Human Cloning

On July 5, 1997, the most famous sheep in modern history was born. Ian Wilmut and a group of Scottish scientists announced that they had successfully cloned a sheep named Dolly. If you stood Dolly beside a naturally conceived sheep, you wouldn't notice any differences between the two. Today, after more than a decade after cloning Dolly, human cloning is still not being done. The topic of cloning humans is very controversial. Human reproductive cloning is an assisted reproductive technology that would be done to create a genetically identical human being. The method used to clone humans is called either nuclear transplantation or somatic cell nuclear transfer. Many people against human cloning say that it would lessen the worth of individuals and diminish respect for human life. Human life would be seen as replaceable. If something happened to a person, like if they were killed, another clone could replace it. It would create a different child and could never replace the one that is lost. Human cloning may violate moral or human rights. It is seen that every human has a right to have a unique identity. This could be argued because of identical twins. They share the exact same genome but have different lives and futures. The right to an open future is a separate problem. There already exists another version of the clone and they already know certain things about themselves and the future they have to live up to. They will lose the sense of freely creating their own future. Human cloning procedures would carry great risks to the clone. The procedure is far from perfected and many trials were run before the first cloned animal, Dolly, was ever created. This causes the death of many clones before it. There are many risks involved including risk to an ovum donor, a nucleus donor, and a woman who receives the embryo for implantations, along with all the risks to the clone in this experimental procedure. There is also the problem with chronological age versus biological age. The clone has already gained many years by the time it was born because it was taken from adult cells. This means the clone does not have as long of a life expectancy. This is an intrusion of the clone’s right to live a long and wholesome life. Human cloning used on a global basis would have disastrous effects on the human gene pool by reducing genetic diversity and our ability to adapt to new conditions. Like many cloned plants, humans may face extinction if evolution is not allowed to follow its normal course. According to The Washington Post, “The U.N. General Assembly adopted a declaration Tuesday that calls on governments to ban all forms of human cloning that are ‘incompatible with human dignity and the protection of human life.’” The thing is, the “United Nations Declaration on Human Cloning” is not legally binding. Though it is not legally binding, it still sends a powerful message that the international community opposes human cloning for any purpose. There are many downsides to cloning humans. Most people are opposed to human cloning because of their ethical standpoints. 523