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Current state of human cloning
Ethical issues of cloning
Cloning and its effect on society
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Recommended: Current state of human cloning
Cloning is a relatively new practice that has opened the door for countless new research methods and procedures. Gene Therapy is one of the key focal points of medical research and it has many practical applications such as the study and curing of diseases that would be difficult to continue without the support of cloning. For these reasons, stem cell cloning and associated research should not be banned until positive and negative outcomes are considered collectively. Cloning and stem cell research should unquestionably be allowed to continue because not only would banning it infringe upon our freedoms as American citizens to reach out and make discoveries, but this research could potentially help thousands of people and conceivably save their lives. Cloning is the expressing of genetic material in an organism other than the host, not necessarily a full human or animal clone but also …show more content…
A key resource for the scientists studying cloning in stem cells is harvesting from aborted embryos or those left-over from IVF (In-Vitro Fertilization). The reason that this is so controversial is because one of the two ways for collecting stem cells is taking discarded human embryos. For many people this is a moral violation. Interestingly, cloning is banned in Germany because the view is held that “theoretically a fertilized egg cell – the beginning of an embryo – could develop into a human being. Ethically, this is the classic moral conflict between the search for cures and treatments for human ailments and the right to life, explains DRZE director Dieter Sturma” (“Stem Cell Cloning”). This is not to say that stem cell cloning should be banned because the same resources can be taken from adult spinal fluid or bone marrow (patient derived stem cells provide a better genetic match) and has the same results so it wouldn’t delay stem cell
Stem cell research has always been a widely debated topic in 'social and political forums' ever since the case of Roe vs. Wade in 1973. In that case the Supreme Court gave women the right to have an abortion whether or not they have a medical reason to. Whereas beforehand 'they needed a medical reason'. This "sparked controversy" over stem cell research with aborted fetuses. For many of those in favor of using fetal tissue for research it has too much "potential" in the future of medicine in terms of providing cures for diseases and "". Those against fetal tissue research believe it unethical to take one human life in order to preserve another.
This is because I do not see the human embryo as being alive, a view even supported by the Church of Scotland, a group against therapeutic cloning, as they are “unsure about when life begins” in regards to the embryo. As the embryo is not alive, “killing” it to benefit a large number of people who would no longer suffer is morally acceptable. It would also prevent any suffering from anything similar ever again, again justifying using embryos for therapeutic cloning; a contrasting view to this would be the view of the Roman Catholic Church who believe that the human embryo is a part of God, and therefore harming the embryo is harming God. Therefore they completely disallow the collection of STEM cells from embryos and ignore the positive consequences that are a result of using STEM cells from
Could you imagine being able to create new organs, tissues, muscles, and even food? With embryonic stem cell technology, believe it or not, these things are possible. Stem cells are the body's raw materials. Specifically, they are cells from which all other cells with specialized functions are generated. Under the right conditions in the body or in a laboratory, stem cells can divide to form more cells called daughter cells. These daughter cells either become new stem cells or turn into specialized cells with a more specific function, such as blood cells, brain cells, muscle cells or bone cells. The possibilities are almost endless. The debate and main issue with this technology is that the actual stem cells come from embryos. Embryos are an unborn or unhatched offspring in the process of development. Although there is controversy surrounding these cells, embryonic stem cells should continue to be researched and used, because they have so much potential.
Children grow up watching movies such as Star Wars as well as Gattaca that contain the idea of cloning which usually depicts that society is on the brink of war or something awful is in the midsts but, with todays technology the sci-fi nature of cloning is actually possible. The science of cloning obligates the scientific community to boil the subject down into the basic category of morality pertaining towards cloning both humans as well as animals. While therapeutic cloning does have its moral disagreements towards the use of using the stem cells of humans to medically benefit those with “incomplete” sets of DNA, the benefits of therapeutic cloning outweigh the disagreements indubitably due to the fact that it extends the quality of life for humans.
...ting embryos specifically for stem cell research should not be allowed. Continued stem cell research will benefit all of mankind with its promise of medical advances. Opponents’ concerns about destroying human life will be quelled because stem cells will be taken from already doomed embryos. The federal government will be able to regulate the research and ensure that it is lawfully conducted.
Bonnie Steinbock, in her paper entitled, “What Does “Respect for Embryos” mean in the Context of Stem Cell Research?” argues that using human embryos for embryonic stem cell research is immoral and illicit. She forms her argument on the “consideration of the human subject from the moment of conception” (Bioethics 592). The author supports her argument with five reasons as to why using human embryos for ES research. She explains that the moment the gametes unite, an embryo with human rights is formed. Building off of her first statement, the author explains that it is immoral and illicit to intervene in the development of an individual with rights in a non-favorable way, because
As technology stem cell research intensifies, so does the controversy about whether such scientific progress is moral. In the past millennium to today the present stem cell research has become a controversial topic across the world. Stem cells are unspecialized cells that have unique regenerative abilities, allowing them to divide into specialized cell types. Understanding why these processes occur is essential to curing disease. Critics of stem cell research argue that the extraction of embryonic stem cells involves destroying an early embryo, equating the act of killing a human. Although stem cell research is a highly controversial topic, it is compulsory to continue stem cell research within ethical boundaries for the benefit of mankind.
By applying research from cloning normal cells to cloning stem cells, a wider range of people can be helped, and the cost of procedures will be lowered. Scientific research into cloning will allow doctors study how to safely replicate
Have you ever seen a movie or read a book where they can tell what your child will look like or if they have a disease or birth defect. Or have you ever wondered how the world would be shaped if we could have clones or even erase genetic diseases. All of these things are theoretically possible with stem cell research. If we are able to reach this point what would we have to sacrifice in the process. To understand humanity would we have to sacrifice the values that truly make us human? What would the fail rate be if we are able to genetically enhance the human body?
For decades, biologists have been using stem cells to figure out possible cures for different diseases and even prevent them. Stem cells are cells that can become useable in certain tissues in the body (according to an infant), or tissue cells that are already found in blood, bones, the brain, and skin (in adults or children). Stem cells are being used for patients with lymphoma (begins in the immune system), leukemia (cancer of white blood cells), and other types of blood disorders.
Despite the unquestionable gains that embryonic stem cell research has brought and may continue to bring to medicine, I believe the ethics and morality of stem cell research is questionable. Embryonic stem cells are taken from a human embryo, which is “the developing organism from the time of fertilization” (conception) “until the end of the eighth week of gestation, when it becomes known as a fetus” (National Institutes of Health). These embryos are fertilized in an in vitro fertilization clinic, and their stem cells are extracted from their inner cell mass of the blastocyst after three to four days. They must be extracted because after five days of the embryonic cell’s development, these undifferentiated stem cells no longer exist. In the process of extracting these cells from the infer mass of the blastocyst, the human embryo is destroyed. Since human life begins at the moment of conception (when sperm fertilizes an egg), the destruction of the human embryo is the destruction of a human being. Killing a human being and disregarding the irrevocable value of human life is morally wrong; therefore, embryonic stem cell research is not morally acceptable. I will be arguing this point throughout the paper, taking into consideration counterarguments and building upon others that are also against embryonic stem cell research.
Many people think the US should reconsider the ban placed by President Clinton, and have it modified to fit the needs of the American public. This includes the research and development of human tissues for the use of replacing organs, specialized cells, and nervous systems. Along with this, there is an implied consensus that the government should tightly regulate these experiments. Most of the people who support this position have some type of involvement with a degenerative disease or ailment that stands to be solved with the promises of genetic cloning.
Within the past few years, scientist have made several breakthroughs with human stem cells. These breakthroughs have catapulted the issue of stem cell research into the middle of a national debate. Most people have no problem with the research itself, however the source of the stem cells (adult or human embryos) used in research is the primary cause of the debate. Some people feel that destroying an embryo is comparable to murder, even if the research it promotes may help people with serious illnesses. Other believe that an embryo is not a person and therefore research on an embryo is the same as research on any other group of cells.
Cloning is defined as the process of asexually producing a group of cells, all genetically identical, from a single ancestor (College Library, 2006).” Cloning should be banned all around the world for many reasons, including the risks to the thing that is being cloned, cloning reduces genetic differences and finally it is not ethical. Almost every clone has mysteriously died even before they are born.
Human cloning is also unethical. Cloning, especially therapeutic cloning, requires the use of human embryos. Using these embryos would mean killing unborn children. Therapeutic cloning begins by removing the stem cells from an embryo (Human Cloning). The stem cells are used to grow bone, nerve, and muscle tissue. In the process of therapeutic cloning, an embryo, or a baby in the early stages of development, is taken and parts of it are grown to develop parts of the body including organs and limbs (Human Cloning). Removing these stem cells would kill the embryo. The embryo, which would result in a child if left in the mother’s womb, is separated into parts, which are used for science.