This here is my informative review paper. In this paper, I was simply required to read and analyze different scientific papers on cloning, and attempt to inform the general public about its perks, benefits, concerns and ethical issues.

Cloning: Scientific advancement or downfall of mankind?

 

Cloning has become one of the most controversial topics in the United States of America. Many see it as a gateway to scientific and medical advancement, and others see it as a method of self destruction to humanity. Whether it should be used or not, has been heavily debated within politics and within scientists as well. Many people get confused as to what exactly cloning is. In simple terms, cloning is a genetic copy of an organism. Supporters of cloning argue that cloning can be used in many beneficial aspects. The argument of supporters is that cloning can be used to create treatment for drugs, help those with fertility issues, and can be a stepping stone into a world of scientific advancements. Although the supporters of cloning pose valid arguments, the arguments of opposers are just as valid. The main argument of opposers is that cloning takes away diversity, and creates a lack of individuality within a human being, and it can be used to create clones of notorious people throughout history. Cloning can be a very debatable topic, and both the supporters and opposers have valid reasoning and arguments for their claims.

In the article, The Ethics of Cloning, by Julian Savulescu, the main argument for cloning is that it can be used for therapeutic cloning. The author states, “ Therapeutic cloning involves using cloning processes to produce embryonic stem cells, tissues or whole organs for transplantation.” (Savulescu, 2005, p.18). In other words, therapeutic cloning is when an organism is cloned for the purpose of creating stem cells that genetically match to the donor organism, which can be used to study genetic disease. Researches can then study diseases such as diabetes or Alzheimer’s, which do not have cures. “One possible treatment that scientists have suggested is using embryonic stem cells, differentiated into neurons to replace dead ones in the brain. These “blank” cells are capable of being transformed into 300 different somatic cells…stem cells could potentially help thousands of patients waiting for donor tissue or organs through therapeutic cloning.” (Brown, 2006). Although therapeutic cloning can potentially aid those suffering from Alzheimer’s, opposers have an ethical issues associated with the idea.

Opposers of the system of therapeutic cloning disagree with the treatment of embryos, and claim that it creates a gateway to reproductive cloning, which is “The use of cloning to grow a living person who shares the DNA of the progenitor.” (Savulescu, 2005, p.18). To further clarify, “The main ethical issues associated with therapeutic cloning are those relating to the creation and destruction of embryos, and whether refining the cloning technique will create a ‘slippery slope’ from therapeutic to reproductive cloning.” ( Savulescu, 2005, p.18). Opposers disagree with the creation and followed up destruction of embryo cells for human benefit as it creates a moral conflict. A lot of the concerns involving cloning have to do with moral and ethical reasoning as opposed to scientific, and this is just one of many.

Yet another ethical argument against cloning is that cloning itself, takes away from individuality, and creates less diversity. In an article by Dr. Nestor Micheli Morales, he states, “The critics of human cloning argue that cloning can create serious psychological problems…The concerns are related to identity formation…individuality, lack of originality and other problems associated with social emotional and cognitive development.” (Morales, 2009, p.43). Once again, opposers propose a valid argument, however, it lacks scientific back up. It may be true that that human cloning can possibly create psychological problems, but it is hard to believe without some sort of evidence to support it.

Supporters of cloning pose a valid argument to those who believe that human cloning leads to a lack of individuality and creates psychological problems. The claim against the lack of individuality is that there is in fact a great sense of individuality within clones. Experience plays a huge role in what shapes a person’s individuality. Throughout the lives of clones, they do not go through identical experiences, and do not grow up under identical conditions of their progenitors. To add on, “the experiences of a human clone, as well as the experiences of any human being…will be unique and impossible to replicate. The creation of any genetically identical individual will never lead to the replication of the donor’s experiences… genetically identical individuals are not able to have identical experiences.” This statement shows that although an identical human is being created, the two humans will go through different life experiences, as the only thing being replicated is the genetic makeup, not the lives of the individuals. Additionally, another argument is that clones are relatively the same as twins. “Several authors consider that people with the same genes like monozygotic twins are not the same people. Cloned human beings will have physiological differences, as well as different behavioural traits…nature can already do the cloning: the result is called identical twins… Many of these wrong ideas, such as the duplication of the mind, are captured from pure science fiction, poorly informed politicians and irresponsible journalism.” (Morales, 2009, p.44). In other words, cloning and twinning can be seen as the same thing by some, the only difference is that twinning is a natural phenomenon whereas cloning is a man made phenomenon. The claims of lack of individuality and psychological issues are simply false, and results of people not doing enough research on the idea.

In conclusion, there is still much more research that needs to be done about cloning. The benefits sound very promising, however, the common concerns of individual people, although more ethical based, should still be addressed and clarified. Nonetheless, it is intriguing to know that cloning can potentially save the lives of millions, help those with fertility issues, and possible cure diseases that are currently incurable. It is something worth studying, and with the proper research and use, can be one of the greatest medical and scientific advancements of all time.

References

Morales, NM. (2009). Psychological aspects of human cloning and genetic manipulation: the identity and uniqueness of human beings. Reproductive BioMedicine Online , 19 (2), p. 43-50.

Savulescu, J. (2005).  The ethics of cloning. The Medicine Publishing Company Ltd, 33 (2), p. 18-20.

Brown, T. (2006, March 4). Embryonic Stem Cells As a Cure for Alzheimer’s Disease. Brain Blogger, Global Neuroscience Initiative Foundation. p.1.