Making ninety six human beings grow where only one grew before." (Huxley, 3) In 'Brave New World', cloning represented the general mood of the citizens to wipe out a bitter past and seek a more utopian society after the devastating effects of World War I
The aim of deontological theory is to define the basic normative principles that provide sound justification for this ethical position." (Kellenberger, 85
For Bentham and Mill, the Good is the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest amount of people." (Lisman, 19) This implies that man's value can be derived solely by utility
This problem could be dealt with by using artificial insemination with government-approved sperm." (Pollock, 73) Real Uses As demonstrated by the example of Dolly the sheep, man currently can and regularly does a great many cloning experiments which clearly alter other living things being and lives
Think of Newton, of Darwin, of Einstein, of Watson and Crick." (Schilpp, 14) Cloning and the Media There is a definite interest around the world about human and animal cloning
" The prospects of cloning being able to cure such diseases as Parkinson's Disease and Cerebral Palsy make it important not to place a Congressional Ban on cloning. In a recent New Scientist, these cloned stem cells "may be more vigorous because nuclear transfer - the key step in cloning - restores the "fuses," or telomeres, on chromosomes, which burn down as cells divide (Westphal)
His first objection involves the interpretation of cloning as an "unethical experiment on the child-to-be," not only because of the possible mishaps that can occur, but because a future clone could not consent to its creation. (Mappes 566) Secondly, Kass brings up the idea of identity and individuality, and exactly who is the clone, and what is their relationship with the DNA donor and other family members
The researchers then transferred 244 of the nuclei to the stripped-down eggs of Scottish blackface ewes. This experiment produced five genetically identical Welsh mountain lambs, two of which died within 10 days of birth for reasons that remain unclear (Adler 148)
Certainly, this eventuality would be harmful to the individual so produced and raises a number of ethical concerns when discussing the cloning of human beings. Another disadvantage cited is the idea that the widespread use of cloning would contribute to the "breeding" of humans, making this easier and creating a variety of problems as a consequence: "While we have done this for centuries with other large animals such as race horses, cloning humans raises moral and ethical concerns" (Brinton, Holten, and Nooyen section 12)
No human risks were identified by this report, but it was noted that this might not prove there were none given that animal biotechnology is a new and changing field. Another issue raised concerns genetically altered foods as noted by Charman, who points out that advocates of this type of research claim that this will lead to improved crops and that this is only a new way of doing what humans have been doing for thousands of years, though they fail to note that genetic engineering "gives humankind an unprecedented ability to create new life-forms by taking genes from one species and inserting them into another? something long-time biotech critic Jeremy Rifkin characterizes as 'a laboratory-conceived second Genesis'" (Charman 74)
Medical researchers believe these cells may allow them to incubate tissue that can be used to treat people suffering from Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, heart disease, diabetes, and other cell-degenerative afflictions. Scientists harvest stem cells from embryos acquired at fertility clinics and tissue recovered from fetal cadavers from abortion clinics, but some ethicists are concerned that researchers may also use in vitro fertilization (IVF) techniques to create their "in-house" embryos (Cowley 52)
Of the three, therapeutic cloning refers to the cloning of cells the removal of stem cells from the pre-embryo in order to produce tissue or a whole organ to be transplanted back into the person who supplied the DNA. The reason for this is: to produce a healthy copy of a sick person's tissues or organ for transplant, which "would be vastly superior to relying on organ transplants from other people" ("Embryo Cloning, Adult DNA Cloning and Therapeutic Cloning" para
The cloning of plants is an established practice because of the ease with which plants are propagated or cloned from a twig or a slip: The edible part of the potato is an expanded stem known as a tuber, which, like other stems, has a number of buds or eyes. When placed in soil, each bud is capable of yielding an entire plant, and the crop so produced is a clone (McKinnell 6)
It is suggested that this will make it possible one day to produce cattle with leaner meat and cows that produce low-fat milk. The new method allows greater fine-tuning and more precise genetic changes in the cells used (Nichols 55)
Charman also notes that the goals of controlling disease and producing more and more nutritious food are good goals, but whether they will be met remains uncertain, for it is also possible that this biotechnology will instead "unleash greater problems than those generated by the polluting technologies it is purported to replace" (Charman 75). The potential has been raised for using genetic engineering to shape future human generations, and this raises troubling issues of ethics and social control, as Resnik notes, after first pointing out the nature of both sides of the issue, and he finds that what is likely to happen is that such control over human genetics will lead to efforts to allow parents to select traits for their children, "and the long-term results of parental control over human genetics may further exacerbate existing social and economic inequalities and create a genetic caste system" (Resnik 428)
The potential has been raised for using genetic engineering to shape future human generations, and this raises troubling issues of ethics and social control, as Resnik notes, after first pointing out the nature of both sides of the issue, and he finds that what is likely to happen is that such control over human genetics will lead to efforts to allow parents to select traits for their children, "and the long-term results of parental control over human genetics may further exacerbate existing social and economic inequalities and create a genetic caste system" (Resnik 428). Jeremy Rifkin notes how far some geneticists seem willing to go in shaping human life in spite of the potential problems that this could create (Rifkin 648)
The technique may also make it possible to reverse the effects of spinal cord injury. Cloning technology could be used to test for and perhaps cure genetic diseases (Smith paras
Using these techniques, scientists can manipulate genes individually by directly modifying the DNA molecules in which genetic information is encoded. This means that the technique has the potential to transform the genes of all species into a global resource that can be used to shape novel life forms obedient to the scientist rather than to the dictates of natural selection (Suzuki and Knudtson 115-116)
Wright cites a report by a National Research Council committee that "the most significant risk associated with animal biotechnology is the potential effect on the environment. In particular, the committee said that if engineered animals escaped into the wild, they could endanger native species" (Wright 4)
Those against cloning and stem cell research point out the fact that even if an embryo were cloned, it still deserves the right to live. Thus, there is the time-honored debate between "right to life advocates and researchers" (Rifkin 143) regarding the ethical implications of cloning