Should we clone humans like we cloned animals?

Question

Im in a conflict and need to see if the Benefits of cloning outweigh the risk?

Answer 1

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No. If we clone humans, we're playing God.



I think the only things we should clone are human PARTS.

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Answer 2

It will probably never happen.
But if it does - as long as the clone has the same rights as everyone else, then I won't have a problem with it.
The benefits are the same as anyone else being brought into life through any other means, such as birth.

The benefits of the technology could be enormous. By the time we reach the level of being able to clone a whole human being, we would have had to have developed a technique to clone organs, such as liver, pancreas, kidney etc, all of which would be enormously helpful to society.
It may well stop at this level. Beyond it lies an ethical minefield - religious issues, individual rights, intellectual property (will the researchers "own" the clone?). It would be a brave politician who allows it passed the organ cloning level, the benefits to society might well disappear when the cloned human proclaims himself an individual.

Answer 3

Having studied biology, DNA, and genetics, I have yet to be convinced of any real benefit to cloning humans (for the purposes of this answer, I'm going to ignore the immense ethical considerations!)

However, it is worth noting that, technically, human stem cell research IS cloning humans. The embryos are cloned in labs, and then the cells are harvested for research. The potential benefits of stem cell research are amazing, and could be the greatest reliever of human suffering since antibiotics. It could cure diseases such as Parkinson's, and cancer. We are already close to a cure for Diabetes! So, in this regard, human cloning has enormous benefits, and no 'risk'.

However, the subject of cloning an embryo, and allowing it to grow to term, is another matter entirely. For a start, you'll have to find a woman willing to carry the child, as it can't spend 9 months in a lab! This child would be a genetically identical copy of whomever the original DNA was taken from. It would, in a very real sense, be their twin, just a lot younger! (Identical twins are genetic 'clones' of each other, it just happened naturally!) However, I fail to see any real benefit of this, were it ever to be done.

Most people have heard of 'Dolly the Sheep', who was a clone. People jumped on the fact that she become quite ill, as a reason not to clone. The reason this happened was degradation of DNA. Each time a cell divides, the nuclear DNA is replicated. And, each time this happens, a few bases at the end are 'missed off'. So, over time, our DNA actually shrinks. However, this is not a problem because we have Telomeres at the end of our chromosomes. These are long segments of DNA which do not code for anything, so the loss of the material has no effect. The telomeres are formed while you are an embryo. Once you are born, they cannot be replaced. The trouble with Dolly was that her DNA did not arise in the normal way (egg and sperm) DNA was taken from an adult sheep, and inserted into an egg, and then allowed to develop. However, telomeres did not develop. As such, her telomeres were only as long as an adults; so, as she grew, she 'ran out', and bits of DNA which were important began to get 'missed' during DNA replication, causing her to become ill. If we were to attempt to clone an embryo directly from a human adult in a similar way, that child would suffer similar problems to Dolly. I really cannot see what benefits could come out of that.

However, if you were to create a normal embryo in the lab, and temporarily stop growth when it only has a few cells (about 8), you could remove one cell, and this could also go on to become an embryo. In this sense, you could clone twins, or even triplets. In all likelihood, these children would be as healthy as if they had occurred naturally. However, again, I see no real benefit, unless parents especially want a pair of identical twins!

In my opinion, in is the area of stem cell research which warrants our attention. The benefits are huge, and (moral issues aside), there are no ‘risks’. A group of researchers in the UK has managed to get cloned stem cells to grow into liver tissue. This tissue can be used for drug research testing, so eliminating some of the need for animal testing! In the future, other tissue types will hopefully be made available for this sort of research. And, (further) in the future, we will be able to grow whole replacement organs. The benefits of this are obvious :)

Sorry this is such a long answer, but it was a big question! In short, the types of cloning which do involve risk, I see little if any benefit to be gained. However, stem cell treatment has enormous potential :)

Answer 4

the main appropriate ethical catch 22 situation raised by potential of cloning is that it is not valuable and customarily outcomes interior the destruction of human embryos, that's seen destroying human existence by potential of an astounding sort of folk. of their eyes it is homicide, which does no longer bypass down too properly. additionally, the cloning technique is an prolonged way from being perfected. The ensuing fetuses could be critically deformed, have long-term well being issues or shortened lifespans. (or so replaced into the case in an astounding sort of the faster animal trials) as properly from the well being risks of cloning, the social issues of having a clean breed of human would be complicated. edit: socially, animal lives are not valued as much as human lives, subsequently it is seen as proper to attempt on them. this in all probability varies from way of existence to way of existence, yet interior the western international - the place lots of the money is - animal attempting out is the status quo.

Answer 5

Only man and woman should produce children, the way God intended. The same way animals should do. Regardless of what benefits they think we are getting, the end result is that it is WRONG.

Answer 6

I don't think we should. For one its like playing God. One of those things you shouldn't ever tamper in. Second, there are plenty of people on this earth to f*** it up and we don't need more.

Answer 7

I'd bet a whole lotta money that someone has already done this...some government.

Answer 8

Ooh, oooh, ooooh, please can we clone George Clooney, so that maybe if there are enough of him I can get one for myself? ;-))

Answer 9

Yes...

Answer 10

its possible.