What are the practical issues of cloning?

Answer 1

# In the movie Jurassic Park, based on the best-selling book of the same name by Michael Crichton, scientists clone dinosaurs by using the DNA that was preserved for millions of years. However, there is trouble when the cloned dinosaurs turn out fiercer and smarter than expected. Can dinosaurs really be cloned? Theoretically, they can; all that would be required is DNA from an extinct dinosaur and a currently living closely related species which would act as a surrogate wart. In fact, there is ongoing research to clone the Woolly Mammoth by extracting the DNA from frozen animals.

Actually, cloning is a phenomenon that occurs naturally in a wide variety of species from aphids to armadillos, to poplar trees, to bacteria. Whenever you see a pair of identical twins, they are examples of nature's clones. Although scientists have been cloning certain organisms like the carrot quite successfully for decades, attempts at cloning animals have not been as successful. However, they began long before the birth of Dolly, the sheep - the first mammal to be successfully cloned. There were sporadic successes at cloning other animals, like CC (abbreviation for 'copycat'), the first cat to be cloned, an Asian gaur, an endangered species, which Bessie, a cow, gave birth to, and way back in the 1960's, frogs being cloned, albeit with limited success. In fact, in the 1980s, some companies tried commercializing the cloning of livestock by the process of taking the nuclei from fetuses and embryos. These efforts generally resulted in failure because the newborns usually did not survive for long due to being unhealthy. Livestock cloning, currently, is still in the process of research. However, it is generally accepted that in time the scientific viability of producing healthy clones will become a reality.

Although cloning other species does give rise to some misgivings, whether reviving extinct or endangered species, or to reproduce a dead pet, the prospect of cloning humans artificially is one of the most controversial debates that the human species has been pondering about, raising a number of ethical issues involved. In fact, the social impact of producing humans artificially was brilliantly explored in the famous novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, and also in the movie The Island.

Human cloning is basically about creating a genetically identical replica of a previously existing or existing person. Why would anybody opt to clone human beings? Well, generally, it will be one more option by which infertile couples can have children. Replacing a deceased child is also another reason why some people have expressed interest in the procedure.

There are various methods of human cloning: embryo cloning, reproductive cloning and therapeutic cloning. There is another method of cloning, known as replacement cloning, which at present exists only in theory. It is a combination of both reproductive and therapeutic cloning. Replacement cloning involves replacing a body that has been extensively damaged, or has failed, or is in the process of failing, via cloning, followed by transplanting the brain either partially or entirely. This procedure has been projected as a way of greatly extending human lifespan.

Embryo Cloning: In this procedure, identical twins are produced, basically by reproducing how twins are created naturally. A few cells are extracted from a fertilized embryo, which are induced to develop into duplicate embryos. The twins that are thus formed have identical DNA. Although this procedure has been used on various animal species, there has been only limited experimentation done on humans.

Reproductive Cloning: In this procedure, the DNA is removed from an ovum and replaced with the DNA extracted from a cell taken from an adult animal. Next, the fertilized ovum, which is called a pre-embryo now, is implanted in a womb, which then develops into a new animal. Thus, this procedure basically produces a duplicate of an existing person. Based on studies done on animals, it results in animals being born with severe genetic defects. This is the main reason why many in the medical field think it to be a profoundly unethical procedure to be carried out on humans. It is specifically banned in many countries. However, there are rumors that this procedure has been used successfully to initiate a pregnancy by the controversial Italian embryologist, Dr Severino Antinori.

Therapeutic Cloning: The initial stages of this procedure are practically the same as Reproductive Cloning. However, in this, the stem cells are extracted from the pre-embryo, with the intention of generating a whole organ or tissue, so that it can be transplanted back into the person who gave the DNA. The pre-embryo, however, dies during the process. The aim of therapeutic cloning is to create a healthy organ or tissue of a sick person, in order to transplant it into them, instead of relying on organs from other people. This eliminates the need of waiting lists for organs, and since the organ has the same DNA as the donor, there is no need to take immunosuppressive drugs, as is required now after transplantations.

At this nascent stage of cloning, there is no consensus yet about the ethical issues that are thrown up by the process of the destruction of human embryos, so that stem cells can be collected. Many conservative Christians and others concerned about the ethical issues of cloning think that the embryo is equivalent to a human being right at conception, and should be given the same rights. Since the process involved in the removal of DNA is similar to the process of conventional conception, because both create a pre-embryo, it is thought that the pre-embryo is a human person. In therapeutic cloning, the process of extracting stem cells, therefore, is equivalent to murdering the human being. Religious and ethically conservative people think it is ethically wrong to kill one person so that another person's life can be extended or saved.

Others, however, are of the opinion that the embryo does not require any particular moral consideration, because at the stage when it is cloned, it is just a bunch of cells that contain DNA, and are not very different from the millions of skin cells that we shed everyday. The embryonic cells at that stage cannot be considered equivalent to a human being because it does not have a brain, thoughts, self-awareness, memory, awareness of its environment, sensory organs, internal organs, legs, arms, and so on. They think that the embryo attains human personhood much later during gestation, perhaps at the point when the brain develops so that it becomes aware of itself.

Here are some questions concerning the ethical issues of cloning humans for you to ponder about:

Is cloning humans "playing God?" If it is, then how about other reproductive procedures like hormone treatments and in vitro fertilization?

Does an embryo, at whatever stage of its existence, have the same rights as human beings?

Do we have the right to have children, regardless of how they are created?

Is it justified to create stem cells by killing a human embryo?

Is it ethically right to harvest organs from clones?

If a clone is created from an existing person, who is the parent?

Will cloned children face any social repercussions? If so, what?

Can cloned children be manipulated to become monsters, like Hitler, or slaves, as is explored in Brave New World?

Should the research in cloning by regulated? If so, who should regulate it, and how can it be regulated?

Answer 2

There are essentially no problems, only advantages. The reason is that people lack any financial incentive for cloning organisms without benefit. Cloning is more expensive than natural reproduction.

What are the advantages of cloning? We might be able to resurrect some recently extinct species, helping to preserve them. We can produce copies of useful organisms, such as cows that are above average milk producers, or cows that lack susceptibility to bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease), or even genius humans. Cloning people would help us identify what combination of genes or environment results in genius.

Any drawbacks from cloning exist with natural reproduction as well, but only are magnified by it.

Answer 3

Cloning of animals or higher life forms poses many moral and religious issues for many people. Arguments often call cloning "playing God" and interfering with nature. There are also technical and scientific reasons against cloning - such as how cloning reduces genetic diversity and may cause decreased resistance to disease.

There are many potential benefits to cloning, such as possible cures for terminal illnesses and the ability to re-grow lost limbs. Whether these benefits outweigh the risks and potential ethical problems is widely debated.

Answer 4

The practical issues of cloning involves the following. A clones genes are just as old as his genetic identical ancestor. And some problems that the ancestor may have can be passed on to the clone. Imagine if your genes were 50 years old when you were born.

Answer 5

If you clone a person do they have a soul? Should they have the same rights as people who are born naturally?

Answer 6

Cancer.