New Technologies and Perhaps Globalization - Research Paper Example

Task: Cloning Introduction New technologies and perhaps globalization is pushing the society today to an end, which has no values nor etiquette to maintain. Many controversial issues have arisen due to the overreliance on technology. Cloning is no doubt one these most controversial issues in the modern world. Those who support cloning are very passionate about what they believe is a major break- through in reproducing like-cells. Antagonists, on the other hand, are skeptical about the whole idea of “human beings playing God” (Blankley 18). The example of Dolly the sheep being cloned has brought in tensions among the antagonists, who belief that when it eventually comes to cloning of human beings, the world will be at the verge of existence. Cloning is considered one of the latest developments in science and technology. Cloning refers to the biological process by which DNA fragments in an individual are taken and used to create copies, a process commonly referred to as molecular cloning. Usually, cloning is applied mostly to connote the creation of artificial human beings. This is why “creation of human life” by fellow human has ruffled feathers of many and created a huge controversy (Blankley 18). Although antagonists have their part to argue against cloning, there are some advantages attached to it. One is that the aspect of technology cannot be undone. Technology has come to improve lives and make things easier. The world today is a better place to live, thanks to technology. If we failed to embrace technology, then we are doomed and bound to live in a life full of restraints. Technological developments, ranging from cars, phones, computers and infrastructure have all made lives better. By adopting cloning, which is a technological phenomenon, there is a high likelihood that the lives made will be better and much improved. Researchers in this field assert that they have clues on how to model living things, which are not prone to diseases nor allergic to some climatic conditions. In a world where the environment is totally polluted, the advent of cloning can be a remedy to some of the diseases and conditions (Kass & Wilson 4). Secondly, cloning can be a good way of making live much happier. What happens when we are forced to reverse our relatives who died long time ago so that we can see them again? If we let our children to resemble them so that we can remember them, we would have only made the external characteristics to be the same yet they are different in thoughts and may not even identify us. If we go by this argument, why would we try to clone in the first place? A scenario where cloning is possible can enable individuals, who are bright enough to be replicated and to continue to serve the areas where their input is needed (Kass & Wilson 4). Supporters of human cloning insist that the act may offer genetically equivalent cells for regenerative treatment, and organs and tissue for transplant. Both therapeutic growth and basic study for severe illness like heart diseases, cancer, arthritis and diabetes alongside developments in reconstructive and burn medication or cosmetic surgery, are fields, which gain from such modern technologies (Kass & Wilson 4). The type of cloning done to an individual determines whether it is of benefit to the individual, or not. There are two major types of human cloning, reproductive cloning, and therapeutic cloning. Reproductive cloning involves the creation-cloned human beings through use of DNA cells. It is believed that this type of cloning is yet to be done and it is prohibited in many countries (Milgram 54). Therapeutic cloning is usually performed with intentions of treating an individual. For instance, it can be performed to substitute a damaged organ such as a burnt skin or to develop nerves for an individual suffering from brain damage. The major benefit that comes with therapeutic cloning in the medical field is that physicians are able to substitute damaged or missing body parts of the affected patients. In the end, it has helped to eliminate shortage of tissues and organs such as livers and kidneys. Additionally, the use of cloned organs has helped doctors to eliminate problems associated with organ transplants (Milgram 54). Cloning can be a vital tool in the removal of negative characteristics and the introduction of positive ones in an individual. It can be used in the removal of defective genes from plants hence giving them resistance to disease and unfavorable weather conditions. It can also be utilized in organ replacement for defective or damaged organs. Many developments in the lab, which focus on cloning have a goal of ensuring that living things are perfected. Farmers, who have had bad harvests in the past, can now smile because cloning has come to help them improve plants and thus the overall yields. Cloning aims at assisting the researchers to produce identical cells in animals and plants thus can be of significance in the fields of agriculture and medicine. Cloning helps scientists involved in research to test new treatment approaches and drugs. The researcher’s aims at producing animals and plants with advantageous agricultural characteristics and can improve its production. Researchers also aims at producing clones of endangered species of animals and plants, but many experts think in the line that cloning will produce species, which are identical and which lack the element of variability (Smith 35). Cloning can be the perfect solution to the problem of infertility, and can facilitate the transfer or desired traits. Infertility is a serious problem in many parts of the world. Many families adopt or even buy children because one of them is not in a position to reproduce the necessary seeds, needed for the development of the child (Smith 35). If cloning is made legal, many couples who have faced this problem would prefer cloning so as to have their own children. The issue of having the desired traits can easily be solved by cloning. Many times, couples who have adopted children find it hard to handle them because their traits are often far away from theirs. It would be much easier to handle kids, who are of the same genes (Smith 35). Cloning can also aid in genetic research, which aims at understanding human genetic makeup and its influence on human trait. With cloning, it can be possible to create tailored organism and use them for societal benefit through genetic alteration. The human development had been a hard nut to crack in terms of understanding its functioning. Many researchers spend a lot of time in the lab, but they have never achieved a concrete answer to some of the changes that take place in individuals. Cloning is the only solution to such a problem as individuals would ensure that they take the clones as control experiments. Through therapeutic cloning, researchers aim at using embryonic stem cells, which posse’s exceptional potential of producing practically all categories of cells in an organism. Many scientists and researchers have held divergent views on the issue therapeutic cloning on human application. The cloning method has elicited a lot of controversies on the researchers. Because therapeutic cloning involves the extraction of embryos, the scientists were willing to use reproductive cloning for research purposes which do not entail human embryos (Eiseman 32). The researchers have expressed their satisfaction in application of therapeutic cloning on domesticated animals like rats. The tissues after being exposed to laboratory conditions can be used to produce healthy tissues to replace dead and injured tissues. Researchers also aim to use cloned materials to cure diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer disease. Cloning focus at using the cells produced at understanding causes of disease and inventing new methods of treating the diseases. Clones occur in nature in plants and bacteria which are single-celled, which include bacteria, to reproduce hereditarily identical offspring through asexual reproduction. In this process, a new offspring is reproduced from a single cell which is extracted from the parent organism or cell. Gene cloning is the most widespread type of cloning used by researchers throughout the world. Researchers are much concerned with cloning processes to produce genetically identical organisms or cells they desire to study. The cloning procedure entails researchers putting a gene from individual organism, called” foreign DNA “into hereditary material of a carrier known as a vector. Yeast cells, plasmids, bacteria or viruses are categories of vectors which are minute DNA circles possessed by bacteria. When the gene has been inserted, the vector is put in a laboratory state that will stimulate it to reproduce, and will result to gene replication. Despite the few advantages that cloning may be attributed to, there are a host of disadvantages too. The most fundamental is that is it unethical and does not have any morals attached to it. This act can simply be termed as ‘playing God,’ who, the bible says, created us in his image and does not want us to change in any manner and form. The contribution of the priests and other church leaders towards this act is so much necessary in the society. We were all born by the will of God, it is Him who gives life and He has power over all the animals, the birds and human beings. As is shown in the bible when God was creating Adam and Eve, God has all the power to dictate what we need to do as human beings. We are, therefore, not supposed to act against his will by practicing such issues as cloning. Of what sense would it make if we reproduce human yet God is the sole provider of life? (Eiseman 32). It cannot make sense at all. There are no rights which we have been given to act against the will of God by practicing this fateful act. The whole issue transgresses nature which has otherwise been established and organized because it rules out the process of reproduction through man and woman. The world would be better place if everyone recognized the supremacy of God and how he deals with situations (Eiseman 32). How long the clone can survive is a matter of concern for every researcher. This has been a blow to many experiments, which find the clones not living beyond the prenatal period. Such a picture depicts how inaccurate the entire process of cloning can be. If all human beings could be subjected to cloning, it means that we could be all make with mistakes, and we could die anytime. Productivity is also hindered when genes are combined to develop a living organism. Researchers are not sure of the genes to target so as to come up with a better breed. Further, if the right genes are obtained, some side effects hinder the process. Cloning thus depict an inaccurate process, which cannot be relied on for the existence of a living organism. Abnormalities are synonymous with cloning, especially when there is a failure in genetic reprogramming upon the transplanting process. As much as the world is striving towards having better ideas which can be used to change, several aspects and general improvement of life in the world by deliberately trying to create more intelligent and reproductive individuals through cloning, the aspect of social love and relationships between individuals degrades. We all wish to be loved and to love. In fact Maslow in his hierarchy of human needs stated that this is a need which requires to be fulfilled before someone goes to the next stage which is the stage of belongingness. It would be very ambiguous to live in a world where there are no relationships. Life would be difficult. In essence cloning does not advocate for the basic elements of loving, nurturing the family and accepting the child as a unique individual in life. Further, cloning will result into degradation of mankind because the clones will be designed in a better manner i.e. they are able to eat in a controlled manner and do things in a programmed way. Through this man would be treated and traded very cheaply, a case which can be very disastrous and ethical. It would be very unethical to hear people being traded cheaply because they lack substantial content and are of poor quality. Indeed the whole process of cloning of human need to be done away with! (Blankley 18). Although cloning was introduced with the best interest of improving the life of human beings, it has only made life more complicated for cloned individuals in terms of relationships, and social love aspect. It is impossible for a cloned person to generate love, which is a necessary for existence of human beings. It is through love for each other that individuals attain self-esteem. This is not the case with cloned persons. In his hierarchy of needs, Maslow is very categorical that for one to be self actualized, belongingness becomes a requirement. Putting this into consideration, cloning does not advocate for such basic principles like love. The author is quick to note that much of what we do emanates from the western countries (Kass & Wilson 8). Cloning is an expensive process, and there is the likelihood that cloned body organs, cloning technology and equipment are out of reach of a common individual. The setting up of seeds, starting up a lab and hiring researchers is an expensive affair. The research process alone can go for years, making the costs of research to go extremely high. Even after such a research has been done, the cloning process may not be possible. Those who are set and want to fulfil this process should be willing to spend a lot of money to do it. Cloning will endanger human and animal rights. There is a possibility that man-made-human will be of lesser value compared to a naturally born human being. The world will enter into a new phase of discrimination based on the originality of a being! That sounds ridiculous but the truth is that the clones will be very distinct and finally get discriminated. An example of such a case is the reception of Albinos (Pence 12). Some countries, like Tanzania created a bad liking to them and was set to kill all of them, thanks to the religious institutions, which set in and helped. Clones will be perceived like robots and no serious transaction could be entered with them. Cloning can set a dangerous trend in society where malpractices are allowed to thrive because there is a possibility of undesired traits to be transferred to organisms. Just like the natural human being fits into the society as it is, clones would bring in new traits, which are undesirable (Pence 102). Conclusion The concept of cloning is attributed to the rise in technological advancements in the world today. There is massive machinery, which can be used to reproduce species without undergoing the process of reproduction. The pace at which technology is growing calls for even better solutions to be put in place. Policies should be put in place, while putting in place new technologies in countries. The 1993, cloning of non-viable human embryos is an example of an incident which raised so many concerns. These concerns saw the establishment of agencies so as to regulate the use of technology. The federal law does not allow for funding of experiments, which give room for cloning (Pence 102). The ethical dimension is so much felt by so many governments, resulting to proper plans to curb the phenomenon. Cloning is a process of generating an identical copy of an original organism, which could be a single cell, or multi-cellular organism with genetic identity with another living organism. It is not however, as natural as the process involved in the case of identical twins, but rather it is as a result of a conscious design by experts. Cloning will be seeking to accomplish a number of unrelated missions. Cloning has compelled many governments to establish rules, which can curb the problems associated with this phenomenon (Eiseman 32). The many, they have developed policies which govern how cloning ought to be done need to be observed to the latter if the morals of the society are to be safeguarded. Christians should take the lead in fighting against this phenomenon. Everyone could understand that they are made out of God’s image, then they would not participate in this act. We cannot wait to see the next generation coming up with ideas that major in reproducing human souls and cloning human embryos! Works cited Blankley, Tony. The cloning debate: Whose side is God on? Caribbean Business. 7/5/2001, 29 (27) 18. 1/2p. Eiseman, E. Cloning, policy issues. In: Murray TH, Mehlman MJ (eds) Encyclopedia of ethical, legal and policy issues in biotechnology. 2000, Print Kass, Leone and Wilson, James. The Ethics of Human Cloning. Washington, DC: American Enterprise Institute Press; 1998: 38, 3–61. Milgram, Arthur. Cloning: For and against. New York, NY: Open Court Publishing, 1999. Print Pence, Gregory. Flesh of my flesh: the ethical issues of cloning humans. Rowman & Littlefield, 1998. Print Smith, Simon. Benefits of Human Cloning. 2002, Web Read More