The Benefits and Ethics of Human Cloning
Introduction
On February 24, 1997, the whole world was shocked by the news that Scottish scientists had successfully cloned a sheep. Dolly an artificially cloned mammal was born a star. After the shock, that cloning was not only a possibility but a reality, wore off the out cry against human cloning began. Physicians, scientists, politicians and church leaders and many more have been trying to ban the cloning of humans ever since. Is cloning something to be afraid of? I do not believe it is. I believe that cloning will become a tool of science that will, in time, bring many benefits to humankind.
What is Cloning?
The Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia describes a clone as "an organism by an asexual (nonsexual) reproductive process"(clone 1). This definition means that we already have many clones on the earth today. The Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia also states that "the organisms known as prokaryotes (the bacteria and cyanobacteria), a number of other simple organisms, such as most protozoan, many other algae, and some yeast’s, also reproduce primarily by cloning, as do certain higher organisms like the dandelion or aspen tree"(clone 1). The Biology Textbook Concepts and Connections describes a clone as "a single organism that is genetically identical to another"(G-5). With this definition we can come to the conclusion that identical twins are also clones. Cloning then is not a new idea but one that has been around since the beginning of time.
How it is Done
Embryo Splitting or Blastomere Separation
Embryo splitting as Gregory Pence, a medical ethicist, writes is when "an embryo that has already been formed by sexual reproduction is split into two identical halves"(Flesh...
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... not just ourselves but the whole world.
Bibliography:
Pence, Gregory E., Flesh of my Flesh: the Ethics of Cloning Humans.
Lanham, Boulder, New York, Oxford: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers
Inc., 1998.
---. Who’s Afraid of Human Cloning. Lanham, Boulder, New York, Oxford:
Rowman and Littlefield Publishers Inc., 1998.
Campbell, Neil A., Lawrence G. Mitchell and Jane B. Reece, Biology:
Concepts and Connections, Third Edition. Addison Wesley Longman,
Inc., 1999.
---. Kimball’s Biology Essays: Can Humans Be Cloned. The Biology Place.
Online. 1999.
http://www.biology.com/Kimbell/C/CloningMammals.html
Encarta Encyclopedia
United States. National Bioethics Advisory Committee. Cloning Human
Beings volume 1: Report and Recommendations.
Long after Shelley wrote her classic masterpiece Frankenstein and Huxley wrote Brave New World, the ethical controversy of cloning conflicts with modern artificial intelligence research. The question that challenges the idea of negative or positive behavior in a replicated machine relies on its similarity to the source of the clone, whether it emulates human behavior or acts as a “superintelligence” with supernatural characteristics void of human error. Humanity will not know the absolute answers concerning behavioral outcome without creating a physical being, an idea portrayed in Shelley’s Frankenstein in which the creation of a monster emulates from his creator’s attempts to generate life. At the time of the novel’s publication, the idea of replicating a soul portrayed a nightmarish theme with little consideration for the potential scientific advancements to facilitate in reality. It lead the genetic idea of manmade intelligence and its ethics emerging from the relativity of space, time, and original life on the planet. The debate of the existing possibility of sentient machines continues to progress, but the consideration of ethical questions such as “Should we create these artificial people?” and “How does this enactment define the soul and mind?” warranted from primitive questions about machine learning within the last century. After the initial proof of possibility for sentient machines, the perfection of cloning will generate “good” behavior at its perfect state several generations from now. The perfect machine portrays the potential for sensible human behaviors including compassion, mentality, empathy, alertness, and love. Humanity of the twenty-first century possesses the knowledge to fantasize the idea of artificial ...
It is essential that human cloning is outlawed. It is salacious to perform, research, and promote these experiments on human subjects; it is neglectful, and shrewd to make the presence of this objective technology legal, let alone obtainable. Not only is human cloning hazardous and illogical, but morally incorrect and greatly dishonorable. The most alarming thought referring to human cloning is that it has the power to alter the foundation, that we as a nation, are assembled upon. What occurs after we take things too far and lose control? What happens when we are no more satisfied in simply seeking education of the physical universe? We will cross the line between natural and synthetic. What will differentiate God from man? Do we have the authorization to change the evolution of life? Science has proven that we can reproduce humans both naturally and unnaturally, but that does not mean that mean we should stop questioning whether or not we should scientifically reproduce humans.
Cloning is not new; experiments with frogs and toads go back to the 1970’ with the experiments concerning animal and plant embryos have been preformed for
Even though cloning is a huge step in the future there are many reason, concerns, and questions that need to be answered before they continue the research. There are questions like what’s going to happen, or what are you going to do with clones, or why are clones needed. The main concern is what are they going to do with the clones. Many people think that a clone is exactly like what they are cloning. False it starts off a baby its just like making a baby but in a very hard way which is unnecessary. Yeah it may receive more traits from the cloned human but its not needed. They also can not say they will use them for scientific research or testing because it is a live, breathing, and a HUMAN being. Thats just like taking someone off the streets and doing test on them without consent. This is serious and it should be stopped!
Cloning is, and always has been an extremely contentious topic. To some, the ethical complications surrounding it, are far more promiscuous than what scientists and medical experts currently acknowledge. Cloning is a general term that refers to the process in which an organism, or discrete cells and genes, undergo genetic duplication, in order to produce an identical copy of the original biological matter. There are two main types of artificial cloning; reproductive and therapeutic, both of which present their respective benefits and constraints. This essay aims to discuss the various differences between the two processes, as well as the ethical issues associated with it.
Imagine a world where everyone looked like you and was related to you as a sibling, cousin, or any form of relation, wouldn’t that be freaky? Although cloning is not an important issue presently, it could potentially replace sexual reproduction as our method of producing children. Cloning is a dangerous possibility because it could lead to an over-emphasis on the importance of the genotype, no guaranteed live births, and present risks to both the cloned child and surrogate mother. It also violates the biological parent-child relationship and can cause the destruction of the normal structure of a family. The cloning of the deceased is another problem with cloning because it displays the inability of the parents to accept the child’s death and does not ensure a successful procedure. Along with the risks, there are benefits to Human Reproductive Cloning. It allows couples who cannot have a baby otherwise to enjoy parenthood and have a child who is directly related to them. It also limits the risk of transmitting genetic diseases to the cloned child and the risk of genetic defects in the cloned child. Although the government has banned Human Reproductive Cloning, the issue will eventually come to the surface and force us to consider the 1st commandment of God, all men are equal in the eyes of god, but does this also include clones? That is the question that we must answer in the near future in order to resolve a controversy that has plagued us for many years.
Cloning, a topic that has recently caused mayhem all over the world, is possible, but will it be here to stay? The astonishing news that scientists had cloned a sheep a couple of years ago sent people into panic at the thought that humans might be next. "Cloning is a radical challenge to the most fundamental laws of biology, so it's not unreasonable to be concerned that it might threaten human society and dignity" (Macklin 64). Since most of the opposition is coming from the pure disgust of actually being able to clone species, it makes it difficult for people to get away from the emotional side of the issue and analyze the major implications cloning would have for society. To better understand this controversial issue, the pros and cons of cloning will be discussed.
According to Richard Dawkins “Cloning may be good and it may be bad. Probably it's a bit of both. The question must not be greeted with reflex hysteria but decided quietly, soberly and on its own merits. We need less emotion and more thought” (Dawkins, 2011). Cloning is a general term used to describe the replication of biological material (Cloning Fact Sheet, 2009). Throughout this paper the reasoning behind why cloning is an acceptable and potentially life changing science will be examined. Along with this we will take a close look at the arguments against cloning and exploring the flaws within the argument. This will affirm that cloning is useful because it cures diseases, passes on genes, and repopulates endangered species.
The cloning of animals and humans disregards the common ethics of the creation of humanity. Three types of cloning currently exist. There is therapeutic cloning, DNA cloning and reproductive cloning. Therapeutic cloning does not actually make a clone, it just makes stem cells. Stem cells are capable of becoming any type of cell that they are introduced to. For example, when a stem cell is introduced to a damaged heart, it transforms itself into a healthy heart cell. Even though stem cells might be very good for helping alleviate the pain of some diseases, the best use of stem cells is making embryos. This is the main reason why many people disagree with this kind of cloning. Courtney Farell and Rosalyn Carson-Dewitt wrote an article in which they stated “Some pro-life activists believe that such embryos represent human life, and do not approve of their use in the cloning process” (Farell and Carson-Dewitt 1). Reproductive cloning is creating an animal from only one parent. This type of cloning creates the most controversy because it completely disregards the whole idea of natural conception. The other very risky thing about this kind of cloning is that it has an extremely low success rate. Humans are so focused on the thought of making clones that they are unaware of the risk factors. Cloning makes life seem as though humans are the individuals who were meant to create. In the words of Eric Badertscher, “The cloning of human beings is particularly distasteful, and shows humans’ desire to ‘play God’ regardless to the risks of people born in this manner” (Badertscher 6). The controversy of cloning was born when the first successfully cloned animal was created in 1997. Dolly the Sheep became a focal point of...
Cloning is the process of taking cells from a donor, placing them in a culture dish where the nutrients are minimal, so the cells stop dividing and switch their "active genes". The cells are then put next to an unfertilized egg. The nucleus is sucked out of the egg leaving an empty egg cell containing all the cellular machinery necessary to produce an embryo. An electric shock is used to fuse the egg and cell together. A second shock is then used to mimic the act of fertilization and help begin cell division. After the egg has successfully moved to the stage of an embryo it is then placed in to the uterus of a surrogate mother. When born, all the genes are the same as the donor of the cell.
Imagine yourself walking down the street, forty or fifty years from now. Everything is normal, there people walking to their destinations. You continue to walk your way, minding your own business, when all of a sudden you realize you are see a lot of the same people more than once. You just take it to mean that there are a lot of people walking in circles. As your day continues you see more and more of the same people. Meeting up with one of your friends you asks, "hey, lately, have you noticed that everyone looks like everyone else?" Your friend looks at you with disbelief, "haven't you been paying attention to the news, and the papers? Everyone, that can afford it, is getting cloned."
the two new embryos are allowed to develop shortly before they are placed in a surrogate mother
In recent years, many new breakthroughs in the areas of science and technology have been discovered. A lot of these discoveries have been beneficial to scientific community and to the people of the world. One of the newest breakthroughs is the ability to clone. Ever since Ian Wilmut and his co-workers completed the successful cloning of an adult sheep named Dolly, there has been an ongoing debate on whether it is right or wrong to continue the research of cloning (Burley). Recently, in February 2001, CNN conducted a poll that stated, 90% of American adults think that cloning humans is a bad idea (Robinson). Even though the majority of Americans are opposed to human cloning, there are many benefits that will come from the research of it. Advancements in the medical field and in the fertility process will arise from human cloning. These advancements make cloning very beneficial to the human society.
Science today is developing at warp speed. We have the capability to do many things, which include the cloning of actual humans! First you may ask what a clone is? A clone is a group of cells or organisms, which are genetically identical, and have all been produced from the same original cell. There are three main types of cloning, two of which aim to produce live cloned offspring and one, which simply aims to produce stem cells and then human organs. These three are: reproductive cloning, embryo cloning and therapeutic cloning. The goal of therapeutic cloning is to produce a healthy copy of a sick person's tissue or organ for transplant, and the goal of both reproductive cloning and embryo cloning is to produce and actual living breathing organism.
Cloning is it bad idea, is it a good idea no one really no's. People go back and forth on if cloning is as good people say they are. When Dolly the sheep was cloned it was the first mammal cloned, and the world freaked. People were asking what’s next, are they going to make human copies of us. Are people asking are we cheating mortality. Coning is done in a very complex way that only professionals should do it.