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Moral implications of genetic engineering
Benefits of cloning to society
Cloning and its effect on society
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If the power of God becomes available, would people be worthy of the power’s use? An advanced age of information has brought the creation of life, God’s most miraculous feat, to the forefront of research and possibility. Human cloning is no laughing matter in the research field of the twenty-first century. History-setting experiments and results have been conducted and discovered, respectively, that have produced viable results and will continue to develop as time allows. However, overpopulation, high malfunctioning rate, technology abuse, and biodiversity reduction complicate the yet-to-be-perfected practice of cloning. With all of the ethical and science uncertainties ahead, the scientific research community should stay away from the commercial use of cloning for human reproduction.
Firstly, with the power of God closely in hand, researchers are walking the ill-defined line between science and sacrilege when artificially reproducing human lives. Should mortals really go headstrong against the current of nature? One may argue that cloning should be used to help sterile or infertile couples to reproduce. However, human cloning drastically changes the canvas of life that was already given; as creations of a Greater Power, humans should not deviate from this path, and the species should take note when Psalm 147:5 proclaims, “Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure” (New Testament). According to Biblical text, people will never understand the events that He places in the path of everyday life, but believers should trust in the Greater Power’s will to populate Earth (New Testament). Even though He did not intend for a couple to have offspring, the Bible instructs that the couple should trust the...
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...bjects. All in all, the scientists should condemn human cloning to preserve the concurrent livelihood and diversity between the Earthly domain, that was granted from above, and Earth’s mortal inhabitants.
Works Cited
"Human Cloning." American Medical Association. American Medical Association, n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2013.
McDougall, Rosamund. Too Many People: Earth's Population Problem. N.p.: Population
Matters, 2010. PDF.
“Message of the Georgia Guidestones." The Georgia Guidestones. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2013.
New Testament: Psalms & Proverbs. Nashville: Gideons International, 2013. Print.
Pence, Gregory E. "Top Ten Myths about Human Cloning." Human Cloning Foundation Home Page. Human Cloning Foundation, 2001. Web. 14 Oct. 2013.
Wickman, Gary. "Potential Dangers of Human Cloning." Potential Dangers of Human Cloning. Health Guidance, n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2013.
One of the particular areas of interest is prenatal genetics. In this field, many new and outstanding innovations have been made. A mother and father can now check for a large array of disorders that could occur in their child; sexual preference has now been shifted from the hands of a higher being to that of someone with a Ph.D.; and in the near future, a couple will possibly be able to choose the physical features of their child, such as hair color, eye color, etc. Scientifically speaking, all of these new options that parents have is amazing. Not only can they have a healthy baby, but one that is going to be stronger, and better looking. Yet, ethically speaking, many people would dislike the “playing” of God. And when it becomes possible to create a perfect child, what will prevent us in society from doing so? The field of genetics in prenatal situations has become very advanced over the past few years, yet many of these advancements have given arise to unethical applications.
Therapeutic cloning is the process whereby parts of a human body are grown independently from a body from STEM cells collected from embryos for the purpose of using these parts to replace dysfunctional ones in living humans. Therapeutic Cloning is an important contemporary issue as the technology required to conduct Therapeutic Cloning is coming, with cloning having been successfully conducted on Dolly the sheep. This process is controversial as in the process of collecting STEM cells from an embryo, the embryo will be killed. Many groups, institutions and religions see this as completely unacceptable, as they see the embryo as a human life. Whereas other groups believe that this is acceptable as they do not believe that the embryo is a human life, as well as the fact that this process will greatly benefit a large number of people. In this essay I will compare the view of Christianity who are against Therapeutic Cloning with Utilitarianism who are in favour of Therapeutic Cloning.
When the novel “Frankenstein”, by Mary Shelley came out in 1831 the general public was introduced to the idea of man creating another man, scientifically without the use of reproduction. The disasters that followed, in the novel, demonstrated the horrid fact that creating humans was not natural. That was in 1831, when the knowledge of science had not yet evolved enough to act on such an idea. Now as the start of a new millenium approaches, having the capability to scientifically produce one human who is genetically identical to another, or cloning a human, has a lot of people questioning weather or not it is our moral right to do such a thing. It is a classic debate between principles of science and principles of religion.
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.
“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.
In recent discussions of cloning, a controversial issue has been whether cloning is ethical. On the one hand, some argue that scientists “playing god” by playing creating life However, Scientists argue that cloning is not “playing god” it’s a way to understand and improve human life. They believe god gave them the tools to improve society and increase our chances of survival
When a couple has difficulty becoming pregnant and creating another life, many will turn to this kind of procedure. Is this almost the same thing as cloning? Because the process does involve the removal and reimplantation of eggs, very similar to the process that takes place when cloning is performed. If this process is successful, which a lot of times it’s not; on many occasions multiples are created, therefore resulting in twins, triplets and sometimes even more. Is this safe? In my opinion, as long as the patients are continuously monitored by a doctor throughout their ordeal, it can be completely safe. But on the other hand, arguments have been made that when in cloning, if there is a successful clone, still many things with that clone can go wrong. Organs can grow abnormally large, that clone may not be able to reproduce, and because of the unknown effects, that clone may die at an earlier rate than that of a naturally produced human (or animal). So if the topic of cloning goes along with the interest between faith and science, is it to say that any of the scientists that are performing or attempting to perform a cloning procedure that they don’t have any faith? Because many will say that they are trying to play God, messing around with the natural process of the creation of life. Which that is the way life should be; a natural process,
His act of science would question if cloning was a practical and morally acceptable thing to do. Firstly, even attempting to clone insults God's role as a creator. Showing full determination, Aldona says, "Christian, however, feel that we have no right to play the role of God, because He is the only one Creator and act of creation depends on Him." (Zbikowska 13-16). We know God's role is to create men, women, animals and nature in his image in the way he sees perfect, not the way we see ourselves as perfect. God has the intention of making us, and when others try to mimic him it deteriorates his role in the world. Aside from the idea that cloning is insulting to God, it can also hurt others. Even though cloning has been developing for the past few decades, it is still a fairly unsuccessful procedure. In most cases, cloning is successful only less than one percent of the time. Moreover,
In conclusion, it is clear to see that cloning is not the taboo it has been made out to be. It is a new boundary that humanity has never encountered before and so it is understandable that people have qualms about ‘playing God’ by shaping a life. Although some might argue that it is immoral to clone human beings, the truth is that it is unethical not to. Given that such technology has the potential to save millions upon millions of lives, not tapping into that industry would have dire consequences on the future. In this case, the ends more certainly justify the means.
Imagine yourself in a society in which individuals with virtually incurable diseases could gain the essential organs and tissues that perfectly match those that are defected through the use of individual human reproductive cloning. In a perfect world, this could be seen as an ideal and effective solution to curing stifling biomedical diseases and a scarcity of available organs for donation. However, this approach in itself contains many bioethical flaws and even broader social implications of how we could potentially view human clones and integrate them into society. Throughout the focus of this paper, I will argue that the implementation of human reproductive cloning into healthcare practices would produce adverse effects upon family dynamic and society due to its negative ethical ramifications. Perhaps the most significant conception of family stems from a religious conception of assisted reproductive technologies and cloning and their impact on family dynamics with regard to its “unnatural” approach to procreation. Furthermore, the broader question of the ethical repercussions of human reproductive cloning calls to mind interesting ways in which we could potentially perceive and define individualism, what it means to be human and the right to reproduction, equality and self-creation in relation to our perception of family.
Usage of genetic modification to pick and chose features and personality traits of embryos could conceivably occur in future times. Wealthy individuals could essentially purchase a baby with built-in genetic advantages (Simmons). Ethically, these seem immoral. Playing God and taking control over the natural way of life makes some understandably uneasy. Ultimately, religious and moral standpoints should play a role in the future of genetic engineering, but not control it. Genetic engineering’s advantages far outweigh the cost of a genetically formulated baby and
Scientists have no problem with the ethical issues cloning poses, as they claim the technological benefits of cloning clearly outweigh the possible social consequences, not to mention, help people with deadly diseases to find a cure. Jennifer Chan, a junior at the New York City Lab School, said, "?cloning body organs will help save many patients' lives," she said. "I think that cloning is an amazing medical breakthrough, and the process could stop at cloning organs--if we're accountable, it doesn't have to go any further." This argument seems to be an ethical presentation of the purpose of cloning. However, most, if not all scientists agree that human cloning won?t stop there. While cloning organs may seem ethical, cloning a human is dangerous. Still, scientists argue that the intentions of cloning are ethical. On the other hand, there are many who disagree with those claims. According to those from a religious standpoint, it is playing God, therefore, should be avoided. From a scientific standpoint it is also very dangerous, as scientists are playing with human cells which, if done wrong, can lead to genetic mutations that can either become fatal to the clone, or cause it severe disabilities. This information does, in fact, question the moral of the issue. If cloning is unsafe and harmful, what is the point?
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.
"Human Cloning and Human Dignity: An Ethical Inquiry." The President's Council on Bioethics Washington, D.C. N.p., July-Aug. 2002. Web.
Robinson, Bruce. “Human Cloning: Comments by political groups, religious authorities, and individuals.” 3 August 2001. Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance. 1 October 2001 <http://www.religioustolerance.org/clo_reac.htm>.