Human Cloning: Is it Ethical?

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August 03, 2012
Human Cloning: Is it Ethical?
The pace at which scientific research has heightened in the twenty first century is matchless. In the vaguest human knowledge, nobody would have imagined the possibility of penetrating the core of the universe, unveiling what constitutes a human being. Cloning, the laboratory-aided replication of a strand of Desoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) that is used to produce an identical being, exemplifies sweeping developmental technology, which toys with the very existence of human life. Consequently, scientific concepts and practices that had been deemed as impossible a few decades ago are gradually becoming reality. Nonetheless, such sophisticated scientific discoveries bring with them social debates on what is moral or amoral as far as human ethics are concerned. There are constant questions regarding how the cloning practice should be carried on. Strong proponents of human cloning like Dr. Richard Seed once suggested that given chance, cloning might someday help humanity upend the aging process and reverse incurable ailments like heart attacks (Pence12).
The cloning debate is in essence unsettled; stiff resistance from religious -cultural continuum has fettered the implementation of the technology. The mounting pressure for clonal embryonic stem cells use and the ever-increasing need for reproductive cloning have steered the scientists to strive in effort to implement the technology that world leaders have ignored as mere bunkum. The question remains; can technology undercut ethical constraints or will the promising cloning technology be discarded to preserve human dignity? This study explores the damaging ramifications associated with human cloning, in effort to debunk the myth that human cloning has the impetus to change human life and existence. Notably, there are numerous problems associated with human cloning that humanity might not be able to address comprehensibly. For instance, who should play the parental role of scientifically produced offspring? Should the parental role be played by the progenitor whose genetic material give rise to a new life, Or the scientific engineers who natures the clone to maturation? What would happen incase mistakes arise during the cloning process? Will it not be easier to discard the botched up mortal? It is against this backdrop that this study offers vehement opposition against the advanced science of human cloning. [I am anti-cloning] With increased technology, humanity may soon embrace human cloning in the near future; this move will engender dissolution of responsible parenthood and the abuse of family sanctity. [Thesis]
2.0 Background Information
Early 1997, Ian Wilmut, a renowned scientist from Scotland, together with his colleagues at the Roslin University successfully cloned a mature sheep by the name Dolly (Lester and James 38). In the past, cloning was successfully carried out using embryos. Cloning of Dolly was astounding because the scientists managed to clone a mature mammal to bring forth an exact replica of the same without using embryonic cells (Lauritzen 83). The world was amazed by the successful venture, consequently Wilmut and Dolly became the center of a debate that has never abated. The ensuing uproar had nothing to do with physical replication of a sheep, but the world citizenry reacted with apprehension knowing that the same technology could be applied and replicate any other mammal including human beings. One British journal Nature stated that the concept could be termed as “cloning humans from adults (Pence 67).
This breakthrough was later augmented in July 1998,when researchers at the University of Hawaii produced mouse clones and developed a process by which mass cloning could occur (Kass and James 21). In both cases, the technique utilized involved the transfer of nuclear from somatic cell and placing it on an enucleated ovum, and implanting the ovum into a host uterus (Lester and James 78). The cloning of Dolly set off a venerable debate about the probability of cloning human beings. In the U.S., The National Bioethics Advisory Commission recommended a five-year moratorium on any attempts to create a child through somatic cell nuclear transfer (Lester and James 54).
3.0 The Science behind Cloning
Every cell found in the human body consists of the person’s complete genetic code, there is however and exception with the sperm and egg cells, because both of them contain half the genetic material and can only become complete after fertilization. When a human egg is fertilized, new life is created and immediately begins to develop through cell division (MacKinnon 51). However, cloning comes in to interfere with the convectional fertilization process, whereby the male sperm need not be present for an ovum to grow. During the cloning process, a female’s unfertilized egg nucleus is removed and then replaced with a complete genetic material, from a cell excerpted from an adult. Once the egg contains full genetic code, it behaves as though it has been fertilized and begins to grow.
During the cloning process, the scientists normally fuse cell from one animal into an egg without nucleus. When the egg is full, it begins to develop as if fertilization has occurred. Owing to the absence of DNA in the egg, the created embryo contains DNA from only one source, the progenitor the source of the fused cell. Consequently, the embryo develops into an exact physical replica of the animal from which the cell containing the DNA is obtained (Lauritzen 96).
4.0 The Ethical Implications of Human Cloning
4.1 Human Cloning Proponents
The moment, Dolly was cloned the National Bioethics Advisory Commission (NBAC) ventured into the rigorous process of deducing views and opinions from different parties concerning their outlook on cloning and its implication to man kind. Many groups comprising of scientists, ethicists, religious leaders, and all the interested parties concerning the issue came out fervently to either support or denounce the science. Religious groups were divided on the topic; some believed that cloning helped man to continue in God’s creation while others believed that man would be playing the role of God if allowed to further his research and delve into human cloning. In order to understand the educed perceptions, it is important to explain reproductive cloning.
Reproductive cloning is the producing a duplicate of an existing organism using genes (Lauritzen 43). In essence, this means that, a human clone would be a genetic duplicate of an existing person. Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) is the most frequent cloning technique used initiating the cloning process. This process entails putting the nucleus of a body cell into an egg from which the nucleus has been removed (Harris 86). As a result, a clonal embryo is formed. In order to trigger its development some specialized chemicals or electri...