The Risks of Human Cloning
Is human cloning possible? You may think that human cloning lies far in the future, but it was actually first attempted more than ten years ago. So yes, human cloning is a real possibility. The question is not if we are capable of cloning humans, but rather if we should clone humans. No human clone has yet been born, but in 1995, scientists cloned a human embryo. They destroyed the embryo once it had multiplied into 32 cells. (From http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/ciencia/ciencia_genetica08.htm ) But if they had let it grow, it might have turned into a living human clone. The project was only stopped for ethical reasons. Do these reasons outweigh the potential benefits? It’s not likely. Human cloning would do more …show more content…
When scientists cloned Dolly, it was a huge breakthrough that proved that it was possible to clone mammals. Since then, many more mammals have been cloned. Cloning involves taking the nucleus of a cell of one animal and inserting it into an egg of another animal of the same species whose nucleus has been destroyed. Then, the egg is activated into an embryo and placed in the womb of a third animal (also of the same species). (From World Book volume 4) But this is not just a simple matter of cut, paste, and wait. In fact, most of the time, it doesn’t even work. Out of the 277 eggs used to clone the “parent sheep,” Dolly was the only one that survived, and she had to be killed when she was only 7 years old because of the side effects of cloning. These include problems breathing, an impaired immune system, kidney and brain malformations, early aging, and much more. (From http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/cloning/cloningrisks/) If these health problems arise in human clones, it is easy to see the inhumanity of cloning.
Some say that cloning is more beneficial than not. If you needed an organ or limb transplant but there was no donor, you would just chop one out of your clone! You could lose as many limbs as you want, as long as you continued to make clones. Some women might want to have babies, but wouldn’t be able to. They could just clone themselves and raise their clone as their …show more content…
Identical twins are natural clones, and they’re considered humans. But clones aren’t naturally born, but created. If someone knows that a person is a clone, they might not treat them the same as a naturally born human. During the holocaust, some Jews hid their identity because they were considered less human by their persecutors. Their human rights were violated, and they were mindlessly killed, as clones may be. If clones aren’t considered humans, they could be put to work as slaves by their “real” counterparts. Human rights wouldn’t apply to the clones, and the natural born humans would treat them as animals or even property. Throughout human history, too many people have already been mistreated because of their differences, and it wouldn’t be wise to take a chance on creating more objects of persecution. If we cloned humans, a whole new set of laws would need to be created just to identify their rights and whether they are property or their own person. If everyone had two or three clones walking around, it would be hard to tell people from their clones, and the entire world would plunge into confusion.
In conclusion, the disadvantages of cloning outweigh the benefits. Even though cloning can be useful by providing children to families, subjects for experimentation, and extra body parts, it is generally considered unethical to clone and to play God. If we cloned humans, they would very likely have genetic defects
Is human cloning possible? You may think that human cloning lies far in the future, but it was actually first attempted more than ten years ago. So yes, human cloning is a real possibility. The question is not if we are capable of cloning humans, but rather if we should clone humans. No human clone has yet been born, but in 1995, scientists cloned a human embryo. They destroyed the embryo once it had multiplied into 32 cells. (From http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/ciencia/ciencia_genetica08.htm ) But if they had let it grow, it might have turned into a living human clone. The project was only stopped for ethical reasons. Do these reasons outweigh the potential benefits? It’s not likely. Human cloning would do more …show more content…
When scientists cloned Dolly, it was a huge breakthrough that proved that it was possible to clone mammals. Since then, many more mammals have been cloned. Cloning involves taking the nucleus of a cell of one animal and inserting it into an egg of another animal of the same species whose nucleus has been destroyed. Then, the egg is activated into an embryo and placed in the womb of a third animal (also of the same species). (From World Book volume 4) But this is not just a simple matter of cut, paste, and wait. In fact, most of the time, it doesn’t even work. Out of the 277 eggs used to clone the “parent sheep,” Dolly was the only one that survived, and she had to be killed when she was only 7 years old because of the side effects of cloning. These include problems breathing, an impaired immune system, kidney and brain malformations, early aging, and much more. (From http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/cloning/cloningrisks/) If these health problems arise in human clones, it is easy to see the inhumanity of cloning.
Some say that cloning is more beneficial than not. If you needed an organ or limb transplant but there was no donor, you would just chop one out of your clone! You could lose as many limbs as you want, as long as you continued to make clones. Some women might want to have babies, but wouldn’t be able to. They could just clone themselves and raise their clone as their …show more content…
Identical twins are natural clones, and they’re considered humans. But clones aren’t naturally born, but created. If someone knows that a person is a clone, they might not treat them the same as a naturally born human. During the holocaust, some Jews hid their identity because they were considered less human by their persecutors. Their human rights were violated, and they were mindlessly killed, as clones may be. If clones aren’t considered humans, they could be put to work as slaves by their “real” counterparts. Human rights wouldn’t apply to the clones, and the natural born humans would treat them as animals or even property. Throughout human history, too many people have already been mistreated because of their differences, and it wouldn’t be wise to take a chance on creating more objects of persecution. If we cloned humans, a whole new set of laws would need to be created just to identify their rights and whether they are property or their own person. If everyone had two or three clones walking around, it would be hard to tell people from their clones, and the entire world would plunge into confusion.
In conclusion, the disadvantages of cloning outweigh the benefits. Even though cloning can be useful by providing children to families, subjects for experimentation, and extra body parts, it is generally considered unethical to clone and to play God. If we cloned humans, they would very likely have genetic defects