Cloning

Cloning describes the process used to create an exact genetic replica of

another cell, tissue or organism. Therefore, the copied material would have the
same genetic makeup as the original. The cloning of animals has been occurring
for a number of years now, and this has now opened up the possibility of cloning
humans too. So far five species have been cloned:cattle, sheep, pigs, goats and
mice. However, scientists are not sure about being able to clone a human being
just yet.

To begin with, more than a quarter of the animals that had already been
cloned were alarmingly larger than normal, some had serious mental
abnormalities and many were found to have underdevelopped lungs. Dolly, the
famous cloned sheep, suffered from premature arthritis and progressive lung
disease. This was at the age of 6 while most sheep live up to the age of 12.There
is no reason to assume that the success rate would be any better for humans.
And even if it was, cloning humans would raise ethical issuses. Many people
assume that the whole cloning process would go too far. If cloning was indeed
possible, that would mean that parents would be able to actually design their
children. Therefore, in 20 years time, the would would be full of perfect individuals
whose genes would not allow them to ever get a disease and who would be
designed in such a way that their bodies would look perfect. They would not
inherit any of their parents flaws, nor would they get any genetic predispositions.
So where would the line be drawn? Furthermore, were cloning to become widely
accepted and practiced, what would happen to the children who would be born
naturally? Would they still be accepted into society or would they be left out?
These are the questions that should be answered before cloning could even be
considered as an acceptable option to improve mankind.

On the other hand, what if everybody is regarding the problem from a
wrong view point? There are many uses for investigating into this technology and
many diseases that can be cured once the technology is understood. For
example, what if your kidney fails and there is none available for you to get a
transplant? No problem! The doctor would just use your stem cells to create a
compatible kidney for you. The new kidney would be transplated and you would
be saved. Furthermore, reproductive cloning can provide genetically related
children for people who cannot be helped by other fertility treatments.The
amounts of things that could come out of cloning might outweigh the negatives
greatly.

As a conclusion, I consider that if cloning would only be used in order to
save lives by cloning organs it would benefit the mankind. However, once they
knew how to clone human organs, nothing could stop them from cloning humans
who are, ultimately, systems of organs well put together. From that moment, one,
people would start playing God.