An Argument for Cloning
Uploaded by diamond_blake on Dec 14, 2003
In February of 1997 the biotechnology firm PPL Therapeutics in association with the Roslin Institute of Edinburgh, Scotland announced the first successful fully cloned mammal, Dolly the sheep. While the majority of people have come to terms with the emotional and philosophical dilemmas triggered by the birth of Dolly, the world was ridden with panic by the Raelian claim of cloning the first human being. The Raelians have yet to demonstrate any evidence to support their human cloning experiment, but have managed to add fuel to the already burning debate pertaining to the acceptability of human cloning in our society. The arguments created against cloning focus on religious issues, the health risks involved in the procedure, and personality and identity issues within the cloned subject. However, cloning of humans and human organs in our society should be permissible according to many scientific arguments; the arguments against the moral permissibility of cloning are neither coherent nor convincing.
Many biomedical technologies such as organ transplants, blood transfusions, in vitro fertilization, and life-support systems, although considered unnatural, are hailed for their benefits and advancements in improving the quality of life. Nevertheless, many religious people and institutions claim that the practice of cloning is unnatural; “If god would have wanted us to clone ourselves, he would have given us a way for a-sexual reproduction”. However, not all religions think the same way; “some Jewish and Muslim religious leaders testified before the National Bioethics Advisory Commission that they feel embryo and cloning research might provide discoveries that would lead to an appropriate way to counter infertility”. The religious appeals of the Catholic Church to dismiss cloning are hypocritical in relation to the churches acceptance to use other unnatural forms of biotechnology.
Conversely, scientists and officials involved in the regulation of cloning agree that no human cloning should be performed until the risks and consequences of the technology are completely understood. These problems are considered a technical issue and not a moral one. Once this technology becomes reliable, techniques such as therapeutic cloning can be implemented. Therapeutic cloning is specifically designed not to create complete individuals, but rather to create organs to heal people. However, many experts agree that the public’s concerns and fears about the health issues regarding cloning are valid. “Parties have a concern about the mutation of genes” because these mutations would have an effect on both...