Human Cloning: a Controversy - Essay Example

Topic – Human Cloning - A Controversy Scottish Scientist Ian Wilmut inaugurated a new chapter in science when he introduced dolly the cloned lamb tothe world. Dolly was the first mammal to be cloned from adult body cells. Most people wouldn’t notice the difference if the sheep farms were populated with clones, but what about human cloning? It is the possibility of human cloning which has captured attention all over the world. The current controversy surrounding animal cloning and the possibility of human cloning does not mark the first time that biological innovation has generated such widespread concern.

The advent of recombinant DNA has stirred controversy in late 1960s and in 1970s.However, cloning is not a natural phenomena and could only lead to several complication in human life. There are many ethical issues being raised concerning human cloning which are based on theology. Concern for preserving human dignity and individual freedom, for example is deeply rooted in religious and biblical principles. All religion protest against the violation and tampering with human reproduction .Protestant believe that human cloning gives too much power to the hands of sinful man.

True cloning implies reproduction without sex. The disturbing thought related with cloning is that it will lead to effort to breed individuals with genetic qualities perceived as exceptional. Such ideas are repulsive and can give way to “selective breeding”. According to (Bonsor)”Cloning sheep and other nonhuman animals seemed more ethically benign to some than potentially cloning people”.Human cloning is a subject that touches deep human emotions and it has triggered excitement and hoax among the public since its introduction.

In 1990s, the human cloning has created so much controversy that many people wanted it to be banned. Cloning poses novel problems in terms of reproduction privacy and the uncommented use of one’s genome by other people. The fear that people will abandon the normal parenting and reproductive patterns, point to a deeper problem in the moral reasoning of many who strongly oppose human cloning. Some suggest that cloning may cause some very serious physical and psychological injuries to children.

Because the quality of life of the child would be low and chances of survival also can be minimal. Also, there is good reason for wanting to discourage practices leading to the conception of children who will have significant impairment. There are also major chances of the cloned baby to carry diseases carried by the parent gene. It is not ethical to bring a diseased child in to being and make it suffer by undergoing surgery and other painful medical procedures. We may believe that the child is harmed by knowingly being brought to existence .

There is also a wide belief that cloning will lead to the mass abuse of human beings. Human cloning is considered as a violation of human dignity. As per (Haran 34)“The cloning procedure is considered by majority of people as artificial, dangerously novel and unnatural”. Human cloning also creates relationship identity crisis by confusing the identity and kinship relations of any cloned child. Even in the process of cloning many embryos are wasted which is an exploitation of human life. Many, people argue that cloning would harm children and society.

Children, they argue, would be harmed by the excessive expectation brought to their births by adult who believed that genetic duplication guarantees duplication of all physical and even psychological traits. Even though this is untrue, such expectations of the parent would cause the harm. It is also possible that a child conceived through cloning would suffer a form of genealogical bewilderment, as he or she might well have a rearing parent who was s biological sibling. Cloning can also be harmful to society because it would encourage a kind of commercialization, or at least commoditization of children.

In his journal (Caulfield 123-25) writes that “The notion of "human dignity" is commonly used to justify cloning laws. The basis for this justification is that reproductive human cloning necessarily infringes notions of human dignity” Human cloning will happen in future, and we cannot ban it forever. Taking into account all the relevant ethical issues, the health of the clone and the relief of suffering, the ethics of cloning requires us to proceed with great precaution. Human cloning is a new challenge for all cultures.

Ethical issue regarding human cloning is trans- cultural and cannot be settled in a given cultural environement.It is essential that they be examined in a wider context. Accordingly, all people from different cultures will need to pool their insights and experience to develop regulations to prevent the abuse of human cloning and to minimize the harm they bring. Time is running out. Our actions or our failures to act will have serious consequences on the future of humanity. References Bonsor, Kevin, and Cristen Conger.

"How Human Cloning Will Work." Howstuffworks. Howstuffworks Inc., 2011. Web. 11 Nov. 2011. . Caulfield, Timothy. "Human cloning laws, human dignity and the poverty of the policy making dialogue." BMC medical ethics 4.329 July (2003): 123-25. Print. Haran, Joan. Human cloning in the media. Oxon: Routledge, 2008. 34. Print.