I have observed in my nineteen years of living that almost everyone in this
society strives to be the same or like the popular culture. The average person
is very materialistic, and strives for an appealing physical appearance.
Artificiality is common in the popular culture. For example, dying of hair
color, inserting color contacts, getting lyposuction, implants or removal of
flaws on the body is prevalent. I strongly oppose human cloning primarily
because I believe that humans already try to replicate themselves enough and
having the same genes is not necessary. Plus, just because there may be two
identical beings doesn’t mean that they will behave the same. In this essay
will explain how cloning is achieved, the benefits and dangers of human cloning,
address my views on genetic discrimination, policies that I suggest to prevent
abuses of genetic engineering, and why an exact clone an never be carried out.
First, I will discuss how cloning is made possible. After several attempts,
Professor Ian Wilmat and his partners successfully cloned "Dolly".
Cloning is a very intricate process and it requires special equipment and modern
technology. To begin, a cell is removed from the organism that is going to be
replicated, also known as the donor. The cell is extracted by an incision in the
skin, a sample of blood or even a piece of the actual skin. Next, the second
reproductive cell is taken from the female organism. The entire deoxyribonucleic
acid (DNA) is removed from the nucleus. (DNA contains all the information of
heredity.) A small a mount of DNA is also removed from the donors cell nucleus.
At this time, the donors DNA is forced into the second cells nucleus. This
allows the two cells to be synonymous in terms of genes and DNA. Fussion is used
to combine the two cells. At this point the carrier must be found, if it is not
already present. The carrier is the female that wishes or is willing to give
birth to the cloned baby. In some cases however, the animals are given no chioce.
Genitic engineers just insert the cells into the female animal and it will later
give birth to a baby that was not naturally conceived. The cells are inserted by
needle to the uterus and take on the natural process of splitting into two
cells. The combination of the cells through high tech "surgery" and
injection mimic the unforced process of creating a baby with the same exact
genes of the donor. Secondly, I will discuss the pro’s and con’s of human
cloning. I have found very few benefits of cloning, are over ridded by the
drawbacks and con’s. The beneficial aspect of cloning is the concept that an
exact replica of the donor will be alive and existing in the same manner,
physically. If duplicates of animals are conceived than it will largely benefit
the science world. Animals will be used in experimentation. Most likely the
animal will be subjected to a disease or a unpleasant state. Cancer, cystic
fibrosis, burns and neurodegeneration would be applied to the victims and
studied. The trial of new therapies and treatments would be given to the
animals, so that it can help out the humans. If animals were cloned, their body
parts or blood could be transplanted into human bodies if needed. In fact,
animals could be created to have highly sustainable organs just for transplants.
Another illustration is, it appears to be great to know that you have a clone.
You would have another you, younger, to use for the replacement of organs and
body parts. Suppose you were in a tragic car accident, and you lost both of your
arms, and damaged several vital organs. This would be a misfortune on your part,
and it would be hard to find a donor or available to supply these parts
immediately. Well, if you had a clone, I would be certain that someone had the
exact match of everything! The same blood, and physical characteristics. What a
convenience! Another positive aspect of human cloning would be the concept that
a wonderful person could be replicated! For example, why wouldn’t we want
another Robin Williams, (the famous comedian/actor). Everyone seems to enjoy his
screen personality and enlightening remarks. Or Tom Cruise, he is a great person
to remake. He is very handsome and he has a great physique! A person that is
desirable or known for their distinguished talents is excellent to have double
of. Next, human cloning is a breakthrough for couples who desire to have a baby
and naturally can’t reproduce. A baby can be manufactured, in the lab. Plus
the parents have an option of who the baby will be a twin of. Imagine the
pleasure that a couple may get from this baby they can call their own.
Scientists may believe that they can instantly produce a perfect animal. There
is a definite plus to cloning. Saving endangered species. In change, there are
many drawbacks to human cloning. Basically, human cloning costs a lot. It costs
a lot of money, lives, and moral and spiritual decay. The money that it costs to
clone humans is outrageously expensive. Equipment that is necessary in the lab
is very high-priced. The amount of money that is dedicated to research and
experimentation is phenomenal. The development of the perfect laboratory setting
is a great investment as well. I would say that the lives that are lost in the
attempts to clone a human being are priceless. Money is not a consideration,
when precious life in threat or destroyed. A life that is lost due to
experimentation is a tragedy in my eyes. Regardless if you are a mouse, if one
dies in the result of a science experiment it is simply horrible. When the
cloning is not successful, 95% of the time, mutations and diseases are present
in the product of experimentation. The cost of losing moral beliefs is
irreplaceable as well. It has been proven that morals are disappearing as the
twentieth century rushes to a close. People have lost faith and they do not
create personal guidelines and rules as keenly as they may have in the past. It
is not morally right to reproduce a life artificially. I believe that god
created us, and put us on the earth. Scientists who plan on out doing god, and
creating such a divine creature are utterly egotistical. They must feel pretty
prestigious! It is disgruntling the amount of decay in morality is at stake in
this issue. Nature is superior to all. Creating an artificial copy of a
priceless life is not right in any shape or form. All spirituality is lost in
this cruel act of diverging two tangible organisms forcibly. It is uncertain
when our spirit is connected to our bodies but it seems that a spirit may not be
as pure and genuine in a fake representation of a human. Although, there is no
passage in the Holy Bible that mentions whether cloning is ethically right or
wrong, it doesn’t need to be written. It is something that was never intended.
Thirdly, I believe that there is possibility in our society for genetic
discrimination related to experimentation for "harmful genes" if
cloning was a reality. It seems that every thing that ever existed or was
created is susceptible to discrimination. Once human cloning is made possible,
and genetic engineers can achieve a successful twin, (that is free of mutation
etc.) then they will try so hard to make a perfect person. They will avoid
harmful genes like those that promote a slight threat in longevity or kinks in
the life span. Genetic engineers could definitely find people with a great
record of heredity. It is the quest for the perfect, healthy being ever.
Fourthly, I have suggestions of policies that would prevent abuses of genetic
engineering. Federal money should be not allowed to be spent on the research for
cloning humans. Scotland was the first country in the world to oppose spending
of federal money on the study of human cloning. Scotland’s government set an
example for the rest of the world by making such an agreement. They took
responsibility in not getting involved with this outlandish scientific
experiment. The second country to ban federal spending for these purposes was
the United States. I believe that these countries should encourage other nations
to join them in the refusal of this sort of education. Limits should be declared
on the frequency of cloning. Laws should be made to regulate cloning or simply
make it illegal. Lastly, an exact copy of a cloned animal can never be obtained.
A life is not a toy or a puzzle that can be put together. Life is not a picture
that can be traced or re-copied . Life is highly complex, and undeniably
irreplaceable. A cloned person will not have the right to think on it’s own.
Those who create the clone will severely brain wash the subject and treat it
much differently than you and I. The clone will be expected to behave similar to
the donor and that is a immense amount of pressure. The clone will virtually
have it’s life lived already, by the donor. The twin will have an unfair
chance at life as anyone as we know it. There is no possible way that a clone
could lead a regular life. It’s environment will be extremely different than
the donors. The environment can not be re-created for the replica no matter how
hard one has attempted. The parents would always be acting and not living in
reality. Although, some day a human can be reproduced to look exactly the same
as someone else physically, behavior is uncertain, and they are not programmed
to live the same life. Time is another issue. The events that occur in society
are not going to be equivalent from one generation to another (assuming the
clone is born a different day, or year that the donor was/did). It is virtually
impossible to make an exact duplicate of a person. All in all, I oppose human
cloning because it violates moral and ethical codes. I described how cloning is
carried out, the pro’s and con’s with genetic engineering of mammals and
humans., the potential for genetic discrimination, policies I suggest to prevent
abuses of human cloning, and why cloning a human exactly like it’s donor is
impossible.