What is wrong with cloning humans?

Question

Cloning opens up the possibility of bringing back to life people that lived thousands of years ago. Why should that not be explored?

Answer 1

Picture this...
No I want a girl...yes green hair...no no not that color green THAT color green..yes and she has to be gifted in music.
She has to be 5'6 exactly and with blond hair, no freckles.
Yes can I have that by next week please I have to go out of town.
Where will it end? You start cloning and it will open Pandora's box.

Answer 2

Cloning somebody dead would only bring them back to life in the genetic sense. Your memories are what make you who you are, and those are not genetic and die with you (or go wherever your soul goes after you die). Contrary to popular misconception, a clone would not have the memories of the original. You could find the DNA of, say Plato and clone him, but the clone would not be Plato. Everything that made Plato an interesting historical figure died with him.

As for what's wrong with it, at this point there still seems to be some problems with the genetics of cloning: cloned animals are often not healthy. A cloned person would probably not be very healthy. Once this is corrected I don't see anything wrong with it.

Answer 3

Wow-I can't believe the variety of emotional/unrational responses to a perfectly logical question.

I think science cannot be judged by standards of right and wrong, only feasible and unfeasible. That is not to say that ethical considerations should be discarded, but science shouldn't be afraid of what could possibly happen. That's a logical fallicy and a cop out.

In this day and age the limit of feasibility is getting blurred and we are entering into an age where the things we grew up with on Star Trek can actually happen.

This scares a lot of people. And maybe it should. But reacting out of fear or knee-jerking a response that a scientific advance is "wrong" is irrational. There *has* to be a better reason to not do something than "Look what could potentially happen!" because that could also NOT happen.

I do not know if cloning humans will have a bad or good outcome. I only think that we need to remove the debate from the hysterical and bring it to a more logical place.

Answer 4

You wouldn't really bring THEM back. A person is not only their genetics; they are also a product of their environment, and that would be quite different. I don't see anything wrong with cloning-in moderation. One doesn't like to think of armies of superhuman warriors, but if a few misguided multimillionaires want to bring back a dead child or themselves, let them. Clones are basically identical twins born in quite different environments. However, there is some evidence from science that clones don't live as long as the original.

Answer 5

texasjewboy12: Ghenis Khan? Mass murder? I do not deny he killed lots of people but he's no Pol Pot or Stalin, use better examples. If your Jewish then at least use Hitler. The Mongols weren't mass murderers they were imperialists.

My answer: Cloning humans brings up so many issues. If I clone myself is that a person or my property? Can I keep them brain dead and on life support to harvest replacement body parts from them when I get old? Can I leave them all my money wen I die and avoid inheritance tax? You cannot recreate a person's mind or personality. You cannot clone someone from long ago (like Ghengis Khan) and expect them to act the same, that is as much if not more nurture than nature.

Answer 6

I believe that cloning may result in an inferior product. Clones may seem like an exact duplicate and at the same time might be more susceptible to decease and tend to die young. In that case, it might be rather cruel to clone a human. On the other hand, if genetic research makes it possible to replicate parts such as a heart to replace a failing original, maybe we are on to something.

Answer 7

It's considered illegal, immoral and unethical. It's also genetically unsound. And some consider it "playing God". Let's just limit cloning to sheep and cows, and not try to duplicate humans. The closest thing to cloning would be stem cell research that can put an end to genetic and life-threatening disease. That's what I hope will be the scientific advance of the future. But even that is not widely embraced by the fact that science, religion, and politics cannot come to any amicable agreement on the subject.

Answer 8

bring back people to life! wtf...
first of all the ppl that lived thousands of years ago lived in the medieval ages....thats like bringing back a caveman...believe me, he would not understand the fact that were both humans

seconds...messing with human dna is not right...its down right in-human.
ever read Calvin and Hobbes? he likes to clone himself with his box...but his clones begin to disobey and think for themselves, and try to get rid of the original Calvin...i love those cartoons :)

Answer 9

You cannot bring the dead back to life. Not as far as I know. For cloning you need atleast 1 live person. Who's DNA you will clone etc. I personally think it is unnatural and is a sin. No im not religious. I think if humans keep messing around with kinds of stuff like this something will go terribly wrong someday.

Answer 10

Human organs could be cloned and help significantly in increasing lifespans of humans... and that, too, can be dangerous. The fear shouldn't just be about dead people brought back to life... bringing back Hitler doesn't mean WW3's gonna happen. What's not good is when people in high power become near-immortals.

Answer 11

Because you may get a father that has a clone made of himself and pushes his kid to do the things he didn't do but wanted to do. It can prevent a child from being individual.