Furthermore, because a human clone is and should be thought of as a regular human, they are entitled to have the same basic rights as everyone else. But, with new technology, scientists are finding ways to create entire separate organs and other tissues such as nerve or heart muscle cells without the creation of an entire person. These organs can be used for transplants and with scientists cloning organs from the own patient’s DNA there should be no problem with immune rejection that can result with transplants from other sources. There is a large shortage in the number of organs available for transplants and continued research in cloning of this type could eliminate this problem.
Cloning could be used to reverse heart attacks by cloning healthy heart cells and injecting them into the damaged areas. This technology could also be used to produce skin for burn victims, brain cells, spinal cords, livers, lungs, and any other organs needed. But this may never come about if there are laws prohibiting cloning and its research.
Another benefit of cloning is that it can give couples that cannot reproduce a chance to have children who are biologically related to them, whereas they otherwise could not. This will also help those who are at a high risk for having a child with a genetic disease. They could clone one of themselves and have a healthy baby with their genes. This reproduction through cloning is close enough to other common reproduction and genetic-selection practices that it should not be treated any differently and given as an option.
This is also an issue of concern to the gay and lesbian community because cloning would allow them to reproduce themselves and many want this right. There are cloning rights groups who say that the government should not be allowed to control a person's reproductive rights and that your DNA is your own property and you should be allowed to do what you want with it.
Going a step further, with germ-line engineering, defective genes could be eliminated in children and in their offspring, virtually eliminating many inherited diseases. Some scientists believe that this could lead to the engineering of people completely resistant to other diseases, like AIDS and cancer, making society happier and healthier. This concept could also be used to make babies who are smarter and stronger. Several polls show that as many as 20% of parents see nothing wrong with genetically altering their children for health reasons and this number will probably increase as society becomes more informed and used to this new idea. This method is different from regular cloning that does not improve or change the genome, only duplicates it.
Those who say that cloning and genetic engineering do not value human life are wrong because as you can see these processes can make life longer and better for many in our society. Research is also being done on the cloning of endangered species and dead animals. Many people do support cloning and whether the government makes laws against it or not, it will most likely take place.
In conclusion, whether the government bans cloning or not, it is inevitably going to take place. The discovery has been made and curious scientists are not just going to leave it alone. Decisions on whether or not your own DNA is replicated should be an issue that is private and left up to individuals, not the government. Since cloning is going to happen anyway, the government should accept it and regulate it to try to see that it is used to benefit the most people.
