Human Cloning Research Paper

Through and through the annals of time, from one generation to another, there has always been overwhelming wonderment and mystery on the topic of cloning. Whether they thought it was ethically right or wrong, nearly every person that has lived a significant life has, one way or another, dreamed about what it would be like to have a double another human being that seemingly looks, acts, or possibly even thinks exactly the way they do. And as time passes by throughout each generation, evolution occurs. As a result of this, life as we know it advances to an entire new level. Everything from plants and animals, to our own physiques and minds, increases in its overall development. In our modern day, there is one thing in particular that has evolved at an alarming rate technology. With this on-going advancement of technology, the possibility of human cloning appears to be just around the corner. Major controversy has risen in spite of this, and rightfully so, as the possibilities, both good and bad, of human cloning are presumably endless. Everyone seems to have their own opinion on the subject of human cloning, including religious leaders, political figures, and modern society dwellers. Is human cloning right, or is it wrong? Although there is not a correct answer to that question, as it is solely based on opinion, I will, however, cover as much information as I possibly can in the following essay to attempt to enlighten your very own beliefs and opinions on the topic of human cloning.

Before I proceed any further, you must understand exactly what cloning is. According to Human Genome Project researchers, cloning is "the copying of genes and other pieces of chromosome to generate enough identical material for further study." (www.ornl.gov) What this basically means, in others words, is the copying of oneбжs genes to produce an exact duplicate of those genes. There have been numerous methods of going about this, some of which have been successful (ex. Dolly the sheep) and others have been a complete failure. Nonetheless, if a human were ever cloned, which may or may not ever happen, it is believed by many that the procedure would be as follows:

1. "Doctors harvest up to 15 eggs, each from up to 40 donors who have been injected with fertility drugs. About 400 eggs are produced.
2. Cells are taken from the cloning candidate.
3. The nucleus of each egg is sucked out with a fine needle. Then the DNA-free eggs and the donor cells are placed next to one another and zapped with electricity, which cause them to fuse. Some of the rebuilt eggs divide to form embryos.
4. Because embryos often fail to implant, each surrogate moth gets several at once. Even so, up to 50 surrogates could be needed to ensure nine of ten pregnancies. Of these, most will terminate early by miscarriage or by abortion when abnormalities are found. The single viable baby may be normal." (Gibbs, 02/19/01)

Although it is unknown at this time that whether or not the above procedure to cloning could ever work, it is quite possibly that the route to human cloning would be very similar to the process that was just stated.

As there often is with most controversial issues, human cloning has two sides to the story a good side and a bad side. These sides are both known, respectively, as the pros and cons of human cloning. Since the possibilities of human cloning are seemingly endless, the amount of pros and cons that occur with cloning are quite lengthy. However, some of the main points that deal with the pros and cons of human cloning include the following:

Pros

• There is no better way of understanding the human genome
• Ability to produce "superhumans"
• Will all but cease the production of lab animals
• Medicinal methods will be thrusted into a new era
• Further understanding of our past (i.e. Evolution, creating, big band, etc.)
• Organ transplant waiting lists will be no more

Cons

• Humans are sentient beings, they are no made to be specimens. The are of free will
• Ability to produce "superhumans"
• Countries could clone armies
• If humans can be cloned, it makes them property, which can be sold. Inhuman
• If cloning is relied upon for reproduction and we lose the ability to clone, everyone will have the same genotype and to reproduce would be a sick twist of inbreed
• If everyone has the same genotype, a disease that is fatal for the genotype wipes out the human race" (library.thinkquest.org)

As you can probably tell, by reading above, that cloning can really be beneficial as much as it can be harmful, or vice versa. While it can appear to destroy lives through the possibility of a deadly disease, it can also appear to save lives through the cloning of human donors. That is why the issue of human cloning has become such a dispute in society everywhere. However, no matter where you go, whenever the topic of cloning is brought up, it is always mentioned that we don't know enough about human cloning to actually go through with it. Which, more or less, is a correct statement. We need to know everything there is about the human cloning to ensure there will be no major negative results. But how will we ever know unless we try it? That debate seems to be how society, in general, feels about human cloning, which has a variety of opinions.

As is the case with most topics of controversy, the opinions that society has on human cloning are of great variety. Be that as it may, the overall feeling of cloning in society appears to be bad. In a poll that appeared all across North America, Time/CNN asked, "Is cloning a good idea or bad idea?" (Gibbs, 02/19/01) The results were a landslide - 90% said cloning is a bad idea, while only 10% said it was good. Despite the leanness towards cloning being a bad idea, there have also been many cases in society that have been voiced in it's approval. For example, "While human cloning might not offer great benefits to humanity, no one has yet made a persuasive case that it would do any real harm, either." (Macklin, 03/10/97) And, as well as that, "Cloning is the key to humanity's future." (Boyce, 07/09/01) Nevertheless, the fact of this still remains, the majority of society feel that it is a bad idea. But why you ask? In another poll that appeared across North America, Time/CNN asked, "What is the main reason you are against cloning humans?" (Gibbs, 02/19/01) The results were close, but are as follows: 34% said they are against human cloning because of religious belief, 22% said that it interferes with human individuality, 22% also that it could be used for questionable purposes like breeding a superior race, and finally, 14% said the technology is dangerous. Although there was a large gap between each result, there appears to be one significant reason to why society feels human cloning is a bad idea - religious and ethical belief.

It's no secret that religion is against human cloning, as they are the most passionate about what is right and wrong in this world. Obviously, to them, cloning is very wrong and is an act of God's work. Some religious views on cloning include: "Cloning is entirely Gods work; he makes about 4 000 a day through identical twins." (Gibbs, 02/19/01) "For a scientist to do mechanically what God does naturally is to interfere with his work, and no possible benefit can justify that presumption." (Gibbs, 02/19/01) "If God had meant for man to fly, he would have given us wings. And if God had meant for man to clone, he would have given us spores." (Bailey, 05/01/97) While it is apparent that this opinion will not soon change, there are some religions, very few, that agree with human cloning. Of these, is the Raelians, who "are a religious group committed to welcoming the first extra-terrestrials when they appear and are convinced to create the first cloned human." (Gibbs, 02/19/01) With that being said, even religion has it's agreement with human cloning, which is just a fragment of the belief that that there are two sides to every story.

In conclusion, I would just like to say that the controversy that revolves around human cloning will never be resolved, at least not in the near future. While the fact is that "98% of human embryos never implant or die off gestration or soon after birth," (Gibbs, 02/19/01) it is also a fact that human cloning can save possibly save lives. (Ex, "a grieving couple whose child is dying" Macklin, 03/10/97) Ethically and morally human cloning appears to be wrong, but will this stop scientists from doing it? As I stated above, there is no real answer to the question if cloning is right or wrong, and there is no telling what the results of a human clone may be. That being said, is cloning the greatest breakthrough in scientific history, or is it a timebomb waiting to detonate? The answer to that questions relies upon time and the future of civilization.

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