Introduction
Human cloning issue is not new to us. It has been topic of debates for many years now, refuting whether or not this type of procedure will be beneficial to human race. Now that scientists have duplicated lambs through cloning, we know that generating similar genetic duplicates of humans are also likely possible. The procedure is novel though the idea is not. A clone is a cell, tissues, organ, or a whole organism created by asexual duplication whose genetic information is similar to the parent cell or organism. Lately, cloning has become an area of major study as latest improvements in technological innovation have introduced about the likelihood of cloning tissues, body parts and even human like creatures and humans. Recent technological innovation has made it possible to separate and make duplicates of individual genes that direct an organism's development. This breakthrough has been the approach of scientists saying that this will or may lengthen the life of a person, while others are refuting the ethical procedures and the advantages of this process which many scientists are claiming.
This essay will be written in a manner of differentiating the aspects human cloning. In addition, some possible advantage of human cloning will be included in this study as well as the possible negative effect and reasons why human cloning should not be practiced. View point of an ordinary person will also be included to state and explains the negative side of this long debated topic which is the human cloning; negative effects to health, religious beliefs and human race as a whole.
About Human Cloning
Based on Amir Afshar’s (n.d.) article there are two types of reproductive cloning, the first one is the Blastomere Separation or the splitting of embryo and the other one is the somatic cell nuclear transfer technology (Afshar, n.d.). He says that the first type is like copying the genome multiple times by creating and multiplying the cells on an embryo (Afshar, n.d.) This process is basically like making a photocopy or a replica of an embryo, in a layman’s term. This can be advantageous in some ways because parents who want to have new born twins or triplets can be possible through this process. Process will still be natural because everything will be from the embryo itself.
Another good thing that human cloning may possibly give is the reversion or delaying the human aging process. Based on Sabine Reinhold’s (2002), we can reverse our own aging by using cloning. It works like this: Each duplicated cell is a brand new cell. It is the exact duplicate from a current cell but is has the advantage that it is not as old as the original one. If an individual would duplicate or duplicate his body tissues and have these tissues implanted into the body when he is older, this individual could renew his body (Reinhold, 2002). This is good; in fact, an older person would not have to worry that much with his or her physical age and physical sickness because this process can be ideal to keep one’s health as if he or she is years younger than the actual age. This can also be another breakthrough with human health. In addition Reinhold (2002) says that in these process patients who are suffering from diseases can possibly be cured sooner and through more effective procedure. This is especially with those patients who need to undergo an organ transplant but cannot seem to have an organ donor, if not; their body rejects the donated organ. With this breakthrough, they don’t need to take too much medicine after the transplant which may also lower their life quality (Reinhold, 2002). Scientists claim that human cloning would give a lot of benefits to humans physically, mentally, and socially. And it can also give self esteem back to those who are no longer capable of giving birth or those who are suffering from infertility problem.
Dan Brock (n.d.) claims that cloning would be another way of fighting infertility which many people are suffering from (Brock, n.d.). The process would allow women who have no ovary to give birth and would also allow men who have a low or no sperm count to develop offspring that can be considered as their own, biologically. Another remarkable possibility of human cloning would be enabling couples or parents to replace someone who was very special for them, like a child who died (Brock, n.d.). This one was not even thought by scientists centuries ago, having the possibility of bringing back someone from death, sounds like a movie scenario, but that can be possible.
Opposing Viewpoint
There are many possibilities that cloning can provide to human beings; possibilities of making life more abundant, in a way that health can be managed easily, diseases can be cured faster, and it may bring back death to life, these are some of the possible positive effects of human cloning. However, everything that has strength has its own weakness as well. There are opposing claims about human cloning as being good to humans. Reinhold (2002) claims that given the possibility that human cloning may extend human life by reversing the aging process of a person; it may give problems on the other hand. Reinhold (2002) says that we already have the issue that there are too many old individuals and not enough teenagers to pay for their retirement pension. This issue would get even larger. Also old individuals may be actual healthier but we have no medication or strategy to replenish their mind. For some individuals with psychological sickness this synthetically extended life might not be value living (Reinhold, 2002). In this scenario we cannot consider a person to be totally healthy if he or she is suffering from mental illness even though his or her body is reverted to be younger.
Conclusion
In the past several years, human cloning has gone from a lab dream to a international discussion. There are many justifications assisting both bad and the good results of individual cloning. Human cloning increases a lot of complicated questions about individual freedom, pride, and identification. Will individual cloning be an excellent step for man, or will it lead to moral abyss? This question is asked all the time. With excellent research one would understand that with the execution of human cloning, there would be a huge healthcare and non-medical progression. People with excellent or psychological features would be duplicated, large military could be designed, single and unable to conceive parents could have children, and certain varieties could be stored from annihilation. Contrary to all the advantages of individual cloning, there are more disadvantages related to the topic, mostly moral and ethical disadvantages coming from ethicist, psychologists, theologians and religious groups, as well as many mandated laws against the cloning of humans. Cloning could also cause a serious over population problems. There are many factors why the law does not allow the people to do human cloning. Human cloning will create this globe populated by the similar individuals. You can suppose if individual cloning is permitted then the individuals around you are duplicated. You will discover a lot of same individuals in your life. Then, there will be many uncertainty and issues about the same thinking because the duplicates of the human will have the same attribute, overall look, and the way of thinking. Furthermore, it is not appropriate by God’s law. Based on the Bible scriptures, infants are created from men and women with their sperms and eggs. So, human cloning is not allowed by the law and God. Human cloning should not be allowed and practice for it will create more possible problems while resolving partial as a whole.
Works Cited
Afshar, Amir. "The ethics of Cloning." COSMOS - Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2013.
Brock, Dan. "Cloning Human Beings." Bioethics Research Library at Georgetown University. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2013.
Reinhold, Sabine. "The advantages and disadvantages of cloning humans as well as the " GRIN | Veröffentlichen Sie Ihre Bachelorarbeit, Masterarbeit, Hausarbeit, Diplomarbeit, Dissertation und Referat. GRIN, 24 Apr. 2002. Web. 26 Apr. 2013.
Woodward, John. The Ethics of Human Cloning. Detroit, Mich: Thomson/Gale, 2005. Print.
