The fast technological progress of the world, which is definitely needed because of the rapidly growing population, evolves a large amount of problems that we have not come across before. Cloning living cells perhaps conveys a variety of possibilities to set the majority of these problems aside. In regard to genetic faults, scientists could prevent these and help people who have irreparable diseases. Moreover, unborn children could be freed from genetic defects, so that deformed children would not constitute a problem any longer. Infertile women would finally get the chance to have children on their own.
The possibility of cloning organs would also mean a great progress for surgery. Patients would not have to wait a long time and possibly die if the organ they need had not been found. The laboratories could create any organ of any type of blood or other required specifications. For example, persons who had gone through a severe fire accident could get a completely new skin.
Besides, hunger diseases will be eliminated if we simply clone enough animals to nourish the world population. Also cereal crops and vegetables can be made resistant against coldness, floods, dryness and insects by mixing the best set of genes or even create new ones.
Although these are possibilities which could improve the overall quality of life, we should not forget about the dangers cloning might bring us. Surely the elimination of genetic defects is a major improvement for mankind, but where will this interfering with nature lead us to? Scientists would be able to create disease resistant children according to a wish list: Colour of skin, eyes, abilities and even the IQ of our child could be fixed genetically. This would lead to an abnormal dominance of prodigies which violates natural evolution. Finally we will perhaps be able to produce supernatural human beings who themselves would possibly like to create an underclass of humans who work for them. As a result, mankind is divided into a strict structure of different classes and this does not correspond to our view of equality and justice.
The creation of high resistant crops and animals could state a major problem, too. Since the long lasting effects of bringing natural and mutant living beings together cannot be investigated, no scientist is able to tell us exactly what will happen. Dangerous hybrids could be the result and these might constitute a serious threat to humans, animals and plants.
If we consider the cloning of organs, we may wonder whether the organs which derived from existing cells have a lower durability. But this is, of course, a minor problem in comparison to the ethical questions that we have to ask ourselves: Are we allowed to “play God”? Are we allowed to interfere with natural processes? As far as ethical and moral questions are concerned, I consider the genetic tailoring of offsprings a violation of natural evolution. On the other hand cloning cells for medical and surgical purposes cannot be forbidden for humanitarian reasons. If it meant a real chance to heal people’s diseases, it would be also a moral problem not to use it.
All in all, the question if to clone or not will keep occupying us as long as the investigation on cloning will continue. Only if a careful research for this topic and the steady including of ethical and moral questions is guaranteed, we may be able to deal responsibly with cloning some day and to benefit from its possibilities.
