The Ethics Of Human Cloning

Cloning is the process of creating a new organism that is genetically identical to a single common ancestor. Genetic information from a single parent organism is copied. Cloning is done by nuclear transfer, which is when the nucleus of an egg is removed and replaced with a nucleus from a donor cell. Energy is created in order to jumpstart the cells to start dividing. There are two types of cloning: Therapeutic cloning and Reproductive cloning. Therapeutic cloning is when the cloned cells are harvested shortly after dividing in order to grow new tissues for organ transplant and treat diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. Reproductive cloning involves creating an identical organism through somatic cell nuclear transfer, and then destroying …show more content…
Trying to clone human embryos for stem cells has ignited a controversy over the ethics of embryo experiments. Much of the human cloning debate lies in the question “When does human life begin, and what is the moral status of the human embryo?” Stem cells are talked about so much because they can grow into any of the body’s cell types. They can therefore be used to replace tissues and organs for people with disease like Diabetes and Parkinson’s. The controversial part about the process of Therapeutic cloning is that after the cells are extracted, the embryos are destroyed. It is possible that the embryo being destroyed could potentially be a human being; therefore attempting Therapeutic cloning could take a human life. According to nytimes.com, “A drawback of therapeutic cloning is that there might never be enough human eggs available to treat all patients, should the therapy ever work. Egg donors can suffer serious side effects from the powerful hormones needed to generate multiple …show more content…
A quote from Cardinal Sean O’Malley was included, saying that human cloning is immoral because it “treats human beings as products, manufactured to order suit to other people’s wishes.” The article then goes on to talk about the benefits of therapeutic cloning when discussing the fact that they can be used for diseases. It ends with the drawbacks of Therapeutic cloning in that there may not be enough donor eggs. Both sides of the argument are successfully shown in this article and I do not believe the author showed any bias towards the topic he presented. This story is relevant to society as a whole because it shows how even though cloning can be beneficial to some, there are others who believe cloning is immoral and unnecessary. Articles like this can be read by anybody to inform them about topics on Biotechnology that are being experimented on. Researching and understanding the facts about cloning and both the benefits and challenges to it can help skeptics decide where they stand. Without the approval of enough people, further research is impossible. The need for money and donor cells are crucial for cloning and this controversy can hinder the process of being able to clone human beings. The article was clear and thorough enough for a nonscientist to get a general understanding of the topic and controversy; However, I did not get a full and complete understanding of how cloning is