that were heavely dusted with BT corn pollen became sick. The scientists who did this study assumed that because of this, BT corn was a risk to monarch butterflies. This is the type of effect I think you're referring to. Tests later done by the USDA proved that BT presented little to no risk towards monarchs.
But genetics is growing by leaps and bounds and geneticists are much more careful about the possible side effects of genetically engineered organisms on other life on the planet.
Somewhere around 70% of the worlds crops are GMO's. Btw.
edit: The caterpillars got sick, not the milkweed.... My fingers are really slow and my brain works too fast for them.....sometimes
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