What is Human Cloning?
Cloning an organism involves replicating the DNA of that organism in a new organism that, as a result, has the same exact features and characteristics. Human Cloning would mean recreating the person that is being cloned. With the successful cloning of Dolly The Sheep, Human Cloning, long the staple of science fiction, is on the verge of becoming a reality.
Why would Human Cloning be done?
Cloning animals, especially endangered species, is one way of preserving the species from dying out entirely. But why would anyone want to clone human beings? There are enough of us already on the planet without resources enough for the well-being of all of us. So why bother to clone?
Well, one reason is pure scientific research. We've already come a long way. After Dolly, scientists have managed to clone various animals. So cloning humans seems the next logical step and a very important one it would be too.
Cloning humans could also prove a major breakthrough as far as cloning for therapeutic purposes is concerned. Cloning could be used to produce new organs for organ transplants. Since the cloned organ, produced from a body cell of the person needing the transplant, would have the same genetic code, there would be less risk of the body rejecting the new, transplanted organ. Cloning could also be used to treat Cancer, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Diseases, and host of other illnesses.
Cloning would allow infertile couples to have their own genetic offspring or otherwise normal couples to order designer babies. It could also be used to bring back to life your dead ancestors. So if you want to give birth to your great-great-grandmother, you can. Just as long you managed to preserve some samples of her body cells.
One American couple reportedly is willing to pay $500,000 to clone their dead infant daughter.
And then there are some who would like to clone themselves and thereby achieve eternal life.
Is it ethical to go ahead and clone humans?
Well, sometimes one of a kind is more than one can tolerate. But, on the serious side, many of the leading Scientists involved in cloning research, like Ian Wilmut and Richard Gardner, have expressed serious doubts and ethical dilemmas over the cloning of human beings.
Firstly, reproductive cloning is not yet a fool-proof method. It took 272 attempts before Dolly was produced. This means 272 embryos either failed to develop properly or were discarded as defective. In other cases, if the embryos weren't miscarried, a large percentage of the animals born showed a high degree of abnormality and died quickly or had to be euthanized. Those successfully cloned have showed many health problems and none have lived to a ripe old age so far.
Now, since human beings consider themselves a class apart, obviously many moral problems would arise with treating defective human embryos or new-born, handicapped babies in the very same manner.
There is also no way of predicting what the intelligence level and capabilities of a human clone would be. What would be the psychological and societal implications for it as an individual? What kind of a life or future would it have? Since we don't know, many people consider it unethical to go ahead and clone.
But that argument doesn't hold much water with others. After all, we have no way of knowing exactly what sort of a person a normally conceived embryo will turn out to be either.
Is Human Cloning legally allowed?
Reproductive Cloning of Humans is banned is many countries around the world, including the USA and the UK, and allowed in some. Therapeutic Cloning is allowed to some degree, but there is already a clamour against it from religious and pro-life organizations, many of whom are more acquainted with its theological implications than its theoretical possibilities.
Is Cloning Safe?
So far, relatively little is known about the safety and effectiveness of the cloning process. Usually, clones are created by inserting genetic material from an adult cell into an unfertilized egg. Another method involves artificially creating twins from a single embryo by splitting the embryo into two at a very early stage in its development. Even if these methods are successful, it is not clear how the resulting clones differ from organisms created through normal reproduction. Several of the successful clones to date have died very soon after birth, and many other questions about cloning still remain. For these and other reasons, human cloning is widely believed to be unethical and some scientific organizations have suggested that human cloning not be pursued until more is known about the cloning process.
· Scientists involved with cloning mammals have reported many technical problems
· Some people say that cloning should be allowed so that you can bring back people from the dead, transfer organs and save lives
· But what if people use clones badly, Like for an army
· When Dolly, the first cloned sheep became news, cloning interested the masses. Not only did researchers delve deeper into the subject but even the common people sought great interest in knowing all about how cloning had been done. There was a sudden curiosity that rose in society about how could cloning benefit the common man. People were eager to know all about cloning and questions prevail till date. Most of us want to know the pros and cons of cloning, its advantages to society and its potential risks to mankind. Let us understand them.
| Pros | Cons |
| Could save lives with cloned body parts | They would be too expensive |
| Cloning in humans could solve infertility | Something could go wrong |
| Helpful for researchers in genetics | Putting animals and humans lives at stake |
| May help us cure diseases | Cloning of body organs might invite malpractices in society |
| Cloning can enable the genetic alteration of plants and animals | It would ruin the whole point of having children when you can just clone yourself and/or someone else |
