The Possibilities of Human Cloning
When discussing cloning, it is important to have a clear definition and understanding of what cloning is. Cloning is the taking of a living structure and using it to create an almost exact copy of a living organism. The first step of human cloning is taking a female embryo from a human and adding another type of DNA. The egg with the DNA is then planted into a surrogate mother. If everything is done properly, the child, or the product, should be genetically identical to the initial donor. So, what is needed for human cloning through this process? For this process, one would need two living females, an embryo from one, and DNA from another. You also will need billions of dollars. This is what it will cost to clone humans.
Cloning, however, is not a new idea. The first organism to be cloned was a frog. Scientists successfully took cells from a healthy frog and created a new frog from them. Dolly, a sheep was another example of cloning. To clone the sheep, eggs were taken from females and mixed, forming a sheep, who scientists named ‘Dolly.’ These are examples of cloning animals, but to this date, no humans have been successfully cloned. But are we next? There are people who are for human cloning, and there are those who are against it.
One scientist said that, “Cloning is inevitable. If I don’t do it, someone else will. There’s no way you can stop Science.” (Richard Seed) He is saying that the process of cloning is one that will eventually be used. Some believe that stem cell research, a research that involves sperm cells, can be used to find cures for diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease. However, the government has banned stem cell research and it can not be used at this time.
Some people who believe strongly in human cloning may say that, “No organism in its right mind would opt for sex…it’s too expensive.” JoAnn Gutin, the author of that article believes strongly that cloning is the future of civilization. She believes that it is too complicated of a procedure to even consider it. In the same article, JoAnn says, “A clone wastes no time looking for a mate, runs no risk of scrambling a perfectly serviceable genotype.”(JoAnn C. Gutin, Discover Magazine, June 1992, in an article titled “Why bother?”)
Along with the people who support human cloning, there are people who do not approve of the idea of cloning human beings. Of the 191 countries and states in the United Nations, 23 support a ban of all cloning and stem cell research. The Roman Catholic Church even considers cloning to be murder because it involves destruction of human embryos.
Both the people for and against have good reasons to believe what they do. It is true that although complicated at first, ultimately, cloning will be a simpler way of reproduction. But there are a number of problems with cloning. It will cost billions of dollars to research and produce clones at a steady rate. Also, as Dr. Harry Ostrer pointed out, “Clones tend to have a higher frequency of birth defects.” (Dr. Ostrer is a Professor of Pediatrics, Pathology, and Medicine, and Director of the Human Genetics Program at New York University School of Medicine) An example of problems with clones is Dolly. Dolly died of heart problems due to the fact that she was a clone.
So, if cloning has so many problems, should we clone humans? As stated in “Brave New Medicine,” It probably won’t cure diseases,
"…Ministers in Britain have too easily swallowed the line that cloning human embryos is essential to medical progress. It
is not. …Like stuck records, ministers and policy makers continue to enthuse about therapeutic cloning even though the
majority of bench scientists no longer think it's possible or practicable to treat patients with cells derived from cloned
embryos. They have already moved on to investigating the alternatives." (Editorial, “Brave New Medicine,” New Scientist,
Dec. 1, 2001, taken from the Republican Study Committee (RSC) Human Cloning Packet of February 2003)
So if it won’t cure diseases, and, as Dr. Ostrer said, there are many birth defects, what reason is there for cloning? Some reasons to clone include the fact that cells can be extracted from people with terminal diseases, and they can, in effect, be ‘reborn.’ Also, although the process of cloning has not yet been perfected, practice makes perfect, so only trying cloning would make it successful. As we can see, there are both positive and negative aspects of cloning humans. Although it technically is possible to clone humans, scientists and politicians must decide whether or not it is worth the consequences and risks of cloning humans.