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The answer to why humans have not been cloned is complex. Many have reservations to the practice for scientific and moral reasons. First, some believe that scientists do not know enough about cloning to attempt the process with correct safety precautions. Second, some have moral concerns about the welfare of the cloned child, replacing the dead, genetic diseases, and social impacts, in addition to religious arguments and other concerns (Devolder). For these reasons, a debate has ensued over whether or not cloning will happen in our lifetime. Personally, I believe cloning will happen in my lifetime. According to Time Magazine, some scientists have already claimed that they have created clones. Many other scientists not only believe human cloning can happen, but they also support it (Gibbs et al.). This being said, many of the scientists who fully support cloning in this way are not in the United States. Thus, while I believe cloning will happen in my lifetime, I do not think it will happen in the United States. The climate in the United States is too full of differing opinions to manage this fete in my lifetime.
And perhaps this is for the best. While scientists may have proven that human cloning is achievable, I am not in favor of the process. This is not because I have a strong moral objection to human cloning, but instead I ask myself what can be gained from it. Time magazine lists several reasons for human cloning, including helping parents recover from the loss of their children, curing infertility, and providing donors for medical transplants (Gibbs et al.). While these may be significant, they pale in comparison to the other medical and scientific problems that deserve the attention of medical science. For instance, many cancers, such as pancreatic...
Diseases like AIDS are still rampant in both developing and developed countries, and genetic disorders continue to shock and devastate parents. In addition, world overpopulation and hunger are major issues in today's world. Instead of focusing on human cloning, the goals of which are so minimal, scientists should be focusing on solving the major medical problems of our day. Thus, while human cloning is an issue that has raised much speculation since the 1990s, the scientific and social problems associated with cloning still leave much to be investigated, and the consequences of human cloning may not be as monumental as other serious scientific research.
Works Cited
Cloning: Saving Endangered Species." The Hindu 27 November 2008. 30 November 2008. http://www.hindu.com/seta/2008/11/27/stories/2008112750021400.htm
Devolder, Katrien. "Cloning." Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2008. 30 November 2008. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/cloning/
Frozen mice cloned -- are wooly mammoths next?" Reuters. 3 November 2008. 30
November 2008. http://www.reuters.com/article/wtMostRead/idUSTRE4A26NV20081103?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0
Gibbs, Nancy et al. "Baby, It's You! And You, And You..." Time. 19 February 2001. 30
November 2008. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,999233,00.html
U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science, Office of Biological and Human Research,
Human Genome Program. "Cloning Fact Sheet." Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
16 September 2008. 30 November 2008. http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/elsi/cloning.shtml
Works Cited
Cloning: Saving Endangered Species." The Hindu 27 November 2008. 30 November 2008. http://www.hindu.com/seta/2008/11/27/stories/2008112750021400.htm
Devolder, Katrien. "Cloning." Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2008. 30 November 2008. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/cloning/
Frozen mice cloned -- are wooly mammoths next?" Reuters. 3 November 2008. 30
November 2008. http://www.reuters.com/article/wtMostRead/idUSTRE4A26NV20081103?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0
November 2008. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,999233,00.html
16 September 2008. 30 November 2008. http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/elsi/cloning.shtml
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