The science of human cloning is one of the most fascinating entities of the 21st-century biology. The announcement of a cloned sheep ignited an international debate in the late 1990s; two and half decades later, the debate is still very much alive (Li 1-2). The researchers at the Roslin Institute, Scotland, announced that they had fruitfully cloned an adult mammal (Caplan 1-3). The procedure used in cloning is called somatic cell nuclear transfer. It involves the transfer of the genetic code from the cell of an adult organism into an enucleated organism egg. Over the years, the science of cloning has found widespread application including human experiments. Ethicists, theologians, scientists, physicians, legislators, and concerned citizens have intensely debated the idea cloning from multivariate viewpoints. The National Bioethics Advisory Commission has reviewed with respect to its implications. It has come up with findings that of interest in this essay, top most being the increased potential of misuse of cloning by rogue scientists.
A huge number of scientists are not necessarily interested in producing human clones; their primary goal is to use some exceedingly young embryos to obtain cloned human cells capable of curing diseases. There is no doubt that cloning provides an array medical possibilities, including transplanting of vital organs damaged during an accident. Another possible scenario would be the supposition that a person would become sick with a disease that gradually destroys certain parts of his brain and other vital organs; the current medical treatments are representing only palliatives care, they just address the symptoms (Caplan 1-3), but not the underlying cause of the disease. In such a scenario, cloning stands out as the only hope of curing the affected tissues and organs (Caplan 2-3).
The movie The Island underscores the dangers of uncontrolled science, particularly human cloning. The viewership cannot help but reckon the concept of rogue scientists with multi-billion human breeding clandestine projects for the high and might in society. There is a potential abuse of a noble concept by the select view. As seen in the movie, cloning of humans erodes our social values and morals. This is why the National Bioethics Advisory Commission recommended against human cloning in the public and private sector, whether in scientific studies or clinical setting.
Performing experiments on human beings is not entirely a foreign idea. In various circumstances, there have been numerous scientists who have used subjects in their experiments. For example in the mid-1700s, James Hunter injected himself with the gonorrhea bacilli from a sick individual to uncertain that the gonorrhea is transmittable. In another instance, in the early 1900s, Pierre Curie rubbed bandage soaked in radium around his arm to demonstrate that this chemical reagent can bring about severe burns (Caplan 1-3). In the present scientific times, the advancement of biological sciences has made for the scientific explorations on human beings to become extremely vital. The clamor for slowed aging and increased lifespan is necessitating pervasive and socially awkward scientific experiments like Dr. Merrick’s (The Island). There is increasing fear that such experiments are being practiced in the American set up in clandestine locations. Well, come to think of it, there are far too many missing persons annually, some are never found. People fear that such persons may be the New Guinea pigs and subjects of such pervasive and outlawed human experiments.
Work Cited
Caplan, Arthur. "Raymond Waggoner Lectures-Arthur Caplan, What is Wrong With Human Cloning?: The Ethics of Technological Reproduction, 1998." (2014).
Li, Eva. "Ruchika Jingar ECS 188 March 12, 2014, The Ethics of Human Cloning." Ethics (2014).
The Island. Dream Works: Michael Bay, 2005. DVD.
