Should We Encourage Research and Practice on Human Cloning

8/2/2019 Should We Encourage Research and Practice on Human Cloning

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Should We Encourage Research and Practice on Human Cloning?

By Mark Anthony C. Dela Cruz

In the film The 6th Day, Arnold Scwarzenneger was stunned to find a man

exactly like himselfa clone. Today, we dont have to be shocked to learn that

after Dolly the cloned sheep was born in 1997, researchers in South Korea have

successfully cloned a human embryo in 2005. Cloning is the creation of another

organism by replacing the nucleus of an egg cell (referred here as the egg) with a

nucleus of another cell that is to be cloned. There are two type of cloning, namely:

reproductive and therapeutic. Cloning paves the way to many possibilities

especially in curing diseases. While proponents of human cloning insist that it isfavourable to both family and society, I believe that human cloning should not be

encouraged because it is nonviable, detrimental, and unethical.

Proponents of human cloning have tried to convince the public by

introducing its benefits and other arguments, and by dismissing some anti-human

cloning arguments as superficial or illusory. Reproductive cloning, they say, might

allow infertile couples to have genetically-related children, enable families to avoid

hereditary diseases to their cloned children, facilitate replication of specific persons

(e.g., for sentimental reasons), and create ideal transplant donors; therapeuticcloning, on the other hand, can be used to treat a number of degenerative diseases,

providing relief to millions. Another argument is that the clone at blastocyst stage

(earliest stage embryo) is not yet a person, hence harvesting stem cells from it

bypasses moral concern. Moreover, every individual has the right to freedom of

scientific inquiry, or intellectual freedom. Human reproduction [is] particularly

personal and should remain free of constraint They have also dismissed some

of the earliest anti-human cloning arguments as superficial to further support

human cloning. At certain degree I do agree the the fear of hightened identity crisisis superficial because a clone will still affected by his/her experiences and by the

environment making him/her very distinct from the DNA donor, as do natural

twins are, hence identity should not rest on genetic determination alone. The notion

of commodificationism which is the fear that clone might turn to be amere

commodity and treated as subhumans is also superficial because it simple relies on


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the society and culture when in fact they can adapt in socially redeeming ways

could be loved and accepted like any other child. Nonetheless, these arguments do

not entail utter favour to human cloning as I contend below some arguments that

make it futile.

First, cloning, at its infant technology, seems impractical and nonviable

because the procedure is extensive and expensive. Experiments with animals show

that success rate of animal cloning is relatively low and you could pretty imagine

having onle one viable clone out of ten trials. For instance, when the sheep Dolly

was created in Edinburgh, Scotland, 277 eggs were used, out of them thirty started

to divide, then nine were implantable, and out of these nine only one survived to

term. Another problem is the procurement of eggs. We collect hundred of eggs a

day from cattle to do our cloning. You could never expect to do that in humans

says Steven Stice, PhD at the University of Georgia in Athens.

Second, many experts contend that the safety of of the clone and those who

may benefit from it is dubiousthis is which are afteras experiments on animals

show. Cloned animals tend to have tumours, other disorders and shorter life span.

The US Council on Bioethics affirmed that given the high rates of morbidity and

mortality in the cloning of other mammals, we believe that cloning-to-produce-

children would be extremely unsafe as well as the National Academies say that

only a small percentage of attempts are successful many clones die during

gestation new born clone are often abnormal are often abnormal, or die. While

for those who want to benefit from therapeutic cloning, it has ben well established

that experiments on stem cells taken from embryo have not yet produced a

therapeutic success. In animal testing, these stem cells actually have caused

tumour, thus when they are administered to human patients, they might cause

cancerjust worsening the scenario. The Vatican says transfer of such cloned

embryonic stem cells into a patient would be therefore extremely hazardous: these

cells might provoke genetic disorders, or initiate leukemias, or other cancers. This

entail then that the healt benefits mentioned as highly hypothetical.

The ultimatum then is that no matter where the edge human cloning may

lead us, it will remain unethical and unjustifiable for three reasons. First is the

question of familial relationship. It is worth noting that since cloning is a

physiogenetic copying of another human means that the cloned individual could

not be called the sibling, daughter or son of the donoe but a twin of him/her.


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Second is that since therapeutic cloning involves stem cells extraction, it entails

destruction of the clone. The early stage embryo is already a human being imbued

with all human rights, particulary the right to be born and to live, hence, killing

that embryo is higly demoralising. Third, it does not mean that just because this

embryo will be for the service of life and medicine, human cloning is justifiable.Sacrificing nascent life for a developed life does not equate each other because it is

human manipulation of the innocent human whom we could never expect if he/she

will pernit the sacrifice of its life.

At any angle of morality, respect of human life, dignity and rights are what

we are after of. At any aspect then, human cloning is unethical and here we can

apply the principle of reciprocality, i.e., try imagining yourself as a clone at

blastocyst stage being destroyed to save the life of another, poured on a sink

because you are undesirable, or scattered on the floor with the debris of broken test

tube because of someones carelessness. In my Christian view, I believe that once

life has commenced in whatever way, soul enter into it and becomes a person

worthy of dignity and respect. Finally, I contend then that it is a dangerous turn

attempting to create a clone that would mean a blasphemous play with God. For as

the Give of Life says, Before I formed you in the womb, before you were born I

set you apart (Jeremiah 1:5 NIV), and for as human cloning is detrimental in

any facets of humanity, no one should be attempting to clone a HUMAN BEING.

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Should We Encourage Research and Practice on Human Cloning