Human Reproductive Cloning Should be Banned
The issues concerning human reproductive cloning are shrouded in controversy, perhaps overshadowing the true advantages of cloning technology. Therapeutic cloning, which is often misunderstood as reproductive cloning, is less controversial than the latter as it does not involve the creating of an individual being. Instead, vital stem cells are extracted from human embryos, in order to generate tissues and organs for transplant.
The goal of this process is strictly to harvest stem cells, resulting in the creation of “cloned organs”, which can be used to treat heart disease, Alzheimer’s, and cancer.
However, because reproductive cloning involves the creation of a specific being with
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. . concerns can be addressed when reproductive cloning has been shown to be safe in animals, which it has not yet." (Paulson) The success rate by means of reproductive cloning remains pale in comparison to natural procreation, and thus does not justify cloning as a form of procreation for the time being. The current success rate for reproductive cloning stands at one or two viable offspring per 100 experiments, and until the success rate drastically increases, cloning humans would be potentially dangerous and unethical.
The dangers that arise from reproductive cloning are numerous, and are enough to validate the banning of human reproductive cloning altogether. During mammalian reproductive cloning, a large proportion of clones suffered from weakened immune systems, which greatly compromised the animal’s ability to fight off infection, disease, and other disorders. “Animal experiments in cloning all indicate that a cloned twin is at high risk of congenital defects, multiple health problems and perhaps a greatly shortened life span.” (Paulson) In addition, many of the offspring produced through cloning suffer massive abnormalities, such as missing or deformed organs. Approximately 30% of offspring are diagnosed with “large offspring syndrome” and other debilitating conditions. In fact, studies on reproductive cloning have shown that more than 90% of
The 21st century however forecasts an astonishing increase in innovation in another direction. While previously overshadowed by its larger cousins, physics and chemistry, it seems likely that the biological sciences will steal the limelight in the future. Mapping the genome, reversing the aging process, and finding a cure for terminal illnesses, all represent primary objectives for science. Unfortunately, the ethical questions posed by innovations in biomedicine are far greater than those posed by advances in the physical sciences. Reproductive cloning is one of these innovations, and one that arguably poses the greatest threat to the world as we know it. The universal truth, blindly accepted by man for millennia, held that a human could only be born through the sexual union of a male and a female, to be exact, of an egg and a sperm. By cloning, however, a human life can be created in the laboratory. This is done by taking human DNA and inserting it into an egg cell, sans genetic material. The resultant cell is identical to the original, and can then be inserted into a uterus, either a human or an animal one, and be grown to term, to produce a baby, while circumventing nature’s means of reproduction.
There should be no room to clone any human being nor animal. There is so much more to find out about our world then to test the non-achieved and inefficient process of cloning. Therefore I am against any type of cloning, whether therapeutic or reproductive. Andy vidak I write to you this letter, to give you a better understanding of why funding for cloning would set us back as a society. Genuinely I care about our future because I want our generation to be known as the one who did brilliant things. The excuse that cloning can potentially result in medical breakthrough is unacceptable because, like president George W. Bush said in his 2002 speech about human cloning, “We can pursue medical research with a clear sense of moral purpose.” (Office of the Press Secretary par. 12). Research cloning would contradict the most underlying principle of medical ethics, that no human life should be exploited for the convenience of another. For that reason I stand by
Reproductive cloning is cloning a whole organism such as a whole cow, cat, dog, human, and so on. According to the article “Reproductive Cloning Arguments Pro and Con”, it states “At least 95% of mammalian cloning experiments have resulted in failures…” This percentage is extremely high. Therefore; this proves that therapeutic cloning is much safer than reproductive cloning reason being is that it does not have high percentage failures like reproductive. Every procedure has its risks and dangers. However; it is better to be safe than sorry. The human race has a better chance at survival through therapeutic
There are many good reasons to both develop cloning and incorporate it into modern medicine. Human cloning is extremely beneficial, but there are some downsides. Many of the problems are ethical in nature. Matthew Nisbet involved the public in his article. He polled the public on their opinions about human cloning and stem cell research. He found that “The public appears to have strong reservations about research that destroys embryos”
that goes into creating a clone. First, scientist remove a somatic cell from an animal that they
Therapeutic cloning is now in reach due to cloned early-stage human embryos and human embryos generated only from eggs, in a process called parthenogenesis. The use of therapeutic cloning is aimed to implant a cloned embryo into a woman’s uterus leading to the birth of a cloned baby. Reproductive cloning is thought to have potential dangers to both mother and fetus that make it unwarranted today. Because of that, a restriction is placed until the issues of safety and dangers are solved.
There are actually two types of cloning: reproductive cloning and therapeutic cloning. Reproductive cloning is making human beings asexually. In reproductive cloning, the offspring receives genetic information from one parent through a duplication process in a laboratory. DreamTech International states, "All we need is a tiny swab of cell tissue from the inside of your mouth, which is used to obtain the genetic material for producing an embryo with your DNA. If you are female, you have the option of being implanted with the embryo yourself, or hiring a surrogate birther" (2002). The reason for doing this process could be for a number of reasons: to prevent congenital disorders, to propagate the genes of someone who has had no children in the conventional manner, to have a specific type of offspring, or in the situation of not being able to reproduce sexually (Dream Technologies International, 2002). There is almost a universal agreement that cloning human beings is so unsafe and, to some, morally repugnant that it
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
Cloning Dolly, the sheep in 1996 was a momentous moment in scientific history. Scientists removed the nucleus from one of Dolly 's skin cells and engineered an egg to be insert with then nucleus. This egg could have fertilized in a mothers ' uterus. Following this discovery, mice, pigs and cattle have been cloned based on the same concept. In 2012, a group of scientists took cloning a step further and cloned human embryos. With great certainty, human cloning will be banned by the government due to human rights. The government has already deemed it illegal to fund human cloning projects. Despite the human rights issue, cloning serves a great role in research. These cloned embryos will help understand the biological nature of human cells and the human body. Also the embryos will help advance medical treatments for a wide variety of diseases. Cloning is vital to genetic engineering. Problems do arise from such an advancement. Exploration of women would be a major issue due to the fact that these cloned embryos need to be implanted into a women 's ' uterus in order to under go gestation. Almost all scientific developments pose positive and negative outcomes.
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.
After weighing the pros and cons of both sides, one can fairly state that reproductive cloning isn’t justifiable since it is exceedingly dangerous because of the consequences from it. There is a high failure rate because the process can have complications. In fact, the cloned individual can have serious developmental abnormalities and serious health risks. Lastly, the cloned individual can die shortly after birth.
First, the turnout of clones if the embryo is implanted into a uterus could end up producing clones with disabilities. This has only been proven with animals that have been cloned. “The results of stem cell research and cloning have also been shown to be dangerous. The animals that have been cloned so far suffer from genetic defects” (Arnold, 2015, p. 2). But once it is done to humans many of the same genes will be passed through making it much easier for the birth defects to become more and more common. Heimbach (1998) states that, “Cloning could also increase the risk of birth defects if cloned individuals begin marrying nearly identical genetic relatives, a danger that will be hard to avoid in second and third generations.” (p.636). Not only would the clones be in danger, but also the women giving birth to these clones could be in danger as well. The future fertility of women who are allowing their eggs to be harvested are at risk as well as their health. Stark (2015) state's, “Cloning also requires harvesting large number of eggs from women. This process poses risks to women’s health and can threaten their future fertility. And the offer of payment for eggs can lead to the exploitation of low-income women” (p. 1). A life could be lost or serious health conditions could be caused, due to the birth of these clones for the women giving birth to them. Another factor that needs to be put into
Many ethical and moral dilemmas arise when discussing human cloning, and one can have many positions for and against each. To understand the issues surrounding human cloning, one must have a basic
While some believe cloning to be acceptable others feel equally strongly that human cloning is completely wrong. With the state of the science as it is at the moment it would involve hundreds of damaged pregnancies to achieve one single live cloned baby. What is more, all the evidence suggests that clones are unhealthy and often have a number of built-in genetic defects, which lead to premature ageing and death. It would be completely wrong to bring a child into the world knowing that it was extremely likely to be affected by problems like these. The dignity of human life and the genetic uniqueness we all have would be attacked if cloning became commonplace. People might be
Although IVF seems more acceptable after comparison, therapeutic cloning is still under opposition. To be specific, first