...Human Cloning Table of Contents: Advantages and Disadvantages Human Cloning and Divine Command Theory Human Cloning and Naturalism Human Cloning and Religion Human Cloning and Utilitarianism Human Cloning and Ethical Egoism Human Cloning and Kantianism Advantages and Disadvantages Like any other controversial topic, human cloning has numerous advantages and disadvantages, and based on these, one ought to decide whether to condemn human cloning as ethically right or not. On the one hand, there are several advantages for human cloning. These are mostly medical and political advantages. From a medical point of view, cloning can serve to improve the human condition. As a matter of fact, it provides cures to various diseases. With human cloning legalized, doctors would no longer treat cancer by chemotherapy; they would rather replace the affected cancerous organ by a new cloned one. Another way human cloning can serve to improve the human condition is by improving future generations. Some traits in human beings are unwanted and undesirable and can therefore be genetically dismissed in clones. Thus, future generations will not bear these unwanted characteristics. Furthermore, human cloning can serve to provide solutions to problems such as infertility and aging. Although Human cloning has a good number of advantages, it also has a lot of drawbacks. First of all, human cloning is the act of creating a new human being using technology and not the traditional way. This causes a...
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...De-extinction or not? The ethical dilemmas of cloning extinct species have been a...
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...Biotechnology 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...
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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 comes with two dangerous processes, reproductive cloning (the creating of a new organism) and the therapeutic cloning (the creation of a new tissues or “other biological products”) which affects the ethics of human society. Scientists perceive cloning benefits all men and women, while religious leaders stress the idea of cloning to be an unethical process. Although human cloning serves as an aid to the children and parents with conflicts, cloning is completely unacceptable to convey human life as a product. Humans reproductively and therapeutically give the idea of people becoming a product rather than a living being. Siedler emphasizes that “reproductive cloning could also represent an enormous step in direction of transforming human procreation into human manufacture” (Siedler 91-92). In other words, reproductive cloning will create a world full of dolls that will remove every trace of living beings. Though it is hard to believe the world becoming a doll house for each family or community, it has come to a conclusion that the ability of cloning and “creating children” is questioning every person, “what does it mean to be a human?” (Yount 114). If it was not bad enough for this world to describe some of the people to be looked upon as nothing but a thing, cloning pushes the idea to a whole new level. “By opening the door to many things such as manipulation,” Yount states, as she desperately explains the fear in cloning, “of wanting to be someone else, it can treat...
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...his life revolves around his favorite sport that he can no longer play, again with science he can be healed, scientist use stem cells to repair his spinal cord, he is back in the game. This may sound amazing, but it comes with its luggage, a very high cost, other lives, more specifically human lives. With stem cell research and cloning can fix many problems, but the ways to make this possible requires human life in the form of embryos. Not only that but having the power to chose who lives and who dies is a power no human should have, that is a power reserved only for God himself. According to Merriam-Webster, bioethics is the ethics of life and biology, in the context of this paper, it is the ethics of creating and altering life. It deals with the ethics and implications of stem cells, In Vitro Fertilization, cloning and related issues. For years cloning and reviving organisms have been the imagination of writers and directors and dreams of scientists, but now, those dreams are possible with science and technology being advanced more and more everyday. Stem cells can be used to repair organs or spinal cord injuries but are harvested from human blastula, the beginning stages of a human baby. The National Institute of Health explains that stem cells are specialized cells that are “neutral”, they can become any type of cell, muscle heart, brain, etc. Embryonic stem cells are stem cells that are...
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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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...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, it is in conflict with...
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...Ethical Implications of Assisted Reproduction The ethical implications of assisted reproduction are obvious. There is no doubt the process of assisted reproduction has caused more harm than good as massive killing of unwanted fertilized embryos are carried out during the process. Also some of the babies born through this process have some serious physical and genetic deformities that make some of their parents regret having them. Even a doctor once asserted that he did not get into assisted reproduction to help in creating severely damaged babies (Pence 88). This concern expressed by a physician shows how ethically horrendous assisted reproduction could be. Assisted reproduction has been a hotly debated issue in recent times mainly because of its ethical implications. Despite the ethical implications, assisted reproduction also has some moral, social, and religious concerns coupled with some psychological and biological or genetic implications both to the conceived embryos and their mothers. It is not an overstatement to adduce that there are disastrous health implications and consequences associated with assisted reproduction, which more often than not are overlooked by physicians and those desperate for children. There are three main types of assisted reproduction namely – artificial insemination, In Vitro Fertilization (IVF), and surrogacy. The ethical concern of these procedures is that they are unnatural method of conception, creating life in the laboratory, and fertilizing...
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...Governmental Banning Of Human Cloning Essay, Research Paper A Solution to the Problem: Governmental Banning of Human Cloning Governmental Banning on human and organ cloning is posing a problem on those educated ones in academia. Researcher and scientist Dr. Ian Wilmut has successfully cloned a sheep, and has gathered from this experiment evidence that strongly proves that human and organ cloning could be performed ? safely and effectively. Unfortunately, our government has almost immediately banned such cloning in this country. Did they realize the benefits of such a discovery? Perhaps they simply believe that it is some sort of unethical, immoral experiment that is not beneficial to our society. Perhaps they should take a closer look at exactly what these researchers have derived from years of experimenting. In this paper, I will propose a possible plan to persuade our government to take another look at human and organ cloning. Many positive benefits could come out of this, and it is our responsibility, for the sake of a healthier future, to push policy makers to change their minds and loosen their grips on such a banning. Cloning of various organisms has been going on for years. This concept of cloning was conceived in 1938, but it was not until 1994 that a method using an embryo was used to clone a cow (Business Week). Much to many people?s surprise, the idea of cloning humans is not an aged concept. It is fairly new, but that hardly means that the amount, or rather...
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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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...The historical development and context of the technology (Wesley Rupe) …………. 13 4. Political and legal influences (Mark Young) (Not Complete) 5. Economic questions and considerations (Jawad Rana)………………………………….…… 21 6. The technology in its cultural context, media influence (Charles Taiwo) (Not Complete) 7. Implications for the environment (Charles Taiwo) (Not Complete) 8. Moral and ethical implications (Layli Stroia) ……………………………………………………..… 30 Outline A brief description of the technology and an explanation of the associated science Definition: What is Genetic Engineering? Genetic engineering (GE) is the process of manipulation of an organism genome to create a new DNA. The new DNA might be implanted in a totally different DNA species. It is widely used to create hybrids (some species are not able to naturally breed), correct genetic flows in any type of being. It is applied in fields such as agriculture, industrial, medicine and pharmaceutical. (Aldridge, 1996). As Primrose explained, gene manipulation involves the creation and cloning of artificially created DNA (recombinant DNA) that provides with DNA sequences not found in nature. This created DNA is introduced in a host living cell. “…genetic engineering is a 'cut, paste, and copy' operation. The gene...
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...Purposes of Gene Cloning To study genes in the laboratory, it is necessary to have many copies on hand to use as samples for different experiments. Such experiments include Southern or Northern blots, in which genes labeled with radioactive or fluorescent chemicals are used as probes for detecting specific genes that may be present in complex mixtures of DNA. Cloned genes also make it easier to study the proteins they encode. Because the genetic code of bacteria is identical to that of eukaryotes, a cloned animal or plant gene that has been introduced into a bacterium can often direct the bacterium to produce its protein product, which can then be purified and used for biochemical experimentation. Cloned genes can also be used for DNA sequencing, which is the determination of the precise order of all the base pairs in the gene. All of these applications require many copies of the DNA molecule that is being studied. Gene cloning also enables scientists to manipulate and study genes in isolation from the organism they came from. This allows researchers to conduct many experiments that would be impossible without cloned genes. For research on humans, this is clearly a major advantage, as direct experimentation on humans has many technical, financial, and ethical limitations. Importance for Medicine and Industry The ability to clone a gene is not only valuable for conducting biological research. Many important pharmaceutical drugs and industrial enzymes are produced from cloned...
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...relating to human beings, wildlife, and the environment. Rapid improvements in the natural sciences and technology powers us with the ability to manipulate human life and have seriously aided better living conditions and amplified the standard of life for people universally. Conflictingly, there are detrimental consequences, such as nuclear waste, as well as certain advances such as gene technology and cloning, have caused suspicions and uncertainty regarding the future of human beings. As Christian stewards of the modern era, we need to assess situations about all bioethical concerns through proper representation of Christian...
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...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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