June 1998, president Clinton publicly condemned human cloning. He opined that ‘any discovery that touches upon human creation is not simply a matter of scientific inquiry. It is a matter of morality and spirituality as well. Each human life is unique, born of a miracle that reaches beyond laboratory science.’ When did president Clinton condemn human cloning so resolutely? What are the reasons lurking behind actually? Let us start discussing the reasons of opposing cloning deeply.The uncertainty of science technology
Science and technology cannot solve everything. What if we allow to human cloning? Have we ever thought of the results of that? Will the results be controllable? Even scientists cannot promise they can. Obviously, there are some potential crises lurking behind. Of course, these kinds of uncertainty are not reasonable to stop all the developments of science and technology. But we believer that we should ban such extreme cases (such as human cloning) as long as they have potential in damaging humans’ future.
Furthermore, in cloning Dolly, it resulted in the death of many embryos and newborns before success achieved. (The Dolly experiment started with 277 fused eggs, of which only 29 became embryos. All the embryos were transferred to 13 sheep. 1 became pregnant with Dolly.) In addition, even if the human clone survived, it is not guaranteed that it would develop normally. The genetic material in cloning Dolly came from a 6 year old mammal (what is an old stage of sheep). Dolly’s chromosomes could be found in older animals only. This finding made scientists start wondering whether Dolly, looking totally normal from its appearance, might have inherited genetic damage that would be shown in older age only or some other abnormalism.
Losing the diversity of genes
Human can live on the Earth relies on the diversity of genes. And the diversity of genes comes from parents having different sets of genes. The most horrendous part of identical genes is that it will weaken our power and adaptations, which make us subjected to great diseases easily. In addition, human cloning is just copying the identical genes, which means it will decrease the diversity of genes.
Furthermore, the beauty of humanity lies in the differences we see in each other. Cloning would eliminate surprise and predict expectancy.
The great diseases and leading to extinction
As mentioned above, in human cloning, all human beings will be identical. Which means that entire human is at a risk of getting infected by the same type of pathogen. In scientific point of view, if every one has the same type of genes and they are closed to each other they may not defend against the same kind of serious disease. Then cloning will be detrimental in terms of a great disaster.
Another negative effect of cloning is inbreeding, as everyone has the same genotype and keep reproducing among themselves. This would lead us to our own extinction finally.
Richard Nicholson of the British Bulletin of Medical Ethics said that cloning research may well be “sowing the seeds of our own destruction.”
Cloning is “playing God”
The clergymen opined human cloning is playing the role of god. Bishop of Catholic Albert Moraczewski mentioned that the power that God gives humans is over the fish, the birds, and all animals, domestic and wild, large and small. (Genesis, chapter1, verse 26). Adam and Eve have all the power, except they cannot eat the fruit of the tree that gives knowledge of what is good and what is bad. If they do so, they will die. So, Albert Moraczewski believes that human cloning is out of the God’s permission. There is no evidence that proves humans have the right to change God’s will.
Transgressing the nature
Human cloning transgresses nature, because it is not via the natural reproductive process, which is by a man and a woman. Human cloning is creating life.
Inhumane
A clone makes no differences as us. A clone must ear, drink and carry out any other metabolic processes in order to survive. The clone may even be better than his original host. It would be inhumane to treat them as ‘special species’. If human is cloned, this will turn us to be a property which can be sold to anybody else. In other words, selling humans is unethical, inhumane and immoral.
Devastate parenting and family life
The basic concept of a family is a couple falls in love and determines to care each other. Then the couple may decide to have children which they will love them dearly. But parents of clones might value their children according to how much they look like to themselves. Cloning, at a result, undermine the basic elements of loving, nurturing family and to accept each child as an unique individual.
Cause unbalance to the society
Cloning may arouses social side effects. It is ridiculous that reproduction is separated from love and other human relationship. The entire world may use cloning for eugenics that would lead to efforts to selectively breed children who are of more intelligent, heavier and extraordinary.
Persons that oppose cloning
~ In 1997- Feb, Carl Felbaum, president of the Biotechnology Industry Organization said: ‘One of the prospects should not be, perhaps should never be, the extension of this technique to human beings. Now that it may be possible we would say its should be prohibited if necessary by law.”
~ Stephen Grebe, an associate professor of biology at American University in Washington said: “we are going to be facing this issue with humans. With that possibility open, I am concerned without adequate safeguards that this will become a reality. It may very well already be.”
~ Jesse Rainbow, a university sophomore, lists reasons why some people have a knee-jerk aversion to embryo cloning. A clone would not be a “real person”. But a clone would have exactly the same status that an identical twin already does. Both are derived from a single fertilized ovum.
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