Ethical Implications Of Human Cloning Essay Research

Ethical Implications Of Human Cloning Essay, Research Paper

Human Cloning and Its Ethical Considerations Any discovery that touches upon human creation is not simply a matter ofscientific inquiry, it is a matter of morality and spirituality as well… Each human life isunique, born of a miracle that reaches beyond laboratory science… — President Clinton. Cloning is the production of one or more copies of an individual being. It had itsbeginnings in Germany in 1938 when Han Spemann proposed and conducted a fantasticalexperiment in which he transferred a nucleus from a salamander embryo to create anidentical twin. From that point on, scientists were hooked. Experiments continued; themost recent and provocative one being the cloning of a sheep named Dolly. Thisexperiment gave rise to ideas that cloning humans is possible. This issue has become oneof the most highly controversial ones in the history of mankind. To many it has becomehope for a better future and for others, a direct challenge of their morality and beliefsystem. Taking into account the complexity of the human genome and the struggleinvolving two-hundred and seventy attempts to clone dolly, human clones may be fartheroff than many think. Almost everyone agrees though, that now is the time to decide if thepossible pros outweigh the cons, ethical and scientific. The dangers of human cloning dopresent problem enough to regulate the procedure. The basic cloning procedure with potential for cloning humans is called somaticcloning. In short, it involves taking a nucleus from a mature cell and inserting it in theplace of a nucleus in an egg cell. the egg which now houses DNA from the existingindividual is implanted into a surrogate mother to develop. Fetal Cells have codes thatenable them to develop into every type of cell contained in the body such as those thatmake up organs. After the fetus develops though, the various cells become specializedand their ability to develop into other types of cells is lost. Somatic cloning, as done withDolly the sheep, has proven that cells ability to resemble the original genetic code ispossible ( Human Cloning n. pag). A second type of procedure, embryonic cloning, involves taking a fertilized egg atan early stage of development and dividing it. Two or more genetically identicalindividuals can be produced. This procedure is thought to be more likely for use incloning humans because of the complexity of the human genome. It does not involve turning on genes as in somatic cloning ( Human cloning n.pag). These procedure bothproduce genetically identical individuals. The possibilities of these human cloning procedure are phenomenal. The potentialapplication and dangers of the practice are all still theoretical but possible. Many arguethat the most important result of the human cloning research is the eventual developmentof new scientific discoveries. The main point that advocates of human cloning researchstress is that limiting or banning the efforts would stifle any potential for the advancementof knowledge in some key areas. One of these areas of research with he possibility ofadvancement is infertility. This possibility is based on the idea that cloning will givescientists insight into the function of genes and the embryonic cell and develop a betterunderstanding of why and how things can go wrong during development ( H.C. should ItBe Done n.pag). Another example of potential knowledge gained from cloning comesagain from understanding how to turn on and off the genes in a human cell. Theoretically,controlling these genes could reveal the secret of stopping cancer which is basicallyuncontrollable cell division ( Religious and Ethical Aspects n.pag.). There are alsoclaims for more specific applications of human cloning. One proposition is for theproduction of spare organs instead of having organ donors. Scientists could take cellsamples from any part of the body and inject them into a human egg. The egg would bestopped at a certain point early in development and manipulated by certain proteins to turnon the specific genes necessary tot transform the cell into one that will develop into the type they need (marrow, liver, kidney, etc.) (Berkeley 59). Although there is no proof thatsuch a procedure can be performed on the cells of a human, similar procedures have already been done on other mammals. the type of uses that can be seen as positive butseem to be the most controversial are those that involve the cloning of entire humans. Those in favor claim that it is another way to combat infertility. many advocates aremembers of the gay community who are looking for new way for gay couples to havechildren (Religious and Ethical Aspects n.pag.). Along with the hopes for a good outcome of the development of science come theinevitable dangers and abuses. The diversity of the human reach has driven evolution byintroducing mutations that enable survival. by, cloning on a large scale, the human racemay become de-diversified. In this state, the human race may become particularlyvulnerable to a certain strain of disease and be wiped out (Kass 71). In the wrong hands,human cloning presents many problems. Like Nazi Germany, a super human race couldslowly develop. If sexual orientation is a genetically determined trait, the gay communitycould be eventually developed into a massive community or totally annihilated (Cooke219). many fear that in the hands of a powerful dictator, super intelligent withsuperhuman strength