Cloning

After many successful cloning experiments on increasingly complex animals, scientists have begun thinking about human cloning. This has raised many debates about the ethics and safety of experimentally cloning humans. While some advantages could be gained from human cloning, it should not be performed due to significant medical, societal, and religious concerns. The most successful cloning results were produced using a procedure known as Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer, or SCNT. SCNT cloning processes are performed by removing the nucleus with genetic material from an unfertilized egg, then replacing it with genetic material from the adult cell being cloned.

The idea of genetically modifying an embryo poses the immoral view that humans, who are seen as abnormal, are not as important in today’s society. Expanding from Choice Eugenics, the idea of modifying an embryo has become a process that many scientists are trying to normalize. This process of gene therapy, also known as germ-line engineering, is a fairly new topic of discussion that has been criticized by many for a variety of different reasons. The genetic modification of an embryo poses large threat to the fetus and demonstrates harmful affects which can lead to negative health defects in its future. Many of the technologies used in this process of gene modification are dangerous and can cause significant risk to a fetus.

The thought of performing the procedure over and over multiple times does not help the human mind and the society we are in. Just imagine if you get cloned and on your mind and thoughts you have high expectations of your clone, but do not receive what you hoped. This will create a lot of injustice than what we already have going on now. Cloning will just mean to add more misunderstanding of the real purpose. Like everything else in this world we will use the cloning method to commit copious misconduct, for example, creating an attack army, increased malpractice, or insufficient research, along with additional disadvantages.

The technology would take years to perfect and it might at first produce unpredictable results. Creating humans who are likely to develop deformities or killing malformed fetuses would be morally indefensible. Most people balk at the idea of engineering a race of people with supposedly superior physical and mental traits, since that would mean that some characteristics would have to be deemed unwanted and eliminated. Scientists should stop their further research on human-cloning for a better world with people with their own uniqueness.

Since human cloning is harder to accomplish than animal cloning, the success rate could be much worse and the failures inconceivable. President George Bush shared his position on human cloning stating, "We should not, as a society, grow life to destroy it" (Bush). Human cloning is not business as usual, to be fretted about for awhile. The decision needs to be made; stop human cloning.

The cloning of the deceased is another problem with cloning because it displays the inability of the parents to accept the child’s death and does not ensure a successful procedure. Along with the risks, there are benefits to Human Reproductive Cloning. It allows couples who cannot have a baby otherwise to enjoy parenthood and have a child who is directly related to them. It also limits the risk of transmitting genetic diseases to the cloned child and the risk of genetic defects in the cloned child. Although the government has banned Human Reproductive Cloning, the issue will eventually come to the surface and force us to consider the 1st commandment of God, all men are equal in the eyes of god, but does this also include clones?

Humans shouldn’t be genetically engineered because designing babies gives the concept of the ideal and perfect baby when humans shouldn’t be perfect. We could use PGD (Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis) to prevent diseases but not to make embryos prettier and smarter. There are many reasons why Designer Babies aren’t a welcome factor in this word like the fact PGD could save lives of children and provide them with healthy lives but we choose to use it for other preposterous purposes. Another rationale is that it is ethically wrong. What’s also horrible about this problem is that there are testing done on animals and crops.

With this in mind, parents cannot choose to make their child extremely smart or blonde, without knowing the dangers ahead. People should not have access to genetically altering their children because of people’s views on God and their faith, the ethics involving humans, and the possible dangers in tampering with human genes. Although it is many parent’s dream to have the perfect child, or to create a child just the way they want, parents need to realize the reality in genetic engineering. Sometimes a dream should stay a figment of one’s imagination, so reality can go in without the chance of harming an innocent child’s life.

In conclusion, I think that reproductive cloning should not be legalized because it will bring new social, moral and economic problems. It ultimately objects human dignity, threatens the survival of humanity and individuality, and goes against humans playing God. Sevanthinathan says that reproductive cloning is powerful and has some advantages and disadvantages. One of the main disadvantages which Nordgren claims is that in the ethical presupposition, abnormalities may cause suffering to the cloned being, which is entirely unethical. On the other hand, Van den Berg, M.E.S says that to be sure that reproductive cloning is safe, cloning needs to be tested on humans, but it contradicts all factors that would even in the slightest support the idea of reproductive cloning.

"Everybody who thought it would proceed slowly and could be stopped was wrong," said Lee Silver, a professor from the University of Princeton. Without proper research to support the ban, the premature ban should be reconsidered and appealed. Cloning could provide a way for infertile couples to produce children genetically similar to themselves, a method of creating spare organs for transplants, and a cure for genetic disease. Human cloning may provide numerous benefits to mankind and should not be banned. Some people say that it is morally wrong and others are scared that a leader, such as Sadam Husian, will clone himself.