Human Cloning

1874 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: evils of cloning

Human Cloning

There are many opinions on the topic of cloning, particularly on the controversy of human cloning. Lots of people have many fears over if we should continue this form of study, whereas others think that this technology should be pushed forward with high hopes. However, no side should rule out the other, but instead, should compliment one another. Both arguments should be heard and acknowledged before any decision is made towards this new area of study. For example, many people think that their fears are unanswerable and should cause the absolute ban on cloning.

Although many scientists are in the field of cloning, many other people have scientific reasons why this shouldn’t happen. One reason is that if a human clone were ever successfully made, it wouldn’t be an exact clone anyway; Einstein wasn’t smart solely because of his genes, but the environment that he was surrounded by. However, a positive side to this is that since another exact copy wouldn’t be made, another Hitler could also not be created, as many may fear. In fact, twins are closer to one another that any clone that could be made because of a seemingly special bond created during pregnancy. New techniques are also feared, such as with Dolly.

Another group of reasons concern Dolly. Originally an attempt at creating a sheep that produced a special quality of milk, Dolly was created from a group led by Dr. Ian Wilmut at the Roslin Institute in Scotland on July 5, 1996. They used a different method for mammals than used previously by starving the pre-cloned cells into hibernation, and then using nuclear transfer (copying the nucleus of the cell). Some say that if we continue with cloning, it would be extremely risky, because it is known that it took 277 tries to create Dolly. However, bans have been made to prohibit public uses of cloning. It is also known that Dolly was born with short telomeres.

Telomeres power the successful reproduction and division of cells, and are found in the DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) of genes found in chromosomes. When she was tested, it was discovered that her telomeres were shorter than other non-cloned sheep her age. However, scientists say that this mistake could be useful for treatment of cancer. By giving cancer cells in the body short telomeres and putting them back into the body, other cancer cells would be infected, and would die qui...

... middle of paper ...

...ning should not happen if it endangers any living being or if it causes loss of respect for the lives of humans and animals. This new technology has the power to do some very serious damage to mankind. On the other hand, the positive possibilities are staggering, and with the correct precautions, cloning will become a very powerful force in the scientific world as you know it.

Bibliography:

“Cloned Baby of Dead son in the Works.” The Province 18 Feb. 2001: A p.37.

“Cloned DNA a Cure for Rare Immune.” The Vancouver Sun 23 Dec. 1998: B p.6.

Cloning. (Online). Available http://members.tripod.com/~cloning/intro.htm, March 15, 2001.

History of Cloning. (Online). Available http://vparker.home.texas.net/Thinkquest/Manipulating/Experimentation/Cloning/longdoc.htm, March 15, 2001.

Hyde, Margaret O., and Lawrence E. Hyde. Cloning and the new Genetics. U.S.: Enslow, 1984.

Jeffens, David. Cloning: Frontiers of Genetic Engineering. Ontario: Megatech, 1999.

“Monkeys Cloned in Oregon.” The Province 3 Mar. 1997: A p.13.

“More ORE. Cloned Monkeys on Way.” The Province 4 Mar. 1997: A p.18.

Pollack, Robert. “Beyond Cloning.” The New York Times 17 Nov. 1993: A p.27.

Show More
Related

  • The Opposition to Human Cloning: How Morality and Ethics Factor in

    2868 Words  | 6 Pages

    If a random individual were asked twenty years ago if he/she believed that science could clone an animal, most would have given a weird look and responded, “Are you kidding me?” However, that once crazy idea has now become a reality, and with this reality, has come debate after debate about the ethics and morality of cloning. Yet technology has not stopped with just the cloning of animals, but now many scientists are contemplating and are trying to find successful ways to clone human individuals. This idea of human cloning has fueled debate not just in the United States, but also with countries all over the world. I believe that it is not morally and ethically right to clone humans. Even though technology is constantly advancing, it is not reasonable to believe that human cloning is morally and ethically correct, due to the killing of human embryos, the unsafe process of cloning, and the resulting consequences of having deformed clones.

    Read More

  • The Injustice Of Cloning In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

    954 Words  | 2 Pages

    “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.

    Read More

  • Is Cloning Ethical or Unethical?

    911 Words  | 2 Pages

    Although it would be pretty cool to have someone look exactly like you, and maybe even act exactly as you do, but it could be frightening not knowing what is going on in the mind of a clone. I don’t think it would be safe to have clones living amongst us. Also in order for clones to be born, a human is needed to give birth to the clone which would also be dangerous for the woman giving birth to the clone due to the fact that 95% of experiments dealing with cloning mammals are unsuccessful.

    Read More

  • Leave Human Cloning to Mother Nature

    637 Words  | 2 Pages

    A compelling issue that has come into focus in the past several years is the idea of human cloning. Many scientists believe that it is inevitable because the technology is there, and anything that can be done eventually will be done. They preach the value of human clones, dropping phrases like 'cure for disease' and 'prolonged life' to entice the public into supporting their cause. Though these concepts seem beguiling, the notion of human cloning, when looked at as a whole, has serious repercussions and should not be entertained lightly. From a strictly scientific point of view, we are just not ready to attempt the cloning of a human being.

    Read More

  • The Role of Telomere in Humans

    2130 Words  | 5 Pages

    By utilizing, and , if possible, modifying this special DNA structure, one may see a reduction of age related illness, diseases, and signs of aging. In this review of human telomere, we will discuss the roles and functions of the telomere, its structure, and the relation of telomere length to aging and tumorigenesis.

    Read More

  • The Grand Canyon

    787 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Grand Canyon holds many interesting secrets from the past people who have made the canyon their home. The Grand Canyon has kept these secrets for many years through the generations of people who have lived in those areas and the stories that these generations have told younger generations. I find it interesting how people have lived in those areas for so long, they have dealt with the changes of their home. I also find it interesting how the people who lived in these conditions and the items they used to cook and storage items are items that we are finding today. Their items have survived through years of season changes, they may be broken or scattered within an area but they have for the most part stayed intact. The Grand Canyon holds history and stories of the people who lived their lives there, to think that under the sand that has blown and covered these areas was a town or homes to people. The people who lived there had an understanding of the plants and animals of the area they lived; they learned by trial and error that in itself is interesting. They were not afraid of being wrong, they learned from their mistakes. They lived by hunting and living outdoors, as people in our society it seems weird to think of living the way the natives have lived their lives. As stated in the article the natives possessed an understanding of the seasons and the area that they lived in that is beyond our grasp (Coder 2000:6-7). They were interesting people from what they knew to how they lived. I find it interesting how times have dramatically changed, the natives that lived in the Grand Canyon lived with what they could make with their hands, and eat what they could hunt, and they had the necessities whereas we today go to a s...

    Read More

  • Erosion: The Grand Canyon

    289 Words  | 1 Pages

    When John Wesley Powell conducted his first expedition through the Grand Canyon in 1869, he and his team barely survived the arid desert conditions. Despite their beleaguered situation, Powell recognized the “great antiquity of the earth” in the landscape of the Grand Canyon, and determined to return under more opportune conditions. While the names Powell gave to geologic formations did not always accurately

    Read More

  • Cloning is Unethical

    802 Words  | 2 Pages

    In recent years our world has undergone many changes and advancements, cloning is a primary example of this new modernism. On July 5th, 1995, Dolly, the first cloned animal, was created. She was cloned from a six-year-old sheep, making her cells genetically six years old at her creation. However, scientists were amazed to see Dolly live for another six years, until she died early 2005 from a common lung disease found in sheep. This discovery sparked a curiosity for cloning all over the world, however, mankind must answer a question, should cloning be allowed? To answer this question some issues need to be explored. Is cloning morally correct, is it a reliable way to produce life, and should human experimentation be allowed?

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Cloning

    929 Words  | 2 Pages

    Cloning, especially human cloning attracts increasingly more attention after the first mammal cloning animal Dolly born in 1997. Cloning is divided into two categories: therapeutic cloning and reproductive cloning. Therapeutic cloning is more related to tissue level cloning to transplant healthy cells and reproductive cloning is individual level cloning. Thus, the term cloning in this essay is used to describe both individual level and tissue level cloning. Public have different views. Some people support it because of its medical value, yet some people argue that it may bring many safety risks and moral problems. Hence, decisions ought to be made to identify the extent of cloning. Therefore, this essay introduces two major benefits of human cloning on disease therapy and analysis two arguments against it on safety and ethical issues.

    Read More

  • Reasons to Ban Cloning

    591 Words  | 2 Pages

    Last of all, Cloning is not ethical, many religious groups look down upon cloning and think it’s not proper because they think it’s like playing God. Many scientists were mainly thinking about cloning animals and, most likely, humans in the future to harvest their organs and then kill them. “Who would actually like to be harvested and killed for their organs?” “Human cloning exploits human beings for our own self-gratification (Dodson, 2003).” A person paying enough money could get a corrupt scientist to clone anybody they wanted, like movie stars, music stars, athletes, etc (Andrea Castro 2005),” whether it be our desire for new medical treatments or our desire to have children on our own genetic terms (Dodson, 2003).

    Read More

  • Human Genetic Engineering: Unnatural Selection

    1509 Words  | 4 Pages

    been made possible but yet a majority of them have died in early stages of development or after birth according to the study of the cloned sheep, Dolly (Magalhães 1). Those who make it suffer from several defects acquired from birth (Magalhães 1). During recent experimentation it took scientist Ian Wilmut of the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh, Scotland, and his colleagues who created Dolly (a cloned sheep) 277 tries before they got a healthy, feasible lamb (Human Cloning 1). Due to the complication of human cloning even more deaths and deadly birth defects can be expected (Human Cloning 1). Even though human cloning has never been performed, one likely possibility is that babies born through this process will as well feature lethal birth defects (Magalhães 1).

    Read More

  • Human Cloning

    1801 Words  | 4 Pages

    1) Robertson, John A. “Human Cloning and the Challenge of Regulation,” The New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 339, no. 2 (July 9, 1998), pp. 119-122.

    Read More

  • The Effects of Human Cloning on Medicine

    1768 Words  | 4 Pages

    “Scientists Attempt to Clone Human Embryo.” Today's Science. Infobase Learning, Nov. 2001. Web. 12 Feb. 2014. . source 16

    Read More

  • Human Cloning Should be Illegal

    573 Words  | 2 Pages

    Human cloning is dangerous. It is estimated that between 95 and 98 percent of cloning experiments have failed (Genetics and Society). These downfalls to cloning are in the form of miscarriages and stillbirths (Genetics and Society). Cloned human beings also run the risk of having severe genetic abnormalities. Children cloned from adult DNA would, in a sense, already have “old” genes. These children’s main problem would be developing and growing old too quickly. This includes arthritis, appearance, and organ function. Since the chance of having a child with mental and physical problems is so much higher than that of a normally conceived child, cloning should be illegal.

    Read More

  • The Benefits of Human Cloning

    1013 Words  | 3 Pages

    In recent years, many new breakthroughs in the areas of science and technology have been discovered. A lot of these discoveries have been beneficial to scientific community and to the people of the world. One of the newest breakthroughs is the ability to clone. Ever since Ian Wilmut and his co-workers completed the successful cloning of an adult sheep named Dolly, there has been an ongoing debate on whether it is right or wrong to continue the research of cloning (Burley). Recently, in February 2001, CNN conducted a poll that stated, 90% of American adults think that cloning humans is a bad idea (Robinson). Even though the majority of Americans are opposed to human cloning, there are many benefits that will come from the research of it. Advancements in the medical field and in the fertility process will arise from human cloning. These advancements make cloning very beneficial to the human society.

    Read More

More about Human Cloning

Open Document