Thursday, October 30, 2014

Is human cloning unethical ?

In early 1997 a Scottish scientist Dr. Ian Wilmut showed the world that he successfully cloned an adult sheep, by the name of dolly. With Ian revealing this invention, the world realized that cloning wasn’t just a myth or a pipe dream that they see happen very often in Sci-Fi movies. Since then, human cloning has become one of the most widespread debated topics around the world just like abortion. Human cloning is the creation of a genetically identical copy of a human. The term is generally used to refer to artificial human cloning, which is the reproduction of human cells and tissue, cloning is the process in which the DNA of a female egg cell is replaced with different DNA from another cell. This technique is also called “Nuclear Transfer” or “Nuclear Substitution. In the operation, the nucleus which is the part of the cell that contains the DNA molecules from the unfertilized female egg cell, is carefully removed and then replaced with the nucleus from a cell of another person. Then, “the cell is manipulated into believing that it has been fertilized and is then implanted into the mother’s womb. What this means is that the cloned baby only differs from other babies in that they share the same exact DNA with another person, just like identical twins, only the clone is much younger than its twin. The child will grow up to be no more like their twin than natural identical twins are alike. Therefore, some peoples’ beliefs that human cloning is a complicated process,
 There are issues surrounding human cloning whether it’s unethical/immoral. The opponents of human cloning believe that it is immoral and unethical to human beings due to both religious and humanitarian reasons. And other opponents view human cloning as a luxury for wealthy people or as a tool for market development. Most people fear cloning not because it is unnatural, but because they fear abuse. If given the choice, many humans would realign their own DNA to remove a gene here, add a gene there. Others may use cloning for their racial, militaristic or labor goals.

I am not saying that I disagree with human cloning but I also do not agree with it. I agree with human cloning in certain situations such as in reuniting a parent with a daughter or son that had been taken away from them because of a harsh of situation such as death.  I disagree with human cloning because separates reproduction from human sexual activity. What is your opinion on human cloning ?

3 comments:

  1. I agree with human cloning when it is used for stem cell research. However, I do not agree with human cloning to reunite a parent and child because it will not be the same child. The cloned child will have the same DNA but it will not be the child that died. Children should not be treated as replacements.
    Do you also disagree with sperm donors, adoption, or IVF because they also take away sexual activity. I believe you do not have to have sexual activity to produce a child.

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  2. I do not agree with human cloning for humanitarian reasons, as well as the reasons Rachel stated above. That child would look the same, but it would be an entirely new person with it's own experiences and personality. It would not have any of the same memories, or possibly even interests, that the other child had due to the fact that it would grow up in a different era. I also do not think that any one person's genetic material is important enough to be cloned for any reason. Everyone who was born was given one chance at life and we cannot use science as a means to keep the same people around (genetically). There are also people out there that wish to have clones to use for limb or organ harvesting purposes, which is a disgusting thought that someone would kill a life and use it for parts just because it is a clone. Clones would still be born via a maternal host like you and I, and they would still very much be people in their own right.

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  3. I disagree with you in that cloning should be used to reunite a parent with a child for the reasons that Rachel and Anna stated. However, I don't think I am against cloning. I lean toward cloning individual organs more so than cloning entire human beings because I see the mass scientific benefit of doing so. I think that cloning should be used for scientific purposes and I see it as having great merit in that cause. Cloning could allow scientists to test any number of things that were previously impossible. Disputes such as the Nature vs. Nurture query could potentially be solved. Also, it could lead to expediting the process necessary to do human testing for drugs and other purposes which could in tern expedite the rate at which vaccines and other medications can be released. Although I think cloning is weird to say the least I also see a great many benefits that would come from human cloning. I do not think clones should be made as replacements of loved ones or companions, but I see that clones become human beings and therefore have rights but I feel that they should have more of a purpose to be fulfilled or something along those lines.

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