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Preston Haynes
Professor Jessica Berryman
Biology 1010
29 November 2014
Human Cloning
The ethics of human cloning came into question in 1997, shortly after scientists at the
Roslin Institute in Scotland successfully cloned a sheep named Dolly. They used somatic cell
nuclear transfer to accomplish this. Somatic cell nuclear transfer is accomplished by taking the
nucleus from an adult cell and putting it into an egg cell that has had its nucleus removed,
stimulating it to get it to start dividing. Human cloning still sparks controversy whenever
something related to it comes up in the news.
Those who are for the banning human of cloning argue that the social, ethical, and
moral implications of what human cloning will cause will be negative and detrimental to our
society. They question how society will treat clones versus non-clones, the statistical chance of
having a successful clone and ethicality of ratio between successful clones and failed clones,
and genetically engineered human offspring or “Designer Children”.
Those who are against banning human cloning argue that bans would stifle scientific
progression. Researching human cloning can lead to solving many problems. Using reproductive
cloning, couples with infertility problems, or gay and lesbian couples have children without a
sperm donor or surrogate mother. Human cloning can also be used for creating embryonic
stems cells. These stem cells can be used to help regenerate damaged tissue, or grow new
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organs, which can help with, serious damage to organs from burns or bruising, and provide
more organs for people who are on organ waiting lists.
I find both sides of the argument to have great points. The side for human cloning show
great benefits from human cloning and human cloning research, such as creating stem cells to
grow organs, while the side against it has good arguments on the ethical, and social
implications of what human cloning can cause. This issue to me seems like it is very complex
and the relatively small amount of research I put into this isn’t enough to say whether I’m for or
against human cloning.
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Bibliography
Chang, P. L. "Human Cloning Ethics: The Pros and Cons." EnergyFanatics.com. N.p., 20 Mar. 2014. Web.
03 Dec. 2014. <http://energyfanatics.com/2014/03/20/human-cloning-ethics-pros-cons/>.
Ehlers, Vernon J. "Case against Human Cloning, The." Hofstra L. Rev. 27 (1998): 523.
<http://scholarlycommons.law.hofstra.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2046&context=hlr>
Harris, John. "" Goodbye Dolly?" The ethics of human cloning." Journal of Medical Ethics 23.6 (1997):
353-360. <http://jme.bmj.com/content/23/6/353.short>
"Human Cloning." Human Cloning. American Medical Association, n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2014.
<http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/physician-resources/medical-science/genetics-molecular
medicine/related-policy-topics/stem-cell-research/human-cloning.page?>.