...Human cloning occurs naturally with phenomena like twins and triplets, but the same outcome of a genetically identical individual created in a lab is not as well received. Over the years, cloning has transformed from a thing of fantasy to one of reality. Current research is bringing us closer than ever to cloning humans, but what will happen if we succeed? The word clone is defined as being an exact genetic replica of a molecule, cell, plant, animal or human being. The term cloning refers to the technological process of creating a clone. The use of cloning technologies has been in place for the past 50 years, though it wasn’t until 1996 that the first mammal was cloned from a somatic cell. Dolly, the world’s first cloned lamb, brought cloning and its ethical implications into the spotlight after she was successfully cloned from an udder cell of a six-year-old sheep. Dolly was put to sleep in 2003 after suffering from lung disease, as well as premature arthritis. Having lived only six and a half years instead of the expected 11 – 12, Dolly’s passing also brought to light questions regarding the health and life expectancy of cloned animals. Though her life was short, she left a long lasting imprint in the field of modern biological research. The successful cloning of Dolly led to many other advances in the biological community, however, as of 2014 no human has ever been successfully cloned. Human cloning is a hotly debated topic in the science and religious communities...
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...The question of whether humans should have the right to clone themselves leads to interesting questions on the nature of human individuality. There is also the ethical question of whether human reproductive cloning in order to replicate ones genetic identity should be allowed at all. If reproductive cloning to create an entire human being were possible, and accessibility and cost were not a factor, should humans have the unrestricted right to clone themselves? The right or even need for humans to clone themselves is as complex a moral or ethical issue as it is a complex bimolecular and genetic procedure. There may be no definitive answer to the ethical or moral dilemmas but in my opinion there is not a reason compelling enough to justify human reproductive cloning of an entire human being, even if it were technically possible at this time. There appear to be too many issues and unknowns in both the science and ethics of human reproductive cloning to allow it even if it were possible. The fear as portrayed in science fiction about armies of replicated humans threatening society and all of our identities being at risk are certainly unfounded as the science proves out (Sommers Smith, 5C - 23). Unlike the renowned geneticist James Watson I am not so certain that having the ability to clone a human would make it a benefit to our society, or should make it a requirement to do so (Grace, pp. 214-215). The unknowns about human cloning seem to far outweigh our suppositions about the...
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...Nathan Johnson Persuasive Essay Human Cloning Cloning humans has recently become a possibility that seems much more realistic in today's society than it was twenty years ago. It is a method that involves the production of a group of identical cells or organisms that all derive from a single individual (Grolier 220). It is not known when or how cloning humans really became a possibility, but it is known that there are two possible ways that we can clone humans. The first way involves splitting an embryo into several halves and creating many new individuals from that embryo. The second method of cloning a human involves taking cells from an already existing human being and cloning them, in turn creating other individuals that are identical to that particular person. With these two methods almost at our fingertips, we must ask ourselves two very important questions: Can we do this, and should we? There is no doubt that many problems involving the technological and ethical sides of this issue will arise and will be virtually impossible to avoid, but the overall idea of cloning humans is one that we should accept as a possible reality for the future. Cloning humans is an idea that has always been thought of as something that could be found in science fiction novels, but never as a concept that society could actually experience. "It is much in the news. The public has been bombarded with newspaper articles, magazine stories, books, television shows, and movies as well as cartoons¨...
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...De-extinction or not? The ethical dilemmas of cloning extinct species have been a...
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... Student Number: 1057404 In cloning for medical-research purposes the development of the embryo is halted as soon as a cluster of stem cells develops. The stem cells are then harvested for research purposes. Due to the fact that no infant is born (in fact the embryo never even gets past the blastocyst stage), it is argued that this type of cloning has nothing to do with human cloning. (Hatch Backs Limited Cloning, 2002). For this reason this paper shall take the statement “to clone a human being” as meaning cloning that results in a fully formed human and not on the cloning of embryos for the purposes of research. The issues around cloning are in the main more ethical than theological and yet most of the objections to cloning come from religious sources, even if those objections are not religious in nature. The first objection is that cloning leaves God out of the process of human creation. This only makes sense though if your definition of God is of a being that plays a role in the birth of each member of our species. Even holding to this view it does not necessarily follow that cloning is comparable to playing God (Brannigan, 2001). How can science prevent a supposedly omnipotent and omnipresent being from doing anything, and if it is possible this raises serious questions about God’s divinity and even our own. The second objection is that we are creating an infant independent of human sexual...
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...Additionally, cloning can be seen by opponents as useless. Shanks, in the article “Pet Cloning” says, “Cloning does nothing to improve their environment; it adds no genetic diversity; it requires many surrogates and egg donors, who may be harmed; and it may distract from lower tech but more practical conservation measures”. Opponents will claim that because cloning does not add genetic diversity, it is useless. They claim that it does not improve the environment. In spite of the previous claim, cloning does improve the environment. According to “Cloning”, cloning could be used as a substitute for selective breeding. Selective breeding, which is breeding animals with desirable characteristics to produce offspring with those characteristics,...
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...The Human Cloning Prohibition Act has repeatedly failed to pass in 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2012, and 2015 which attempted to amend the Public Health Service Act. The Human Cloning Prohibition Act did not pass because of organ transplants, stem cell research, and genetic modification. The Human Cloning Prohibition Act has tried to have been passed in 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2012, and 2015 and has failed every time. This is partially due to the vague definitions of the act of cloning in regards to scientific research. One such example of this is in the Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 1998 which stated that it is unlawful to use human somatic cell nuclear transfer technology(SCNT) (“S. 1601 – Human...”). SCNT...
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...controversial topics, that may affect my future or make me question my opinion. The act of taking already existing genetic material, and making an exact copy, is known as cloning. A revolutionary advancement, we are now capable of achieving with the technology and knowledge obtainable to us. When it comes to cloning, there is three types; therapeutic/research, reproductive human cloning and reproductive animal cloning. The mere thought of cloning has always been science fiction to me, something you only see in movies. Now that i'm faced to ponder whether or not any kind of cloning should be permitted. I believe that, just because something can be done, doesn't mean it should be done. I urge you to please consider all the moral and ethical values we have as people, when its comes to permitting any type of cloning. As the outcomes, can be great in positive and negative gravity. The possibilities that come with therapeutic cloning, are enough to make...
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...Abstract Cloning first kick-started in 1996, with the cloning of Dolly, in which there was no male involved in the cloning. Ever since Dolly, hundreds of animals have been cloned. Every single day, scientists are getting close and closer to cloning humans. With the technology today, it is seems more evident to happen. Nevertheless, not everyone believes that we should be cloning humans. In the United States right now, there is no law banning any kind of human cloning. This means that at this moment, scientists have the right to clone a human if they wanted to. While some believe that, we should not ban cloning in the United States, there are also many that believe that we should, and I am one of them. Within this paper, I will explain my view in order to plead my case that human cloning is unethical and inhumane. Human Cloning, Is it Ethical Human cloning is and has been the subject of moral debate in the United States and around the world, and because of this it has raised many ethical questions. One thing that I do have in common with our previous president Bush is his principle that it is unethical to create human life for destroying it. I never thought about human cloning and its relevance until I watched the movie, called The Island. The Island is a sci-fi action thriller that reportedly cost about $120 million to make. Its powerful message is against creating human life in a laboratory and it truly came through loud and clear despite...
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...2013 Stem Cell and Human Cloning Research and Ethics Questions about ethics in research have increased and unethical issues rise from different fields such as Medicine and Science. When the discussion about stem cell and human cloning researches rise for the meaning, “what is life?” the question is simple, but the answer is still unclear. This paper is an overview of the articles about stem cell and human cloning researches that discuss business research ethics and involves ethical and unethical issues. A stem cell is a type of cell found into the body of all human beings, has the capability to reproduce them, and to produce other types of cells such as brain cells, muscle cells, and others. In the New York Times’ article is very clear that the ongoing battle to make this research valid is relentless. This research can be the potential that holds for the future generation and scientists affirms; “stem cells may be used to replace or repair damaged cells, and have the potential to drastically change the treatment of conditions like cancer, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease and even paralysis.” (Harris, 2012) However, opponents of embryonic stem cell want the research to be restricted or prohibited entire as inhumane because most researches are done by creating embryonic stem cell from fertilized cells. When the approach is human cloning there is no difference, opponents to the research claim that it is immoral and unethical. In human cloning, women's eggs were procured...
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...Wanda Brewington Professor Maria Zaccaria Introduction to Ethics April 27, 2015 Outline THESIS: Is the use of stem cells favorable for healing and or curing human diseases more favorable for healing and or curing diseases more significant than the ethical concerns and arguments? I. What are stem cells? A) An unspecialized cell that can generate to one or more different types of specialized cells regenerated as blood or nerve cells. B) Stem cells are present in embryos and in tissues of adult organisms. II. How are stem cells used? A) Scientific Research B) Potential disease and treatment and or cures C) In vitro fertilization D) Cloning and Genetic Engineering III. Ethical concerns regarding stems cells. A) Scientific research perspective B) Political/Moral Ethics perspective C) Religious/Utilitarianism perspective IV. Conclusion | Stem Cells Risk or Benefit Since the introduction of DNA, scientists have researched many ways to treat and extinguish disease. One interesting way is through the use of stem cells. To get better understanding of stem cells, they are defined as non-specific biological cells capable of differentiating into specialized cells. Stems cells have a unique quality of developing and duplicating cells through the process of cell division. The distinctiveness of stem cells is that they are unspecialized, meaning...
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...Cloning is paradigmatic because it signifies both a specific medical technique and the mode of operation of modern technique. As a specific technique it allows the reproduction of biological organisms, including humans. As a mode of operation it signifies the turning of given phenomena into human-induced processes, and in doing so seeks to control, if not outright eliminate, otherwise given differences. In the latter sense, cloning is equally applicable to biological organisms and cultural artifacts, including law. Seen from this perspective the homogenization of international law in the field of biotechnology is a telling case of the cloning of international law. The essay will begin with a science fiction account of cloning through a brief discussion of Aldous Huxley’s novel Brave New World.17 I will then move to discuss two case studies of genetic regulation, which simultaneously address the problem of cloning and reproduce the problem on a different level. The first concerns human cloning and the 2005 United Nation Declaration on the Human Cloning.18 The second concerns stem-cell research and a more recent decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in the case of Brüstle v. Greenpeace (2011), to impose a blanket prohibition on patenting the outcome of stem-cell research. The two cases represent the growing international governance of biotechnologies. Both regulations set limits on the use of specific biotechnologies either by an outright prohibition of...
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...emergent science”. The field of new and emergent science includes many other sub topics such as human cloning, animal cloning, nanomachines, human genome mapping, and DNA altering. I believe that a person could write many books while only scratching the surface of the philosophical debates that surround these intense issues. I believe that there are specific parts of these new sciences and technologies that a postcolonialist would have issues with – specifically people being able to choose and change the genes of their children. This kind of ability would more than likely be relegated to the rich and affluent, and would serve to further oppress the middle and lower classes who could not afford the procedure. While some of the new sciences do not have the most apparent ethical issues, others are glaringly obvious. In the field of human cloning for instance, there are the ethical questions of what rights would a clone have? Would it be considered “alright” to clone yourself just to harvest organs later on in life should some illness befall you? Or how about the ethics of changing the natural progression of your unborn child by altering their DNA in utero? In my opinion, the way to solve some of these issues would be to have a global summit in order to lay down laws and rules to govern the applications of these sciences. If the leaders of the world were to take the ethical route and say how things should work (like no harvesting clones, giving them the same benefits as a...
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...Cloning is not new and experiments with frogs and toads date back to the 1970s . Experiments involving plants and animal embryos have been performed for years, yet experiments involving human beings have never been tried or thought possible, until "Dolly". Her birth shocked the scientific community and has spurred discussion about the possibility of human clones. In the following essay I am going to speak about the subject of Human Cloning, its pros and cons, and speak against the following issues. Pros of Human Cloning Prior to arguing against the human cloning it is imperative to note the positives of this genetic technology. Human cloning will allow doctors to determine the cause of spontaneous abortions, give oncologists an understanding of the rapid cell growth of cancer, allow the use of stem cells to regenerate nerve tissues, and advance work on aging, genetics, and medicines. Some people argue that cloning is the logical next step in reproductive technology. Identical twins are natural clones, so reproductive cloning can be regarded as a technological version of a natural process (McGee, 82). If a couple are infertile, why shouldn't they be able to produce clones of themselves? If a couple have lost a child, why shouldn't they be able to replace that loved individual with a clone if that is possible? Equally if someone has made a great contribution to science, music, the arts or literature, it seems like a good idea to produce more of them in the hope that we might...
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...2010 Cloning Human, animal, and plant cloning is one of the most controversial subjects in modern science. There are many good arguments in favor of cloning, as well as many against it. In my opinion, plant and animal cloning could be very efficient to society by way of creating more food, but I also view it as unethical. In this essay I will discuss many pro’s and con’s of cloning. Cloning can help the human race in many ways, but is it necessary? One way it can help us is by the cloning of plants and animals. In doing this, we could create more food and genetically engineer the food to maximize its health. "Commercial livestock cloning could inundate the food supply with novel products that have not been safety tested."(Mendelson). Most scientists who oppose the idea claim that cloned animals usually have birth defects, and have not been properly tested for safe consumption. Although this could be true, with the rapidly advancing technology in today’s world it probably will not be long until cloning is perfected, and the animals pass all tests. However, is the cloning of animals really necessary for us to survive? Those who are on the more ethical side of the matter believe that God has and will continue to provide us with plenty of plants and animals to survive on. Thus, the argument can go back and forth depending on your beliefs and personal ethics. Ultimately the answer to the question is what you make it. Another way cloning can benefit us is by the cloning of human...
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