Cloning - to ban or not to ban?

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THERAPEUTIC CLONING: TO BAN OR NOT TO BAN

Throughout life, scientists have engineered, manufactured and cloned mice, sheep and monkeys raising matters as to whether humans may perhaps be next. The next stage for most researchers today is human genetic engineering, or therapeutic cloning which requires a human embryo either from aborted babies or the umbilical cord at birth and taking its stem cells, therefore killing the embryo which raises concern. As a society we need to question whether this is another step forward that should be encouraged or an ethical disgrace that must be put to an end? The controversy surrounding the debate for therapeutic cloning primarily lies on the benefits of being able to grow organ replacements and heal damaged tissue in order to promote a longer and healthier life which is far more important than the ethics of using human embryos. Yet, without doubt, obtaining human embryos for the extraction of stem cells is unethical and therapeutic cloning goes far beyond the moral standards set by contemporary societies who believe that the dignity of killing the human embryo is appalling.
So should therapeutic cloning be banned or not?

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Viewpoint: Yes it should be banned, because of the risks and resources needed for therapeutic cloning for it to be applicable and the large amount of religious concern as most people believe that scientists are possibly “playing the role of god” by imposing pain and suffering on a conscious organism.
There are numerous reasons as to why scientists should not continue research into therapeutic cloning.

  1. Unacceptable medical risks
  • Large amounts of cloning attempts end in failure, for example, it took almost 277 attempts to clone Dolly the sheep and clones that do survive often have incurable problems causing issues ...

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