...produced by cloning methods and was born to a surrogate mother (“Cloning Fact Sheet”). The methods used to clone Dolly were once considered to be biologically impossible (Wilmut and Highfield 12). Thus, once Dolly’s birth was announced to the rest of the world, an immediate debate over the ethics of cloning began. In particular, reproductive cloning was widely discussed because it could possibly be accomplished through somatic cell nuclear transfer to clone entire humans (“Cloning Fact Sheet”). For medical, social, religious, and political reasons, there are both proponents and opponents of reproductive human cloning and its ethics. Currently, the best way to deal with reproductive cloning is to ban its use because there are many negative consequences that could arise from using cloning technology. There are two different types of human cloning: therapeutic cloning and reproductive cloning. The goal of the former is to obtain stem cells from embryos that can be used to study the growth of the human body and to find possible cures and treatments for various diseases (“Cloning Fact Sheet”). The purpose of the latter, on the other hand, is to create a whole human being through cloning. Specifically, reproductive cloning is done using somatic cell nuclear transfer and can theoretically produce a human that has the same exact nuclear DNA as another individual. Currently, though, this technology has only been used to clone animals and has not yet been successful in cloning humans (“Cloning...
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...James A. Byrne ¡ John B. Gurdon Commentary on human cloning Introduction Human cloning refers to the production of genetically identical humans. This cloning is possible via either ‘‘embryo splitting’’ or ‘‘nuclear transfer’’. Embryo splitting involves the separation of an early human embryo into two or more parts. Each of these parts has the potential to develop into a blastocyst (late embryo), which, if implanted, can develop into a child. This is how genetically identical monozygotic twins are created. Artificial embryo splitting has been successfully implemented in various mammals including sheep (Willadsen, 1981), cows (Willadsen, 1989), mice (Agrawal and Polge, 1989) and monkeys (Chan et al., 2000), but has been performed only to the pre-implantation stages in humans (Hall et al., 1993). Recently the American Society for Reproductive Medicine declared that human cloning by artificial embryo splitting was an ethical procedure to increase the number of implantable human blastocysts used in certain infertility treatments (ASRM, 2000). However, embryo splitting can produce only a limited number of cloned individuals as the early embryo can be separated only a limited number of times, and the procedure is not able to produce a ‘‘clone’’ of an adult that already exists. The other method for producing cloned humans, nuclear transfer, does not suffer from these limitations, and the rest of this article will focus on human cloning achieved via this technique. Nuclear transfer (or...
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...Two of Us: Cloning Cloning didn’t make a significant impact in culture or science until the first mammal was cloned in 1997. Cloning is the process in which an exact genetic copy of an organism is made. The first successful cloning was of Dolly the sheep. Though this was a huge stride for the scientific community, there has been many public riots against this action. Over the years scientists have researched and there has been several successful cloned animals; however, there have been many unsuccessful clonings. Throughout its history, cloning has overcome many obstacles. Scientists have discovered three types of cloning, anyhow, it is still not well received in society today. The founders of modern genetics, took the first steps in re-evaluating the previous theories used for cloning. August Weismann, Professor of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy at the University of Freiburg, proposed that cells can be manipulated by similar genetic organisms (Beale 2). Soon after Weismann’s theory was given public attention, two other scientists tried experimenting with his theory on manipulating similar organisms. During this time of trial and error, most of the animals used were small, such as: frogs, bird eggs, mice, and...
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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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...become common place in our society. What was once the dream of science fiction authors and fans has become reality. Such topics as stem cell research, in vitro fertilization, and cloning have created quite a stir in scientific communities. However, these advancements do not come without a cost, or without ethical dilemmas. First, a definition of these terms is required. Following that, we will explore some topics and the ethics associated with them. Stem cells exist in all living things. These cells go on to either produce more stem cells or specialize to become different types of living tissue. Stem cells can be broken down into two main classifications, embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells. Embryonic stem cells, as the name would imply, are only found in developing embryos. These cells are the most versatile. On the other hand, adult stem cells are only able to transform into a select few types of tissue. (Bongso & Lee, 2005) In vitro fertilization involves the fertilization of an oocyte outside of the female reproductive system. Fertilization occurs in a Petri dish, after which time the embryo is reintroduced into a female uterus where it is allowed to implant and develop. (Seibel, 2008) Cloning is a scientific method of producing an offspring that is genetically identical to the parent. In cloning, only one parent is required, therefore it is considered to be asexual reproduction. (Rugnetta, 2012) All of these technologies are exciting and hold great promise for mankind...
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...though there are many ways that cloning can help to improve lives, there are still some people who worry that it could do the opposite. This sparks a debate over the moral and legal issues of cloning, and how it could deprive humans of their lives in certain ways of cloning such as reproductive cloning. They worry that embryos and fetus’ will be grown for their stem cells, which is essential for cloning. "Several countries have enacted legislation to ban human cloning.”(Cloning) as well as “several states have passed their own laws prohibiting such research.”(Cloning) This “raises a number of challenging scientific, legal, philosophical, and ethical issues.”(Cloning) These examples show multiple Government’s views on cloning. And how...
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...readings involved stem cells, cloning of animals, the debate of human cloning, and gene therapy. Some terms that were new to me included: nascent, which basically means to be born; hubris which means full of pride; meliorist, which is a human’s effect on societal improvement; and the term despotism, meaning complete power or authority. In the reading on the President’s Council on Bioethics the council agreed that reproductive cloning was unacceptable. However it was not unanimous on therapeutic cloning. Majority of the council recommended a four year moratorium on research cloning and the remaining members recommended regulations of cloned embryos in research. A moral case for cloning for biomedical research is to provide possibilities of treating diseases. Research is limited to fourteen day old embryos that would be created to provide a good service for life and medicine. A moral case against cloning refers to embryos being treated as raw material solely to fulfill our own needs. There is also great concern of possibly causing harm to society by crossing reproduction margins and/or ruin to nascent human life. The four year moratorium hopes to provide some firm policies on cloning and allow time for a well researched and judicious decision to be attained. The central moral issue from the case of Dolly, the cloned sheep, is whether it is morally acceptable to clone for the purpose of advancing in medical solutions as opposed to cloning for the purpose of reproduction...
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...HUMAN CLONING Human Cloning Human Cloning One of the most controversial topics around the world today is human cloning. Knowledge rush defined cloning as “the creation of a genetically identical copy of an existing human or growing cloned tissue from that individual.” Human cloning is also referred to as artificial human cloning. Cloning efforts date back to the 1800s with the attempts to clone sea urchins and frogs. As of today, human cloning has not been perfected or deemed safe. Human cloning should not be legalized due to the high possibility of wiping out the entire population, overcrowding the entire population and the many ethical and medical issues. More advanced research, studies and experiments are needed before human cloning can become a reality. Then we have therapeutic and reproductive cloning. Therapeutic cloning is defined by med terms as “a procedure when cells (typically from the skin), are taken from patients and then inserted into a fertilized egg whose nucleus has been removed.” The stem cells that are extracted are used to grow tissue that could possibly be a genetic match and treat disorders like diabetes, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Keep in mind that this is not 100% accurate and that it’s a big part of the bioethical controversy. Developing cures is a huge one. The effort to find cures for illnesses will become extinct because every scientist and doctor will be too focused on cloning and looking out for themselves. Then...
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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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...Human cloning is the process of somatic cell nuclear transfer to create a human embryo which has the potential to be implanted into a woman's uterus and develop into a child. http://search.proquest.com/docview/274730164?accountid=152046 Pro Con Intro. The debate is usually divided into two issues -- reproductive cloning (creating cloned human beings) and therapeutic cloning (creating cloned human embryos for research and destruction). For now, there is near-universal consensus that we should shun the first. The idea of mother-daughter twins or genetically-identical "daddy juniors" stirs horror in us. Our moral sense revolts at the prospect, because so many of our cherished principles would be violated: the principle that children should not be designed in advance; that newborns should be truly new, without the burden of a genetic identity already lived; that a society where cloning is easy (requiring a few cells from anywhere in the body) means anyone could be cloned without knowledge or consent; and that replacing lost loved ones with "copies" is an insult to the ones lost, since it denies the uniqueness and sacredness of their existence. For these reasons, Americans agree that human cloning should never happen -- not merely because the procedure is not yet "safe," but because it is wrong. http://search.proquest.com/docview/398885498?accountid=152046 Point 1 Many research advocates say that they, too, are against "reproductive cloning." But to protect their research,...
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...Mirroring the World: The Aspects of Human Cloning Mirroring the World: The Aspects of Human Cloning Looking into a mirror presents an image that is strikingly similar to your own, but what if this image could come to life. Through extensive research, scientists have discovered a way to create life through a process called cloning. Cloning can simply be described by making an exact copy of an object. No one would have ever thought science could reach a level in history where you can actually make an exact duplicate of any organism. With such a large hype over this new discovery, there have many opposing arguments that carried along through the years with the research. Growing circulations have revolved around this issue creating a question asking, “Has Genetic Engineering gone too far?” Trial and error is the key concept in cloning, which follows suit through its complicated process, complications, and alternatives that will together to give us a sneak preview of the future ahead of us. A Step into the Process Cloning can be done in a few methods to create new life. The most common type of cloning is known as “somatic cell nuclear transfer.” In English, the method is basically saying that someone takes the DNA from the clone and DNA from the unfertilized egg and fuses the cells together to create the exact copy. This is one way to create a clone; the other involves the egg of the female species being copied. The scientist then extracts the donor’s genes from...
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...Is cloning the new method to treat human beings in the future? Recently, there has been an argument about cloning a human being. When it comes to cloning, people seem to want it both ways: "no" to reproductive cloning on moral grounds and "yes" to therapeutic cloning on scientific grounds. But, which one is the right decision? Human therapeutic cloning helps the ill to recover more efficiently. Therapeutic cloning helps recreate cells and tissues for better health. The Advanced Cell Technology say: ?therapeutic cloning is cloning for the possibility of recreating young cells and tissues potentially of any kind, genetically identical to the person who needs them, to replace worn out cells and tissues? This therapy would help patients with Parkinson?s disease and spinal cord injury, heart muscle cells for heart failure, cartilage for arthritis, pancreatic cells for diabetes, as well as many others. Cells are obtained from embryos during women first stage of fertilization. This is one problem that part of society is concern about. They think this act is against moral grounds. Politicians are very concerned with this new therapy method too. They rail against the scientists and try to prohibit a whole tide of research. But such social and political responses ignore the dynamism of medical science -- its complexity and possibility. At this point, society and politicians have asked many questions to this new issue. Are women allowed to do this? Should there be a...
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...Some argue that this process can decrease or even eliminate many serious genetic diseases. However, others also argue that bad medical conditions may also be passed onto the new organism that came from the original organism. A common claim is that it is unnatural, but this argument rests on nature being good. Scientists argue that diseases, illnesses, and premature death are also a part of nature, making it not perfectly good. Others also say that this does not consider the consent of future generations, but neither does normal sexual reproduction since genetic makeup is random anyway. • Personal Opinion Genetic engineering for plants and animals is an innovative idea to get rid of disorders from these organisms. Although, performing this process in humans for medical purposes may be helpful, it should not be used for personal preferences. If one wishes to perform genetic engineering because he or she prefers someone to have different coloured hair or any other miscellaneous characteristics, it should be discouraged because this is close to playing with divine control and goes askew with morals. The research for genetic engineering should be continued, but it should be under strict watch and have limits....
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...Ethics in the 21st Century and Beyond Morality and Ethics study of Human Cloning and The Holocaust | Marcus D. Taylor 12/5/2011 Both morality and ethics will become a downgraded value as time goes on. And this is an ongoing version of the ideologies of events that happened the past. As time approaches a new dawn the world will be forced to adapt to change. There will be questions on what changes will affect the morals and ethics accepted from its society. Morality will change as it has in the past due to the evolving technology. Take for example the new technological developments of Cloning. Cloning is one of the most extensively discussed topics in the modern world. It is a subject that universally evokes immense reactions from society. Cloning is the technique of producing a genetically identical duplicate of an organism by replacing the nucleus of an unfertilized ovum with the nucleus of a body cell from the organism (Yourdictionary.com). In 1903, plants were the first living organisms to be cloned, pioneering the concept. Progressive developments in research now usher in greater advancements in this technology, including the successful cloning of the sheep now known as “Dolly” in 1997 by Scottish scientist, Dr. Ian Wilmut. Logically, the next step is to clone human beings. Is human cloning essential for improvements in enhancing the quality of life? Since cloning still raises scientific as well as ethical, moral and religious issues...
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...received low success rates, therefore why should we try cloning humans? Is human cloning really even worth it? Scientists aren't even sure what precisely will happen if they do clone humans. If scientists would clone a human, the clone’s life will be unfair, influenced, and tampered with. He/ she would not have an option to live his/ her life their own way. Cloning humans is wrong and unnecessary, and should be banned and made illegal. Identity is being an individual and not like someone else, and also it is what makes someone special from everybody else. If the human race clone humans, identity will be lost, and then people will not have that trait, skill, or look that makes them unique. “The real beauty of humanity lies in the differences we witness amongst each other. Cloning would kill the surprise element” as found on Health Guidance website. Clones would suffer from a lack of their own identity. They would think they have to live up to be exactly like their "parent". Clones will look like their donor, but will turn out to be like someone else on the inside. They can't be the same when they grow up....
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