CLONING: Just because we can, does it mean we should?

Question

Is it morally and ethically right? Is it really necessary to clone animals / humans?

Cloning appears to be a powerful force that can be exploited to produce horrendous results.

Answer 1

There is nothing that we should do just because we can. For any action we take, we should be able to justify it.

As to your second question, cloning is just a technology, and as such it is morally neutral. Specific uses of the technology can be judged as right or wrong, but not cloning itself.

Fire is "a powerful force that can be exploited to produce horrendous results," also, but I sure am happy that people figured out how to use it correctly.

Answer 2

Cloning has such vast potential that I will go so far as to say that it is INEVITABLE. You heard me right. It's coming whether you like it or not. If we don't do it, someone else will... and then we'll have the choice of following suit or getting left behind.

Consider the possibilities. Let's start with just cloning of selected tissues. Just imagine what medicine would be like if any time you lost a tissue we could just make some more for you. And it would be YOUR tissue, identical to your old tissue in every way. No more amputees, no more waiting for organ donors, almost no diabetes. Whole diseases might be entirely wiped out, and permanent injury could almost become a term that's an oxymoron. Anyone who DOESN'T want this may need to have his head examined.

One of the major reasons cloning was first developed was to clone genetically engineered animals. The reason we want to clone genetically engineered animals is that producing even one set of altered genes and putting them in the right place can be ridiculously hard to do... but also ridiculously beneficial.

Right now almost all the insulin and clotting factor that is produced for diabetics and hemophiliacs is made from genetically engineered bacteria. Bacteria divide on their own but require relatively expensive culturing conditions. There are many genetic engineers who would like to put the same genes in a goat or a chicken so these valuable medicines could be harvested from milk or eggs.

But one goat doesn't do a lot of good. You need a whole herd... possibly many herds. If you bred the altered goat you might lose much of the work you did. Instead, you need enough goats to provide a breeding, self-sufficient population.

Then you would essentially be turning grass into just about ANY medicine in the world that you could engineer... with corresponding reduction in costs and increases in availability (and a goat as an intermediary). All medicine would be almost free. Anyone who doesn't want THIS probably also needs to have his head examined.

Of course, there are other possibilities too. Cloning can't necessarily produce another Einstein or another Mozart, but it COULD produce someone with similar capabilities. You don't even need to introduce the idea of societal production of geniuses - many parents would love to have an exceptionally talented child. There are even some who would love to raise a version of themselves.

These would not be identical copies (you won't really have TWO of anyone)... they'd be like twins, with similar capabilities but very different personalities and identities. Obviously we don't consider twins to be a public safety issue. So why would even complete clones of other humans be? There's really no difference.

If one country develops super-powerful medicine and an unlimited bank of super-geniuses and super-soldiers, it will own the world in whatever way it wants to, unless everyone else has the same. It's a matter of record that virtually no technology has ever been discovered that hasn't been used.

Don't expect all these things tomorrow. Or even in the next decade or two. Cloning science still has a long way to go. But they ARE coming. It's just a matter of time.

Answer 3

Cloning can be used for horrible things and for wonderful things it all depends on the use, so to answer your main question yes we should clone. Look at it like this say in 5 years you get in a car accident and your arm is torn off , if cloning is advanced enough doctors will be able to clone you a new arm and who better to match your blood type then yourself. Now if you wanna look at it from a negative point of view then thats what you'll expect to get. Like cloning HItler or Saddam but if kept in right hands then cloning should be ok.

Answer 4

well, this is why they havent started doing it much, because it is still being debated whether it is ethically wrong or not

i say no, it should not be done because of several reasons:
1. from what i heard about the sheep they cloned, it basically fell apart (not literally)
2. it isnt necessary, all it does is reproduce people that are already living/have lived
3. the ability could be abused, such as literally making an army of clones
4. if they tried to clone endangered species, it would result in the animals being the same gender as the original, therefore not helping anything

Answer 5

Morality and ethics seems to suggest some sort of religious basis to appropriate human behavior. In the Western world we have outgrown this outmoded concept.

Is it really necessary? Well if you could clone a human without a brain stem and then harvest the organs to save a child wouldn't you do it? Or would you condemn that child to death because of your quasi-religious concerns about morality and ethics?

Will the results be horrendous? Most certainly. I'm amazed that people who denounce the human race's effect on the environment would even think about tampering with the very building blocks of life.

Answer 6

Morality has little to do with business, or science, or politics. Cloning will create problems. but will happen. Imagine being able to walk into a whore house, and making love to: Britney Spears, Tom Cruise, or other celebs. Cloning will make that possible. Imagine being able to rent celebs (clones thereof) to advertise your kids' little league playoffs, or to sing at your wedding, etc. Cloning will make that possible. Imagine being able to see your fave celeb live, remain healthy, and perform, for a hunred years, or more. Cloning will make that possible. Imagine being able to live 500 years, or longer, yourself. Cloning will make that possible. Imagine being able to stay young all your life long, and never suffering from: wrinkles, arthritis, Alzheimers, etc. Cloning will make that possible. There are too many benefits from cloning, which the rich will desire, and be able to bribe law makers in order to obtain. Cloning will happen, and be legal, and be expensive. Right will have nothing to do with it. Anything which can be used for good can also be used for bad...and will be. Such is life.

Answer 7

Sure, why not. It will lead us to better and better lives. Imagine cloning any body parts or organs that you might need replaced. Perhaps that is how this whole world got started? In essence, we will be our own gods.

Answer 8

Yes to your main question.
No to your second.
Yes to the last.