The Effects of Human Cloning on Medicine

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Imagine a world in which a clone is created only for its organs to be transplanted into a sick person’s body. Human cloning has many possible benefits, but it comes with concerns. Over the past few decades, researchers have made several significant discoveries involving the cloning of human cells (ProQuest Staff). These discoveries have led to beneficial medical technologies to help treat disease (Aldridge). The idea of cloning an entire human body could possibly revolutionize the medical world (Aldridge). However, many people are concerned that these advancements would degrade self-worth and dignity (Hyde and Setaro 89). Even though human cloning brings about questions of bioethics, it has the potential to save and recreate the lives of humans and to cure various diseases without the use of medication (Aldridge, Hyde and Setaro). Recent discoveries involving cloning have sparked ideas of cloning an entire human body (ProQuest Staff). Cloning is “the production of an organism with genetic material identical to that of another organism” (Seidel). Therapeutic cloning is used to repair the body when something isn’t working right, and it involves the production of new cells from a somatic cell (Aldridge). Reproductive cloning involves letting a created embryo develop without interference (Aldridge). Stem cells, if isolated, will continue to divide infinitely (Belval 6). Thoughts of cloning date back to the beginning of the twentieth century (ProQuest Staff). In 1938, a man decided that something more complex than a salamander should be cloned (ProQuest Staff). A sheep named Dolly was cloned from an udder cell in 1997, and this proved that human cloning may be possible (Aldridge). In 1998, two separate organizations decl... ... middle of paper ... ...OPAC) Lauritzen, Paul. Cloning and the Future of Human Embryo Research. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2001. Google Books. Web. 12 Feb. 2014. source 12 (google books) ProQuest Staff. "Human Cloning Timeline." Leading Issues Timelines. 2013: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 11 Feb. 2014. source 3 “Scientists Attempt to Clone Human Embryo.” Today's Science. Infobase Learning, Nov. 2001. Web. 12 Feb. 2014. . source 16 Seidel, Jr., George E. "Cloning." World Book Student. World Book, 2014. Web. 13 Feb. 2014. source 19 Sherlock, Richard. "Bioethics." Encyclopedia of Science, Technology, and Ethics. Ed. Carl Mitcham. Vol. 1. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005. 193-200. Student Resources in Context. Web. 24 Mar. 2014. source 23 Winters, Paul A. Cloning. San Diego: Greenhaven, 1998. Print. source 7, 174 CLO (OPAC)

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