The first cloned baby boy was reported to have been born on January 19th 2003, to a Japanese family who lost their son in an accident. This was thanks to ‘Clonaid’, a company which follows the beliefs of the Raelians (the Raelians believe that Jesus was resurrected due to a form of reproductive cloning.) The Japanese family is said to be very happy at ‘having their child back’ after their painful loss of a few months ago. The newborn child is an identical twin of the family’s deceased son. However, the baby’s existence has only been verified by Clonaid and, not anyone else. This is an example of how cloning members of the family who have passed away, can bring happiness back into the lives of families.
Yet, even though the human clones are healthy at the moment (or so Clonaid say), Dolly the sheep who was cloned 6 years ago, had to be put down due to a progressive lung disease. She also suffered from arthritis. Scientists are waiting on results at the moment, which will confirm if the disease was in anyway connected with the fact she was a clone. Ian Wilmut, who is the leader of the team who created Dolly said it was unlikely her lung disease was connected with her being a clone. “The most likely thing is an infection which causes a slow progressive illness and for which there isn’t an effective treatment,” he said. “Sadly, we have had that in some of the sheep on the farm, so that’s the most likely explanation, but we don’t know. If Dolly the Sheep’s illness is due to her being a clone, it could affect and delay further research into cloning, as scientists will need to find out what exactly caused her to get ill.
However, even though both therapeutic cloning and reproductive cloning can, theoretically, help so many people in many different ways, there are many moral issues about cloning.
During his reign as president, Bill Clinton said that future research into cloning would “affect important cultural practices, values and beliefs.” As human beings in many cultures value the family unit and place great importance on welcoming a new life to a family, this could be devalued by allowing reproductive cloning. He also banned the federal funding of human cloning research in the United States. In Congress, House Majority Leader Richard K. Armey said, “cloning is the way amoebas produce – it was never intended for man.”
Our Government also made it clear that they are against cloning when they said, “Human reproductive cloning is ethically unacceptable and cannot take place in this country.” Also, some critics of cloning felt that “it is wrong because it disrupts the natural way of creating children, who should have both a biological mother and father.” However, some people who believe in cloning argue that gay and lesbian couples also want children, and a baby girl has already been cloned for a lesbian couple. This issue also creates further moral debate. Does society consider that a child with parents of the same sex is acceptable? Does this further devalue the ‘normal’ family unit?
Those against cloning think that scientists are ‘playing God’ by being able to create clones. People are already talking of scientists being able to create ‘designer babies’ through IVF treatment, where the baby’s sex, hair colour, eye colour etc. could be chosen by the parents-to-be. A good outcome from cloning may be the eradication of some genetic medical conditions. Some people are worried that eventually, scientists will be able to create the ‘perfect human’, who would have abnormal strength and intelligence. Are scientists trying to create a super-race? Everyone could end up like robots, as everyone would look the same. A race where everyone would be perfect and have no flaws whatsoever. This is what Hitler was trying to achieve with his ‘science programs’ during World War II.
I believe that people should have imperfections, as it is our flaws which make us who we are. Every human being is a unique individual and without imperfections we would all be the same.
I believe that therapeutic cloning is a good thing for the human race, as it can help and cure diseases. However I feel that if the use of reproductive cloning was allowed, it could lead to abuse by some people. I think that there has to be safeguards and legislation in place to prevent this.
