The ethical implications of human cloning harvard university. One alternative to therapeutic cloning is to use adult stem cells instead of embryonic stem cells stem cell basics. Bioethicists,policy makers,and the media have been quick to identify the key ethical issues involved in human reproductive cloning. Human cloning may refer to therapeutic cloning, particularly the cloning of embryonic cells to obtain organs for transplantation or for. The ethics of assisted reproduction technologies introduction. Countries like australia have prohibited human cloning in 2006. Human cloning and moral status florida state university. The moral status of the cloning of humans springerlink. Currently there are two types of cloning under debate cloning to produce children, and cloning for biomedical research. The aborted fetus was oversized, the lung lobes were oedematous, and. Pdf advances in cloning technology and successful cloning experiments in animals raised concerns about the possibility of human cloning in recent. Perhaps the most urgent ethical, legal and social issues about cloning arise in the context and process that may lead to the birth of a first human clone. Church on most social issues, and their views on cloning are no different.
The main issues that lie at the heart of this ethical debate are. Scientific research may be used for the good of man in a crisis. The ethics of human cloning and stem cell research. Some opponents, however, do not accept the premise that human cloning is a reproductive. Although much of the ethical discussion related to human cloning has focused on the moral status of the embryo, another important ethical concern has. 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. Cloning in sports does not address any medical crisis in a human being that will result in the saving of a life, therefore it cannot be considered justifiable in any circumstances. Mans interference in natural processes has already created problems. It is not simply that supporters have grossly hyped the therapeutic value of cloning although this itself is an ethical issue inasmuch as it has unfairly elevated. The ethical implications of human cloning spring 2005 volume 48, number 2 243 it might be replied that cloning and genetic engineering are in principle no different from other ways in which parents go to great lengths to produce children of a certain kind, or designer children.
Pdf the ethical issues of human cloning ariel brown. In this chapter, i argue that one of the best defenses of human cloning is when human cloning is understood as a reproductive rights issue, but explaining and defending this right is problematic. Advances in cloning technology and successful cloning experiments in animals raised concerns about the possibility of human cloning in recent years. Human cloning is unethical in part because there is no assurance that the process safely can be undertaken.
To be clear, then, the most dramatically contested area here is the cloning of human beings for reproductive purposes, i. Moreover, there remains the limiting consideration asserted earlier. Embryonic stem cells are obtained from the embryo and require the destruction of the embryo. Swati vishan abstract the prospect of cloning animals and homo sapiens and the ethical and legal implication of such astounding development remained remote and unexplored until recently. Bioethics research library of the kennedy institute of ethics. Because of the controversies against this practice, the united states would not open the door to reproductive cloning. Some features of this site may not work without it. However, it also introduces the potential for physical and psychosocial harm to human beings.
Ethical issues in animal cloning 328 abstract the issue of human reproductive cloning has recently received a great deal attention in public discourse. The advantages and disadvantages of human cloning raise moral, ethical, scientific and safety questions. Four panels addressed the specific scientific, religious, ethical, and legal implications of human reproductive cloning and stem cell research. The notion of human dignity is commonly used to justify cloning laws. Shaw department of biochemistry, cuhk hong kong bioethics association november 2009 a free powerpoint ppt presentation displayed as a flash slide show on id. Ethical issues related to human and animal cloning, viewed 1 july 2010 3. The legislature plans to take up this discussion after january. Before we speak of the technical matters, there are a few things that need understanding. Essay on what are the ethical issues of human cloning. It is currently the subject of much debate around the world, involving a variety of ethical, religious, societal, scientific, and medical issues. Human cloning could help us understand the reasons why spontaneous abortions occur.
A human embryothe being created by human cloning is nothing less than a human being in the earliest stages of natural development. We shall evaluate these other ethical objections to it below. Human cloning would still face ethical objections from a majority of concerned people, as well as opposition from diverse religions. This map will provide a clearer lens with which to examine the question of what being. The ethics of assisted reproduction technologies introduction assisted reproduction has become more widely used in recent years.
Career oriented women, gay and lesbian couples, single mothers. Cloning is where a cell is taken from an animal or human and the nucleus is combined with an unfertilised egg from which the nucleus has been removed, in order to create an egg which starts to divide to create if it survives implantation in the womb an identical twin of the animal or human. Cloning is the creation of an exact genetic copy of any organism. See the section entitled would the use of human cloning violate important human rights. The moral problem with reproductive cloning lies not in its asexual character,but in its assault on the understanding of children as gifts rather than possessions,or projects of our will,or vehicles for our happiness. Scientists have been cloning elementary substances such as genes and cells for so many years. Primer on ethics and human cloning kyrene school district. In reproductive cloning, the nucleus is isolated from a cell of the organism to be cloned, and is then inserted into an enucleated egg an egg whose nucleus has previously been removed. The regulation of human cloning continues to be a significant national and international policy issue. Arguments supporting research cloning the main use of research cloning is to create human embryonic stem cells hesc. Ever since the advent of cloning, there have been arguments for and against this process.
Because of the controversies against this practice, the united states would not open the door to reproductive cloning, and this lead to a debate between. Undoubtedly, the eventual mapping of the human genome will be a boon to science, medicine, and anthropology, among other disciplines. The legal and ethical issues of cloning that make it. Ethical issues regarding human cloning241 nursing ethics 2003 10 3 problems. Despite many objections, this is not only a possibility but also a reality.
Ethics and cloning british medical bulletin oxford. Cloning human beings an assessment of the ethical issues pro and con commissioned paper. The report will discuss the science of cloning, and the ethical and legal considerations of applications of cloning technology. Cloning is a dominant topic under the broader category of biotechnology. It will also set out recommendations to the legislature regarding regulation of human cloning. Human reproductive cloning is an assisted reproductive technology that would be carried out with the goal of creating a newborn genetically identical to another human being. These stem cells have the ability to become any specialized cell in the body. A fundamental argument is that cloning is ethically wrong and various religious groups have rejected it saying that cloning is equivalent to playing god. Scientists cannot come close to guaranteeing that the result of a human cloning process would be a physically and mentally stable human being. Human cloning, if it is ever done, will be carried out by the same method that brought forth dolly, that is via reproductive cloning. The basis for this justification is that reproductive human cloning. Once considered the stuff of science fiction, cloning has become an inescapable reality. Currently, cloning in human beings has never been defined precisely.
And with several worldwide fertility specialists announcing their intention to clone human beings kass, 2002, a controversial debate on the ethical issues and the. Keynote speaker ursula goodenough, professor of biology at washington university and author of genetics, set the issues in context with her talk, a religious naturalist thinks about bioethics. From this point of view, it raises profound ethical, social. Model answer for human cloning essay 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. In bioethics, the ethics of cloning refers to a variety of ethical positions regarding the practice and possibilities of cloning, especially human cloning. There exist different kinds of cloning processes which are important in the decision of legal and ethical issues. An ethical dilemma explores the ethical and moral issues involved in our fastapproaching ability to duplicate a human being, while examining the frequently overlooked practical considerations of the developing technology. This aspect does not only have legal implications, but also appeals to the moral conscience of the individual. John gurdon, a british scientist, reported the first successful cloning of frogs using nuclei from adult frogs transplanted into enucleated eggs.
Spontaneous abortion, which is the medical term for a pregnancy loss or miscarriage, is the natural death of a fetus or embryo before it can survive independently. Today, more routine biological research and many important pharmaceutical applications depend on that sort of cloning, which involves many ethical dilemmas presented by the cloning of human beings. Although there are clear benefits to humankind of cloning to provide spare body parts, i believe it raises a number of worrying ethical issues. This paper will outline the history and available techniques, benefits, risks, and ethical issues of cloning. Human cloning is a different means of reproduction than sexual reproduction, but it is a means that can serve individuals interest in reproducing. Despite years of intense academic and public debate, there is little clarity as to the philosophical foundations for many of the emerging policy choices. Here is a discussion about the ethical issues that have arisen concerned with cloning humans.
Perspectives, ethical issues and legal implications adv. Many countries disallow reproductive cloning because of these questions, but some do allow research. While many of these views are religious in origin, some of the questions raised by cloning are faced by secular perspectives as well. This is so because, as has been pointed out by scholars and politicians, early human experiments are likely to result.
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