A Dialogue Paper on Human Cloning
This dialogue is between two students at the university. Steve is a little uncomfortable about cloning, while Sally presents many valid arguments in favor of it. Steve presents many moral questions that Sally answers.
Steve: Hi, Sally. Are you aware that the Scottish embryologist, Ian Wilmut, cloned a sheep from adult cells, and now, there are many moral, economic, and political questions that must be answered.
Sally: Interestingly enough, I was just reading about this topic in a magazine. I was amazed at the simplicity of the cloning process used by Dr. Wilmut and his colleagues. The process of cloning a sheep begins by taking the cells from the udder of an adult sheep, and placing them in a culture with few nutrients. The purpose of this is to starve the cells so that they stop dividing. This switches off the active genes. While they starve these cells, they take an unfertilized egg from a different ewe, and remove the nucleus from this unfertilized egg. Then, they place the unfertilized egg cell next to one of the original starved cells
Steve: How do the two cells come together? Does it happen spontaneously?
Sally: No, it does not happen spontaneously. An electric pulse fuses the two cells together. A second electric pulse makes the cell divide. After six days, Dr. Wilmut placed this embryo into a different ewe, and after a normal gestation period, the new baby sheep named Dolly was born. She was named after Dolly Parton.
Steve: But cloning is not new. In 1952, researchers in Pennsylvania cloned a live frog. What makes Dr. Wilmut's achievement so special?
Sally: Yes, it is true that a frog was cloned in 1952, but those scientists used an embryonic cell. Dr. Wilmut used an adult cell.
Steve: What is the difference between using an embryonic cell and an adult cell?
Sally: Embryonic cells are "undifferentiated." Undifferentiated cells have not gone through changes that make some cells into skin cells or muscle cells or brain cells, for example. Undifferentiated cells can become any cell in the body because it can activate any gene on any chromosome, but as cells develop, the DNA of certain cells fold in particular ways making large portions of the DNA inaccessible. This makes sure that the wrong genes do not get turned on at the wrong time or in the wrong place. This whole process of DNA folding makes adult cells much more difficult to work with.
Steve: If working with embryonic cells is easier, then why use adult cells? Why not make cloning simpler rather than more complex?
Sally: Well, when a scientist uses an embryonic cell, he cannot be sure how the new clone will turn out. The embryonic cell can develop in different ways, but when using adult cells, the scientist knows that the clone will look exactly like the original.
Steve: That is fascinating. In essence, this cloning procedure makes a carbon copy of the original. That sounds scary. When this technology advances towards humans, could some evil, devious mind bring back to life people like Hitler or Stalin?
Sally: Certainly, scientists would be able to create a clone that looked like Hitler or Stalin, and the clone would have the same genes, but what you are suggesting sounds like genetic determinism. Genetic determinism is the belief that genes determine everything in a person, and that the environment plays no role in how someone acts. Most scientists believe that this belief is false. Identical twins are the same genetically, but they are different psychologically and morally. If we cloned Einstein or Newton or any other great scientist, the clones would not necessarily turn into scientific geniuses because the environment that they are raised in makes a difference, but they would look like the original. A cloned Einstein could pick up a guitar at an early age and become a rock star rather than a mathematician, even though he looked exactly like Einstein.
Steve: Well, I heard that Dr. Wilmut is trying to avoid human cloning.
Sally: This is true. Dr. Wilmut said that although human cloning is theoretically possible, he does not see any good reason why humans should be cloned. He hopes that his new technique will not extend to humans. He sees no ethical reason for it.
Steve: What about religious leaders? I heard that the Pope wants human cloning banned.
Sally: Yes, the Pope called for a ban on human cloning as well. He believes that the creation of life outside of marriage is against god's plan. The Church is against in vitro fertilization even though it is legal in America. In fact, when scientists developed in vitro fertilization, many people spoke out against it, but gradually tension surrounding that topic subsided. Perhaps human cloning will be the same.
Steve: I doubt that, but still it is good to hear the Pope speaking out against human cloning. The clones would be made by humans, and therefore, they would not have souls, and bringing a creature without a soul into the world is wrong.
Sally: How do you know they do not have souls? They would be normal human beings. If a normal human being has a soul, then the clone would have one as well. I would hope that the Church would accept clones rather than turning its back to them. Isolating the clones from the rest of society would be a travesty.
Steve: How are political leaders responding to the prospect of human cloning?
Sally: Britain has banned human cloning and placed many restrictions on embryological research. Here, in America, President Clinton has ordered the Bioethics Advisory Committee to investigate human cloning and give a report to the President in about a month. However, President Clinton has already declared that no federal money will be placed into human embryo research, and two bills are in Congress that will attempt to ban human cloning.
Steve: It is good that all these political and religious leaders are standing up against human cloning. I think that cloning could interfere with evolution. Making people genetically the same decreases the amount of variability, and I learned in my evolutionary biology class that variability is one of the major causes for evolution. Cloning would decrease this variability, and without evolution, humans will not progress, and different animals that do evolve will take control of the planet.
Sally: It is true that genetic diversity is important for evolution to take place, but cloning will probably not be so widespread to make a difference upon evolution. Beyond that, evolution takes millions of years. It is not as if human cloning will result in the destruction of the human race in ten years.
Steve: Well, I still feel uncomfortable about human cloning. What about the clone's feelings? Would the clone feel comfortable knowing his origins? Would he be the object of mockery at school?
Sally: The clone would receive rights just like a normal human being, and you must remember that they are human. They are not aliens. His schoolmates could not tell that he is a clone.
Steve: Beyond this, what about the sibling whose traits are copied? All throughout my life, people have told me that everyone is unique, but this child would lose this uniqueness. He would suddenly have a twin, born years after he was born.
Sally: The sibling whose traits have been copied might feel depressed about losing his uniqueness, but twins are born, and they can handle this genetic sharing. The parents would probably discuss the procedure with their child before making such a big decision.
Steve: That's interesting, but we are talking about the consequences of cloning. Why would someone want to clone?
Sally: There are many positive applications for cloning. Human cloning could be used for organ donations. If a child needed a new liver, for example, they could clone the child and transplant the new liver.
Steve: You keep telling me that clones are human beings just like you and me, and if this is the case, then transplanting organs from a human clone to his counterpart is evil. According to you, a clone is a human being. You cannot raise a human clone, and then at a mature age, remove his liver. If you had twins, would you take out one kid's heart to save the other? Who would give the clone a new heart? It would be different if scientists could clone the heart or any other organ, but raising a boy just to eventually kill it is morally wrong.
Sally: Well, there are other applications for it. Cloning could also help scientists understand mysteries of science, such as heart or brain cells that do not regenerate after they die. This could help stroke patients or heart attack patients who are crippled by this phenomenon. Scientists could also look into cancer cells that go back into embryonic stages of development and reproduce uncontrollably. Strokes, heart attacks, and cancer are major causes of suffering for many people in America today.
Steve: This is true, but there are more bad applications for cloning. What if a rich businessman wanted to clone himself to carry on his name after he died? This is a misuse of science. It should be banned in America as it is in England.
Sally: You do not understand, Steve. Cloning is so simple that if it is banned in America as it is banned in England, some wealthy company will emerge in a country where it is not banned. Human cloning is inevitable. Banning it in some countries will only add to the fears of those people who believe that an army of anti-Semitic clones can emerge if cloning is used for evil. Beyond this, it will probably too difficult to ban cloning in America. If the government gives no monetary support to human cloning, it will probably go on in the private sector.
Steve: What if some kind of "Island of Dr. Moreau" appears where a rich man owns an island and develops clones that get out of control? The private sector should be feared.
Sally: I think that the pros out weigh the cons. You must remember that The Island of Dr. Moreau is just fiction. What are the chances that some crazy minded maniac who happens to be extremely wealthy would buy an island, and then create a massive army of clones who he has trained from birth to kill? And supposing this did occur, what are the chances that America or any other international superpower would not find out about this scheme and end it?
Steve: Well, maybe that is far fetched. What about animal cloning? Why does Dr. Wilmut favor animal cloning but not human cloning?
Sally: Cloning animals could help alleviate world hunger. Scientists could clone animals in enormous amounts to feed third world nations.
Steve: Helping alleviate world hunger is good, but what if a leather producer used cloning to help his business? As an animal rights activist, I would not want to see that. Again, cloning can be used for evil.
Sally: Yes, but it could also help farmers. If the farmer found a particularly good cow, for instance, this cow could be cloned, and the productivity of his livestock would be enhanced, and this helps everyone. The farmer makes more money, and the quality and the quantity of the food increases.
Steve: What if someone cloned elephants only to remove their tusks so that the ivory could be sold. This is a greedy misuse of science.
Sally: If a private man has enough money to clone elephants, he probably would not need to sell elephant tusks to make a living. The pros outweigh the cons. Another good application for cloning is protecting endangered species by cloning any species that is risking extinction. In this way, cloning is adding diversity rather than taking it away. I have to go to class now. Bye.
My personal opinion is that cloning animals to prevent world hunger or enhance cattle productivity is good, but human cloning is bad. There does not seem to be many ethical reasons to support the cloning of a human. It is a fascinating idea, but the consequences must be evaluated before this technology proceeds further. Ian Malcolm, chaos theoretician in Michael Crichton's book Jurassic Park, said, "They were so busy seeing if they could do it, that they didn't stop to think if they should do it." If ethical reasons to proceed with human cloning were discovered, we must also think of the clones. They would be human beings, and they should have the same rights as any other normal human. They should not be used in any experiments that regular humans would not be subject to. Life is precious and should not be taken lightly. Human cloning should be restricted and not allowed to run out of control. Partner sites: Bulldog, Study Spanish in Mexico, and The Great Gatsby