Evolution, Human Cloning,
and Stem Cells
Dr. Ray Bohlin
Probe Ministries
www.probe.org
rbohlin@probe.org
Human Social Systems Have
Evolved
The Reproductive Imperative
(survival and reproduction)
Human Social Systems Have
Evolved
Why do we love our children?
It is an effective means of producing
effective reproducers.
The Individual Is
Meaningless
 Over
evolutionary time, it is
species survival that matters,
not individual survival.
 The
organism is just DNA’s way
of making more DNA.
All Behavior Is Basically
Selfish
“No species, ours included,
possesses a purpose beyond the
imperatives created by its own
genetic history. . . We have no
particular place to go. The species
lacks any goal external to its own
biological nature.”
E. O Wilson (1978)
Personal Worth and
Dignity?
 All
behavior is ultimately selfish
 Personal survival and
reproduction are all that matter
 The individual is meaningless
 Species survival is the ultimate
goal
The Search for Significance
hope and meaning
(survival and reproduction)
HOPE AND MEANING
(worth and dignity)
Total Truth
http://www.gnpcb.org/sites/total.truth/
Cloning Dolly
starved
Mammary
gland cell
fuse
with
enucleated
egg
potential
embryo
Scientific Issues - Sheep
Inefficient - 277 fusions, 1 lamb
 How long will Dolly live?
 Will Dolly be fertile? Yes!
 Other clones are large and fragile with
subtle genetic abnormalities
 Some questioned Dolly’s authenticity
but this was answered recently.

Why Clone Animals?
Sheep are being cloned to
reproduce genetically
engineered sheep. These sheep
are engineered to mass produce
human proteins in their milk.
Why Clone Humans?
Doug Dorner, sterile
because of leukemia
treatment at age 16:
“The more he read the
more excited he got.
‘Technology saved my
life when I was 16,’ he
says, but at the cost of
his fertility. ‘I think
technology should help
me have a kid. That’s a
fair trade.’” Time,
2/19/2001, p. 51
Why Clone Humans?
Randolphe Wicker, 63: “’I
can thumb my nose at
Mr. Death and say, ‘You
might get me, but
you’re not going to get
all of me,’ he says. ‘The
special formula that is
me will live on into
another lifetime. It’s a
partial triumph over
death. I would leave my
imprint not in sand, but
in cement.”
Why Clone Humans?
Jack Barker, Minneapolis marketing specialist,
36, says, “’I’ve come to the conclusion that I
don’t need a partner but can still have a
child,’ he says. ‘A clone would be the perfect
child to have because I know exactly what
I’m getting.”
“Cloning, he hopes, might even let him improve
on the original: ‘I have had bad allergies and
asthma. It would be nice to have a kid like
you but with those improvements.” p. 55.
Why Clone Humans?
 Why
not? We’re
just another
animal species?
 Children for
childless
couples
Why Clone Humans?
Some have
suggested
that cloning
could replace
a deceased
child
Why Clone Humans?
Cloning could
create extra
copies of
desirous
individuals
Biblical Principles
Genesis 1:26-28
 Created in God’s Image
 Therefore we are distinct from the
animals
 Stewardship
 Exhortation to be fruitful and multiply

Naturalistic/Evolutionary
Principles
 An
organism’s sole purpose is to
survive and reproduce
 We
are just another animal species
 The
species persists through time
What is Life?
– There is no clear-cut definition for what is life. And
this is something, I think, that society is going to
have to think about, is going to have to make some
definitions. And those definitions may not be
permanent, they may change as new technologies
are developed. There is a fine line, and the line, at
the early stages, is really based on your intentions
of what they are to be used for as opposed to
necessarily what they are.
What is Life?
– So the question of what is life seems to
change, I think, in people’s minds based on
what their concerns are or their own
interests are in how we might use
whatever it is we are producing.

James Robl, Quoted in The Cloning Revolution,
Films for the Humanities and Sciences (1998)
Violation of Human Dignity
 Distinctions
between man
and animals
 Child becomes
a thing to be
designed, sold
and marketed
Human Experimentation
No matter how
much animal
experimentation
is done, human
embryos will be
sacrificed
Cloned Expectations
 People
cloned
for certain traits
will have high
expectations
 Clones are
identical twins,
not parent and
child
Summary
Tremendous waste of human life at
embryonic stages.
 Degradation of human dignity - humans
designed/created for purposes other
than procreation.
 Dangerous family situations
 Unwise personal expectations
 Beneficial research goals achievable by
other means.

The drive toward human cloning is
being powered by a selfish mythical
right to total reproductive freedom and
further fueled by a profound lack of
moral courage on the part of science
and society. We are unwilling to say that
there are some experiments we will not
perform.
Questions about Cloning
Will Clones be unique individuals?
 Does a clone have to start as a baby?
 Will cloning affect genetic diversity?
 Can homosexuals use cloning to have
children?
 Will clones have a soul?

What Are Stem Cells?
• Stem cells are specialized
cells that can produce several
different kinds of cells
• Just like the stem of a plant will
produce branches, leaves, and
flowers, so stem cells can
usually produce many different
kinds of cells.
What Are Adult Stem Cells?
• Over one trillion cells in your body. Most will only
divide a few times.
• Specialized stem cells continually produce new cells
in certain tissues.
• There are skin, bone marrow, liver, muscle, etc. stem
cells.
• These are adult stem cells.
• No ethical difficulties
What Are Embryonic Stem Cells?
• Blastocyst – Inner Cell Mass
• The Inner Cell Mass eventually forms
all the cells of the body. These are
embryonic stem cells (ESC).
• In order to retrieve them, the embryo
is destroyed.
• Human ESC have been obtained
from leftover embryos from fertility
clinics – potential immune rejection
• Many researchers attempt to refer to
these as simply “reproductive cells.
What Can Stem Cells Be Used For?
• It is hoped that stem cells can be used to treat and
even cure diseases like diabetes, Parkinson’s,
Alzheimer's, and brain and spinal injuries.
• Embryonic stem cells offer the most hope since we
know they can become any cell in the body.
The Promise of Adult Stem Cells
• You can harvest adult stem cells from the individual to
be treated. Therefore, there are no rejection problems.
• Adult stem cells can switch tissues.
• Adult stem cells migrate throughout the body in the
blood.
• The discovery of the “ultimate adult stem cell” was
announced 1/23/02
The Promise of Adult Stem Cells
• In 2003 the National Institutes of Health spent $190
million on adult stem cell research and $25 million on
embryonic stem cell research
• Clinical trials are already underway using bone
marrow (adult) stem cells for treatment of heart
attacks, liver disease, diabetes, bone and cartilage
disease and brain disorders.
• Adult stem cells can even be injected intravenously in
large quantities and they will migrate to where the
injury is located.
The Problem with Embryonic Stem Cells
• The embryo must be destroyed.
• The proper chemical signals to direct stem cells to turn
into the cells you want are unknown.
• Human ESC have been coaxed to differentiate but . . .
• Immune rejection
• In China a man with Parkinson's was treated with
human ES cells which turned into a tumor (teratoma)
in his brain that killed him.
• The power of ESCs is also the source of their peril.
The Ethical Dilemma
• Embryonic Stem Cells (ESC) possess uncertain
promise
• The use of ESC requires the death of the embryo.
• All therapies with any kind of stem cell are
experimental and may not work.
• Too much is being promised.
• Coverage in the media has been biased and
inaccurate.
• The medical community is largely chaffing against any
limits at all.
The Humanity of the Unborn
• The Argument from Biology
• It is a human life at conception
• The fertilized egg contains 46 chromosomes in a new
and unique configuration.
• Fertilization begins a directional process.
• Separate from the mother, genetically distinct
The Humanity of the Unborn
• Argument from Scripture
• “Thou shalt not murder.” (Exo. 20:13)
• Hebrew and Greek do not distinguish between pre-born
and born children
• God’s intimate involvement in the development and life
of the pre-born infant (Ps. 139: 13-16)
Humanity of the Unborn
• Psalm 139:13-16
• Isaiah 49:1
• Psalm 51:5
• Jeremiah 1:5
• Luke 1:39-44
Saving Lives!
• Clinical trials are already testing the treatment of
Parkinson’s using gene therapy and adult stem cells.
• Alzheimer’s is likely not treatable by stem cells.
• When we think about saving lives we must count the
cost.
• Is relieving the symptoms of disease worth the cost of
the lives of the weakest and most defenseless
members of society?
• “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers
of mine, you did for me.'”
The Problem with Therapeutic Cloning
• In order to avoid the immune rejection problem with ESC,
many want to clone the affected individual and use the
ESC from their clone
• Treats the human embryo as a thing, a clump of cells
before 14 days and beyond according to the new law in
New Jersey.
• The basis of this ethic is strictly “the end justifies the
means.”
• Even the term “therapeutic” is problematic. The subject is
destroyed.
• Supposedly more ethical than reproductive cloning, the
aim of which is at least to produce life.
The Future?
• If we allow federal funding of ESC research, we have
stated that our government supports research at any
cost to human life deemed less than worthy as long as
we can think of a “good” reason.
• We would therefore endorse the view that “the end
justifies the means.”
Cloning and Stem Cell Fraud
• South Korean researcher Woo Suk Hwang and
colleagues published two papers in Science (March
12, 2004 and June 17, 2005) claiming to have cloned
human embryos and harvested ES cell lines specific to
patients with degenerative diseases.
• January 20, 2006 Science retracted both papers citing
significant evidence of fabricated evidence.
• No stem cell lines were produced and while cloning
was successful, the efficiency was half of what they
reported.
• Stem cell research dealt a crippling blow.