The ethical implications of human cloning harvard university. As bioethicist dan brock concludes in a recent 1998 procon study, human cloning stirs deep, but difficult to articulate, uneasiness and even revulsion in many people. Though genetically identical, cloned humans are technically due the same rights of any human. Below is an excerpt from the report on the moral case against. The proposal to enhance the human genetic endowment by genetic cloning of eminent individuals is not warranted. In effect, a person creates an exact copy, with the exact genetic sequence, from their own dna. What i show is that contrary to the popular opinion there are opponents and proponents in each of these moral camps, presenting arguments for and against human cloning. Even before wilmuts announcement, human cloning had been made illegal in nearly all countries in europe and had been condemned by the council of europe council of europe 1986. Argument against human cloning essays the idea of cloning humans has always stirred debate, raising moral and ethical issues. Apr 01, 2019 nevertheless, there are more reasonable arguments against human cloning as well. A first approach relies on a form of moral casuistry.
It requires over 100 embryos to create one viable animal clone in many circumstances. The advantages and disadvantages of human cloning raise moral, ethical, scientific and safety questions. The information in this section is provide to illustrate the diversity of approaches various different parts of the world are taking with regard to regulation of human cloning and embryonic stem cell research. The announcement of her birth in 1997 sparked a heated debate about the ethics of human reproductive cloning, resulting in most countries legally banning it. The main purpose of this briefing is to examine the arguments for and against reproductive human cloning. World human cloning policies by kathryn wheat and kirstin matthews, ph. The american association for the advancement of science aaas has published this report as a contribution to the understanding of an. While the bible does not specifically deal with the subject of human cloning, there are principles in scripture which may shed more light on the concept. In media interviews, a testimony to a house subcommittee and an editorial in science magazine, professor jaenisch told the public, congress and scientists that we are not ready to. I will be posting two articles, this one dedicated to providing 6 strong arguments in the favor of cloning and another which provides 6 arguments against cloning. The journey that human cloning has taken has been one of dramatic highs and lows, heated arguments and confusion about the path ahead.
Biological, ethical, and social considerations ncbi. There are currently 8 states arizona, arkansas, indiana, michigan, north dakota, oklahoma, south dakota, virginia that prohibit cloning for any purpose. Human cloning offers a timely and concise one volume survey of all the major arguments for and against human cloning. Scientists will continue to clone embryos in their quest to develop stem cell therapies, ultimately, their work will facilitate the birth of human clonesonce born, human. Tonight, i will dare to articulate what i believe are the best arguments against reproductive cloning and socalled therapeutic cloning. Interesting, while federal law does not directly prohibit human cloning, individual states have passed laws against cloning.
These ethical concerns have prompted several nations. Scientists will continue to clone embryos in their quest to develop stem cell therapies, ultimately, their work will facilitate the birth of human clonesonce born, human clones will be. Some of them take an approach that suggests its a way to save the world, like in the fifth element, when leeloo is a clone of what must be combined with four other elements to save the world. Two of the questions were likert items bainbridge, 1989. Ranked one of 20 most influential business thinkers alive. Categorical and noncategorical versions this epigenetic argument against human reproductive cloning. On the scientific side, we see that a large percentage of cloning efforts end in failure. Apr 04, 2001 professor of biology rudolf jaenisch took an active role last week in standing up for responsible science and being a spokesperson against embarking on human cloning.
Most arguments against human cloning are more problematic and limited in scope than generally assumed. Some prohibit only cloning for reproductive purposes and allow the creation of cloned human embryos for research, whereas others prohibit the. Reasons for and against human cloning recently, the controversy around human cloning has received a lot of news coverage. Collecting 10 eggsdonor act71 eggs from 7 donors at generous 20% cloning efficiency to achieve blastocyst stage. It examines the extent to which human cloning is relevantly continuous with already familiar ethical contexts and issues. In the march 2006 issue of embo reports, christof tannert, a bioethicist at the max delbruck research centre in berlin, germany, presented a moral argument against human reproductive cloning on the basis of immanuel kants categorical imperative tannert, 2006. The debate of human cloning essay 1690 words bartleby. When dolly the sheep was born as a clone in 1997, it did not take religious leaders long to speak out against the science from the pulpit. Reasons for and against human cloning phil for humanity. Most arguments against human cloning are more problematic and. It examines the extent to which human cloning is relevantly continuous with. The case against cloning forbiomedicalresearch while there is currently widespread agreement that cloning toproducechildren would be unethical, and even fairly broad support for its prohibition, public opinion is much more divided on the moral acceptability of cloning forbiomedicalresearch.
There are plenty of arguments against cloning especially against cloning humans ranging from scientific issues, to the practicality of cloning, to religious objections. Arguments offered for and against reproductive cloning are given below. Against human cloning argumentative free essay example. When researchers witnessed the birth of the first cloned mammal, they were ecstatic, but this high ended with the tragic early death of this sheep, dolly, due to abnormalities jaenisch 2004. Human embryo cloning places women at risk exampleto treat the 17 million diabetes patients in the united states. Fictional filmic representations of human cloning have shifted in relation to the 1997 announcement of the birth of dolly the cloned sheep, and since therapeutic human cloning became a scientific. Many countries disallow reproductive cloning because of these questions, but some do allow research. Nevertheless, there are more reasonable arguments against human cloning as well. Much of the debate about cloning and genetic engineering is conducted in the familiar language of autonomy, consent, and individual rights. Cloning is a process that creates a genetic replica of an organism. Human clones and international human rights by kerry. World health organization reproductive cloning of human. Mar 12, 2019 human cloning would face the same dangers as animal cloning. The difference though, is that the birth of identical twins is a natural process, while what we refer to as human cloning is an artificial.
Although scientists have successfully brought back an extinct species through the technologies and understanding of the research in this field, the results were less than spectacular. The animals mostly used in cloning are rodents and insects. Since the artificial cloning of dolly the sheep, scientists have launched the question whether in a not so distant future a human being will also be created artificially. Essay about argument against human cloning 1902 words. Human cloning is the creation of a genetically identical copy or clone of a human. Jaenisch makes public case against human cloning mit news. A summary comment follows at the end of the arguments. The term is generally used to refer to artificial human cloning, which is the reproduction of human cells and tissue.
Professor of biology rudolf jaenisch took an active role last week in standing up for responsible science and being a spokesperson against embarking on human cloning. We have found that the popular responses to cloning are grounded. Jan 02, 2020 in light of this, human cloning, with its destruction of human embryos, would not be consistent with the bibles view of human life. This approach combines both quantitative and qualitative methodologies in a manner that is especially effective in pilot studies. Collecting 10 eggsdonor act71 eggs from 7 donors at generous 20% cloning efficiency to achieve blastocyst stage at generous 10% efficiency at initiating es cell culture will require minimum of 850 million eggs will require minimum 85 million women of. Highly customised, very interactive, entertaining futurist presentations, every industry, 50 nations. Reproductive cloning arguments pro and con center for. As research and experiments continue delve into the frontiers of technology and science, we inch closer to the possibility of cloning becoming a reality. The popular opinion is that deontologists would be against human cloning, consequentialists would be for human cloning, and virtue theory would be uninformative in the debate. Analysis of an epigenetic argument against human reproductive. Thus, cloning may be ethically permissible in certain contexts. In this article, i address some problems with tannerts views and show that our concerns about this.
Against human cloning initially, cloning was only possible on plant. Arguments against reproductive cloning and therapeutic. Every person who is pro cloning agrees that this is not in fact an arguement against cloning, but simply a violation of human rights. Human cloning is the practice of creating genetically identical copycopies of a person, or cells and tissues of the person. The third cloningrelated item presented the two statements again and offered a space where the respondent could write his or her views on their topic freely.
Cloning, morality, rights, reproduction, therapy 1. Human cloning is the creation of a genetically identical copy of a human. Pdf dolly, the sheep, was the first mammal cloned from a somatic cell using a technique called somatic cell nuclear transfer. For example, it took hundreds of attempts to clone dolly the sheep. Though many peoples religious beliefs inform their views on human cloning, and it is often difficult to separate religious from secular positions, i shall restrict myself to arguments and reasons that can be given a clear secular formulation and will ignore explicitly religious positions and arguments pro or con. Around the world similar immediate condemnation was heard, as human cloning was called a violation of human rights and human dignity.
The united nations declaration on human cloning calls upon member states to prohibit all forms of human cloning. Six arguments in favor of and against cloning hubpages. The case against human cloning published by scholarly commons at hofstra law, 1999. The legal and ethical issues of cloning that make it. We aim to show that there is a very strong case for banning human cloning, but we have tried to present the counterarguments fairly. Futurist speaker and advisor to 400 of worlds largest companies. A possible backing of 4 is the ethical presupposition that abnormalities should be avoided because they may involve suffering, which is bad. Cloning animals has lead to a huge discussion on science, religion and the role of tehcnology in our everyday lives. However, with the advent of science, cloningof animals being has become possible. The cell divides and forms a population of identical cells cell clones.
These are a few of the incurable illnesses being researched by scientists who believe the answer to a cure lies in the stem cells of tiny, human embryos frozen in. It is currently the subject of much debate around the world, involving a variety of ethical, religious, societal, scientific, and medical issues. Many countries disallow reproductive cloning because of. Most mainstream scientists are set against attempts at reproductive human cloning, including ian wilmut, the british embryologist who led the team which cloned dolly the sheep, and richard gardner. The public case against human cloning public discourse. It does not refer to the natural conception and delivery of identical twins. Despite claims by the raelian cult to have cloned human beings at the end of 2002, there are, so far, no. Reproductive cloning would foster an understanding of children, and of people in general, as objects that can be designed and manufactured to possess specific characteristics. Ethical positions regarding cloning in general is causing problems in the research development. Introduction some of the arguments in favour of cloning could rightly be evaluated as patently weak and therefore less convincing.
Here is a discussion about the ethical issues that have arisen concerned with cloning humans. A fundamental argument is that cloning is ethically wrong and various religious groups have rejected it saying that cloning is equivalent to playing god. Never let me clone countering an ethical argument against. There should be a law against cloning human beings. What individual or social benefits might human cloning produce. In the 1970s, a journalist, david rorvik, published a book supposedly describing the.
A clone is an organism that has generally identical genetic composition to another organism. The ethical implications of human cloning spring 2005 volume 48, number 2 243 it might be replied that cloning and genetic engineering are in principle no different from other ways in which parents go to great lengths to produce children of a certain kind, or designer children. Hitler, or any other person, could easily have done the same to naturally born people. Cloning should be banned and illegal because neither the animal or human gets the same personalities and can mess them up forever. The process is quite similar to the process in which identical twins are born. Human cloning in the form of identical twins is the closest comparison that we have to this scientific concept at this time. The possibility of person cloning has raised controversies. Artificial cloning processes have yet to be developed, and they may never be brought to light because of the numerous ethical and moral concerns involved with the technology that would allow a genetically identical copy of an existing or. Human embryo cloning just tweaks apart a zygote at the two cell stage, changing a single twocell form of life into two onecell forms of life. Human clones and international human rights by kerry macintosh. Some opponents of research cloning,troubled by the deliberate creation of embryos for research,support em bryonic stem cell research,provided it uses spareembryos left over from fertil ity clinics sandel 2002. Human reproductive cloning is an assisted reproductive technology that would be carried out with the goal of creating a newborn genetically identical to another human being.
Embryo cloning still depends on a human egg from a woman and sperm from a man. In addition, if humanity was created, then there must be a creator, and humanity is therefore subject and accountable to that creator. Research on human cloning should be encouraged, because it will greatly benefit science and medicine. First, dna is removed from the nucleus of a creatures cell. Scientific and medical aspects of human reproductive cloning. Against human cloning essay example topics and well. People have ethical and moral objections to this science as well. Theological discourse about human cloning has adopted either of two methods and often both of practical reasoning 2. It will well serve medical ethicists, social and cultural critics, public policy specialists, and the educated layperson who wants to better understand this issue and its implications for our society, culture, and civilization.
Human cloning the cloning of human beings cloning is the creation of an exact biological twin generated from the dna of a donor. Jan 16, 2017 most arguments against human cloning are more problematic and limited in scope than generally assumed. The roman catholic church is against human cloning of any kind, and they have held that position since 1987. A new report from the witherspoon council on ethics and the integrity of science forcefully makes the case against all forms of human cloning. Arguments against reproductive cloning and therapeutic cloning. Ever since the advent of cloning, there have been arguments for and against this process. In the united states, strategic roadblocks have been established to keep human cloning shelved for as long as it is possible. Liberty and morality the apparent international consensus against reproduc tive cloning reflects a popular sentiment that deeply oppos es human cloning. In the case with dolly, it took scientists 270 trials to successfully clone the sheep. September 16, 2015july 11, 2018 by the witherspoon council on ethics and the integrity of science.
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