Cloning
In 1996, when Dolly, the first
cloned sheep was successfully cloned, from an adult cell by Scottish scientists
at the Roslin Institute, the possibility of human cloning spurred universal concern
and debates about its pros and cons. It may hold a great deal of promise in
future scientific researches and medical treatments, but unfortunately, the
first conception many people have when they hear “human cloning” is of a malformed
human being in science fiction films. However, cloning technologies have been
longer than Dolly and is considerably different from people’s notion.
Cloning
involves the creation of genetic copies of cells of organisms. People vaguely have
an idea that cloning is some kind of an experiment conducted by humans. However
it does not always happen that way. Identical twins happen when a zygote, which
is formed after fertilization of an egg cell by a sperm cell, divides into a
two-celled embryo, which naturally separate embryos within the mother. In a
laboratory, scientists use a method of transferring genetic material called Somatic
Cell Nuclear Transfer as a as a way of cloning. Mammals such as mice, pig,
cows, and sheep have been cloned using this technique so far.
According to Wikipedia, human
cloning is the creation of a genetically identical copy of a human. The term is
generally used to refer to artificial human cloning, which is the reproduction
of human cells and tissues. Stem cells for cloning would then be chemically
treated to be diverse cells and many scientists desire that these stem cells
can be used as substitute cells for the cells damaged by degenerative diseases,
for example, cancer, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. There are however, a
variety of practical and social issues surrounding all types of cloning. With a
success rate of only about 3%, cloning has aroused some scientists to question
whether it is worth the effort. There are ethical concerns about the cloning,
especially human cloning.
In the United States, several
attempts have been made to start a public review of the significance of human
cloning and to enact appropriate policies. For example, the National Bioethics
Advisory Commission released a report on the subject of
cloning-to-produce-children in 1997. The Commission concluded that
cloning-to-produce-children was unethical on safety grounds. Moreover more
permanent moral concerns surrounding the practice should be the subject of
continuing deliberation in order to further our understanding of the ethical
and social hidden meaning of this technology and to enable society to produce
appropriate policies about this cloning.
The possibility of human cloning
has raised controversies. Human cloning might violate human dignity because it disobeys
natural rules about birth and death, and furthermore, it will lead human lives to
dehumanized society. For example, in a film <Never Let Me Go> about human
clone, humans only want clones to donate their organs and the completed clones
become meaningless. Clones are disposed after donation, but they are
surprisingly absolutely conformable to human power which made and control them.
One of clones is aware of the society which wants unity and communality, but
just cries and laments the reality that controls her life, without any will of
planning to resist of struggle against the controlling human power that
destines her life.
It is obvious that cloning,
specifically human cloning has made a significant accomplishment in human
science history. However it has a double-side of coin: the good point of
development of technology and the bad point of ethical problems. In a
conclusion, as we all know the good and evil faces of cloning, we should be
careful to make a process or perform this scientific technology because it
treat us, our lives, and our future.
No comments:
Post a Comment