Ethics Of Cloning Essay

The process of cloning can save us a lot of money. A crop that is imported to

Cloning has become a major issue in our modern world, from moral, ethical, and religious concerns, to the problem of financial and government support. Human cloning is one of the most controversial topics, and because of this, many of the new important discoveries and beneficial technologies have been overlooked and ignored. Reproductive cloning technology may offer many new possibilities, including hope for endangered species, resources for human organ transplants, and answers to questions concerning cancer, inherited diseases, and aging. The research that led up to the ability to clone mammals started more than a century ago. From frogs to mice to sheep to humans, reproductive cloning promises many possibilities.

     As soon as you mention the word cloning, you are most likely to ignite a debate. This is because people are greatly divided on whether it's good or bad. A way to reach a conclusion is to look at cloning from ethical, risk, and religious perspectives. The reality is, cloning is unethical, very risky, and irreligious. The arguments I will make will hopefully convince you that cloning is not good for the future.

According to Richard Dawkins “Cloning may be good and it may be bad. Probably it's a bit of both. The question must not be greeted with reflex hysteria but decided quietly, soberly and on its own merits. We need less emotion and more thought” (Dawkins, 2011). Cloning is a general term used to describe the replication of biological material (Cloning Fact Sheet, 2009). Throughout this paper the reasoning behind why cloning is an acceptable and potentially life changing science will be examined. Along with this we will take a close look at the arguments against cloning and exploring the flaws within the argument. This will affirm that cloning is useful because it cures diseases, passes on genes, and repopulates endangered species.

There are many arguments as to why cloning should be tested and experimented, for the sake of science. There are also many who oppose the idea of reproductive cloning. There are many ethical reasons as to why one must not attempt to clone, and there are reasons as to why others believe that there is no harm in cloning to benefit the world and how we live. However, the reason why I have such a passion and concern for the idea and methods of cloning is because I have seen it first-hand. I am writing this essay on this specific topic is because I have a personal connection to the process of cloning.

Science today is developing at warp speed. We have the capability to do many things, which include the cloning of actual humans! First you may ask what a clone is? A clone is a group of cells or organisms, which are genetically identical, and have all been produced from the same original cell. There are three main types of cloning, two of which aim to produce live cloned offspring and one, which simply aims to produce stem cells and then human organs. These three are: reproductive cloning, embryo cloning and therapeutic cloning. The goal of therapeutic cloning is to produce a healthy copy of a sick person's tissue or organ for transplant, and the goal of both reproductive cloning and embryo cloning is to

Cloning has been around since 1952 when Robert Briggs and Thomas King externally fertilized and developed a leopard frog using somatic cell nuclear transfer. Though scientists had discussed the need for communication about the ethical ramifications of cloning since as early as 1972, it was not until the successful cloning of a sheep named Dolly in 1997 that cloning came to the forefront of scientific and societal discussion. As a result of the continuity of fast-paced scientific discovery, the issues surrounding cloning of both animals and humans remain a hot topic, with people divided on both sides of the controversy.

What do you think cloning is? Well, let me assist you with that question. Cloning is very similar to the process that occurs when twins are developing (Medicine). Hans Spemann decided to dip into the unknown, he fastened a string around the embryo of a salamander, slowly tightening the string, until it formed two halves (History of Cloning). This process created Identical salamanders, this was the ultimate breakthrough to all genetic testing (History of Cloning). John Gordon followed the pursuit, but he wanted to see if a similar procedure would work on frog embryos (History of Cloning). He discovered, that when you take an intestinal cell of a frog, and insert it into an embryo, without a nucleus, which developed into a frog egg (History of

Scientist are constantly making advancements in the world of stem cell research and cloning. Some argue though that cloning is unethical because it is considered “playing God”. We as humans should not interfere with what the big man upstairs has planned for us in life. Such interference could be detrimental to his “plan”. When it comes to a person making the decision to be cloned, their decision would fall under the deontology school of thought. With cloning being so risky it would probably be made under circumstances that it is their responsibility to do whatever it takes for their family and friends, despite what is best for them. We often sacrifice what we want for the ones we love. Such examples of this dilemma would be medical issues.

When most people think of cloning, they think of a scientist that uses DNA to make an exact replica of someone . Cloning is a lot more complicated and more controversial than that . According to the American Heritage Dictionary Cloning is defined as “A group of cells, or organism that is descended from and genetically identical to a common ancestor , such as a bacterial colony whose members arose from a single original cell . Ever since August,1,2001 Cloning had been banned .Cloning was banned for many different reasons, such as: any person can obtain extreme power, cloning defects and mutations for example a headless baby that was cloned, Ethical and religious reasons why cloning should be banned .Florida state representative Dave Weldon

“We are only at the Wright brothers stage of development with respect to cloning” (Yount 110). The power of cloning can be harnessed and used in many different ways; the use of cloning is a new frontier for this time period, just like the power of flight was to the time period of the Wright brothers. The first major cloning breakthrough was made by Dr. Ian Wilmut, a 52 year old embryologist of Scotland, who announced on February 22nd, 1997, that he had successfully cloned a sheep named Dolly (Yount 11). This discovery was broadcasted throughout the entire world, and many different opinions were projected scrutinizing the morality and ethics of his work. The first cloning technique was performed using the nuclear transfer technique, also called

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.

Another reason as to why human cloning technology still has a low success rate is due to the ethical reasons given by the government. According to NCSL in the article “Cloning Human Laws,” fifteen out of fifty one states have banned reproductive cloning. In addition, the banning of reproductive cloning will not support scientists with the funds for human cloning research, as well as prohibit the donation of human zygotes. This is significant because if there is no support from the government for funding and permission to research, then the human cloning technology will progress slowly and illegally in the United States. Contrary, Dr. Silver Lee believes that the cloned baby will be no different than children who are already born today. It will look like one parent and it will have many of the same behavior predispositions as the one parent. Dr. Silver Lee argues that there is no difference between a naturally reproductive baby and a clone baby. Children usually look like their parents so it does not matter if the baby is a clone or not, it will be treated like a child.

Dr. Morales explains that because the public believes a human clone will not be a new individual that is "genetically unique," this has created serious fears about the potential of human cloning (Morales, 2009, p. 43). In fact, Morales goes on, the public suffers from "clonophobia" due to the fear and ignorance regarding the potential of human cloning. Critics of human cloning assert that there will be "serious psychological problems" for children that are cloned due to issues including "identity formation, identification, gender identity, individuality and lack of originality" (Morales, 43). In addition, those opposed to human cloning suggest that cloned humans ""¦may not have the necessary traits" to become truly independent from their "progenitors" (Morales, 43).

However, cloning takes away the individual importance of human beings. This is because a human would be cloned purposely for donations of body parts to someone else who 'needs it'. Doing so will break human rights, however common sense would tell one that such would be carried out in secrecy for high paying aristocrats. Also, cloning opens the doors for an opportunity for the 'perfect child.' This because if cloning does take place, genetically prepared eggs will be made which will be 'perfect' in every such way. Since fate will be toyed with and predicted, the average 'natural' human will no longer be appreciated since it is genetically impossible for him/her to be 'perfect.' 'Natural' intelligence will no longer be appreciated and admired. Although one knows that a replica made from another, which was previously replicated from the original, is quite not similar to the other two and thus, the more the clones, the more it deviates from the original. Such a study points towards only one direction and conclusion, which can be formed, that 'natural' humans must exist. This is shown and further proved by a xeroxing machine and also in a science fiction movie, "Multiplicity". The movie shows all the positive and negative aspects of cloning, such as that cloning does make the daily life easier, yet it creates confusion