cloning-brock

CHAPTER 9: ALTERING GENES AND CLONING HUMANS

Cloning Human Beings: Ethical Issues

  • Announcement of successful sheep cloning by Ian Wilmut (1997) shocked the public.

  • Initial strong condemnation of human cloning by scientific and political leaders.

  • Emotional reactions surpassed rational arguments.

  • Importance of articulating moral reasons for human cloning to inform public policy.

Moral Arguments in Support of Human Cloning

Right to Use Human Cloning

  • Individual liberty supports the use of human cloning if it does not harm others.

  • Right to reproductive freedom includes various assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs).

Specific Interests in Human Cloning

  • May be the only reproductive option for some individuals without viable gametes.

  • Allows individuals to choose specific genetic traits in offspring.

    • Examples: genetic testing, selective reproduction for desirable traits.

  • Debate on whether human cloning is a new technique or a means of reproduction.

Possible Individual Benefits

  1. Infertility Treatment: Provides another method for individuals unable to reproduce naturally.

  2. Hereditary Disease Prevention: Couples carrying risks of hereditary diseases can use cloning to avoid passing them.

  3. Organ and Tissue Transplantation: Cloning for organs could solve donor mismatches and reduce rejection risk.

  4. Cloning Lost Individuals: Cloning a deceased child may offer psychological comfort, despite ethical concerns.

Possible Social Benefits

  1. Duplication of Talented Individuals: Potential societal advantage from replicating extraordinary talents, influenced by misconceptions of genetic determinism.

  2. Advances in Scientific Knowledge: Human cloning research might enhance understanding of human development.

Moral Arguments Against Human Cloning

Violation of Moral Rights

  • Concerns that cloning might infringe on rights to unique identity and an open future.

    • Arguments challenge the idea of a moral right to a unique genetic identity.

    • Psychological impacts and pressures on later twins may arise from sharing genomes with earlier twins.

Possible Individual Harms

  1. Psychological Distress: Later twins may feel pressure and diminished uniqueness.

  2. Health Risks for Clones: Risks associated with cloning processes could have severe outcomes for clones.

Possible Social Harms

  1. Diminished Worth of Individuals: Cloning could change societal perceptions of human value.

  2. Commercial Exploitation: Risks of treating cloned individuals as commodities.

  3. Governmental Abuse: Potential for cloning technologies to be exploited in ways that undermine personal dignity.

Conclusion

  • Ethical evaluation of human cloning is tentative; arguments on both sides lack decisiveness.

  • While reproductive freedom may protect cloning access, its practical benefits are limited.

  • Public oversight and ongoing ethical discussion are essential as research into human cloning progresses.