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Human cloning debate response paper
Human cloning debate response paper
Embryonic and adult stem cells
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Cloning has become a new science that is more realistic today than it would have been 20 years ago. Cloning is when the production of identical cells or organisms has derived from one single individual. There are two different ways cloning can be done, these are explaining further along. Cloning raises many questions based on “can we do this?” and “should we do this?” There have been many issues with folks being undetermined if they should go with or against the idea of cloning. Technological and ethical issues have arisen since this cloning has entered our society. Most folks only seen and heard of cloning in scary movies or sci-fi movies, but in today’s technological world, this is possible. "It is much in the news. The public has been bombarded with newspaper articles, magazine stories, books, television shows, and movies as well as cartoons”, writes Robert McKinnell, the author of Cloning: A Biologist Report.
One way to clone is by splitting an embryo into two, which then creates new persons from that one embryo. Another way to clone is by cloning a human being! This means taking human cells from a living human and cloning them the same way like stated above. Taking the embryo and splitting into halves.
In 1993, at the George Washington University Medical Center in Washington D.C., is when the first embryos were split to try and create human cloning. Dr. Jerry Hall was the responsible party for experimenting with the possibility of cloning a human. He realized quickly that cloning could not be done today, but it could in the future. Shannon Brownlee of U.S. News & World Report writes, "Hall and other scientists split single humans’ embryos into identical copies, a technology that opens a Pandora's box of ethical questions ...
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...loning is it can provide scientist with more information on human development, genetically modifying embryos, and investigation new transplant technologies. Research for cloning will still remain active, even if there are protesters. All one can do is education themselves on the matter and decide what side of the fence they want to be on.
References:
Shannon Brownlee (10-31-93) Send in the Clones. Retrieved on March 27, 2009 from http://www.usnews.com/usnews/culture/articles/931108/archive_016052.htm.
McCormick, Richard A. (1994). Blastomere separation: Some concerns. The Hastings Center Report, 24(2), 14-6. Retrieved March 30, 2009, from Research Library database. (Document ID: 1659472).
Barbara Enrenreich (11/22/93) The Economics of Cloning. Retrieved March 28, 2009 from http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,979642,00.html.
In 2001 scientist attempted to create a cloned human embryo, they had consulted all the necessary sources before getting the “ok” to begin “creating”. Then they had to find a female subject to donate eggs. To start the process of cloning they need to use a very fine needle and get the genetic information from a mature egg. Then they inject it into the nucleus of a donor cell. The female donors were asked to take psychological and physical tests to screen for diseases and what not.
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.
McGee, Glenn, (2001). Primer on Ethics and Human Cloning. ActionBioscience.org. Retrieved October 3, 2004, from: http://www.actionbioscience.org/biotech/mcgee.html
Cloning is a real process that scientists use today to reproduce an exact living copy of DNA from the DNA of another living organism. When the idea of cloning first came about in the early 1800’s people believed it to be more science fiction than actual science. People didn’t understand the concept of cloning and therefore was naturally scared of the subject. It is best understood by how the Department of Animal Sciences at Cornell University explains it, “Cloning is a method of producing two or more genetically identical organisms by asexual reproduction. This means that there is only one parent cell, from which all the genetic information will come. Thus, the DNA sequence of cloned organisms is exactly the same as that of the parent cell.” Despite the general population’s disbelief there have been major scientific advances in the cloning process in the last fifty years. After many years of trial and error the first successful clone was created.
“Cloning represents a very clear, powerful, and immediate example in which we are in danger of turning procreation into manufacture.” (Kass) The concept of cloning continues to evoke debate, raising extensive ethical and moral controversy. As humans delve into the fields of science and technology, cloning, although once considered infeasible, could now become a reality. Although many see this advancement as the perfect solution to our modern dilemmas, from offering a potential cure for cancer, AIDS, and other irremediable diseases, its effects are easily forgotten. Cloning, especially when concerning humans, is not the direction we must pursue in enhancing our lives. It is impossible for us to predict its effects, it exhausts monetary funds, and it harshly abases humanity.
Cloning is, and always has been an extremely contentious topic. To some, the ethical complications surrounding it, are far more promiscuous than what scientists and medical experts currently acknowledge. Cloning is a general term that refers to the process in which an organism, or discrete cells and genes, undergo genetic duplication, in order to produce an identical copy of the original biological matter. There are two main types of artificial cloning; reproductive and therapeutic, both of which present their respective benefits and constraints. This essay aims to discuss the various differences between the two processes, as well as the ethical issues associated with it.
Jerry L. Hall, then a researcher at the George Washington University Medical Center, presented the results of his in-vitro fertilization experiment at the 1993 meeting of the American Fertility Society in Montreal. Dr. Hall gave an interesting speech and the comments on his speech consisted of "nice job" and other positive remarks. On his return to George Washington University, Dr. Hall expected the same feedback, and he was shocked when the October 26, 1993 cover of the New York Times announced, "Scientist clones human embryos, and creates an ethical challenge."
Currently Congress is debating on a bill on whether or not cloning should be banned outright. If this bill were to pass then the scientific community will have a huge blow dealt against it. Human cloning techniques should not be completely banned because they have the potential of revealing new ways to cure currently incurable diseases and ailments. In the article ?Human Cloning is good for All of Us,? Patrick Stephens writes that ?regulations will delay the availability of medical technologies that cloning and genetic research are bound to bring.? Even though Stephens presents a true possibility he only sees one side of the argument and fails to examine what unchecked cloning could result in.
Not so far in the future, a young boy of the age of six, dying a heart-wrenching death, will only be able survive with a bone marrow transplant. His parents will have searched near and far for a match, but none will come to their aid. The only possible way that they can produce a perfect match for their son's bone marrow is to clone their son. Unfortunately, at this time this topic is still being discussed and debated upon with the government. Their only child that has been their treasure for six years might die. A clone of their son becomes their apple of aspiration to keep the treasure from being buried.
Cloning humans has recently become a possibility. It is achieved by the production of a group of identical cells or organisms that all derive from a single individual (Grolier 220). It is not known when cloning humans really became a possibility, but it is known that there are two possible ways that we can clone humans. The first way involves splitting an embryo into several halves and creating many new individuals from that embryo. The second method of cloning a human involves taking cells from an already existing human being and cloning them, in turn creating other individuals that are identical to that particular person. With these two methods almost at our fingertips, we must ask ourselves two very important questions: Can we do this, and should we? There is no doubt that many problems involving the technological and ethical sides of this issue will arise and will be virtually impossible to avoid, but the overall idea of cloning humans is one that we should accept as a possible reality for the future. Cloning humans is an idea that has always been thought of as something that could be found in science fiction novels, but never as a concept that society could actually experience. "It is much in the news. The public has been bombarded with newspaper articles, magazine stories, books, television shows, and movies as well as cartoons¡¨, writes Robert McKinnell, the author of Cloning: A Biologist Reports (24). Much of this information in these sources leads the public in the wrong direction and makes them wonder how easy it would be for everyone around them to be cloned. Bizarre ideas about cloning lie in many science fiction books and scare the public with their unbelievable possibilities. David Rorvik wrote a highly controversial book entitled In His Image. In it he describes the story of a wealthy man who decides to clone himself. He is successful in doing this and causes quite an uprise in his community. This book was written in the late seventies and even then, societies reaction to the issues of human cloning was generally a negative one. We face a problem today even greater than the one in this book and it involves the duplication of human beings in a society that has always been known for its diversity. The main issue as to whether or not human cloning is possible through the splitting of embryos began in 1993 when experimentation was done at George W...
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.
Cloning is a process by which genetically equal organisms are created with the same DNA. In simplest terms, clones are like twins born at different times. This procedure poses various dangers to society and humankind. One of the greatest threats this procedure creates is among
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...
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People protest the idea of cloning because many are mystified as to how it could be used and what its purposes can be. The purpose and use of cloning, in the scenario the paper is based on, is to save a life. This use and purpose of cloning is extremely specified in the sense that it would save a human being’s life. The fact that we, as humans, might be able to figure out how to clone so that lives could be saved is extremely exciting and inspiring. On the other hand, there is a time and a place for everything, including research. While cloning is justifiable in certain circumstances, I would want to make sure other healthcare issues were taken care before donating money to research for cloning.