Cloning People Have Come on Different Sides

Cloning

People have come on different sides of the philosophical divide when the topic of human cloning is brought up. Dolly the sheep was the first mammal cloned -- Dolly is now dead. Also the Raelians (known to believe that we are descended from aliens) have talked about the first (allegedly) human baby already having been cloned. In his essay: "Genetic Encores: The Ethics of Human Cloning," Robert Wachbroit, is supportive of Human Cloning. He attempts to debunk various points of objections from those against cloning. Robert Wachbroit avers that cloning must be considered in its own right. He believes that most people confuse it with a technology of genetic manipulation -- playing with the laws of nature.

Wachbroit disagrees with those who claim that clones are carbon copies of a person. He declares that clones are separate living beings with independent existence. Clones don't think alike and their experiences would be different. He also believes that the environment and experiences have a lot to do with how a person develops. Wachbroit tries to allay fears that cloning would create a mass-production of babies (perhaps engineered for evil) by decrying them as the figments of science fiction. A human takes 18 years to grow; it would be cheaper to pay for trained mercenaries if people really wanted to engage in evil.

There are additional fears that clones would be denied basic human rights as if they were robots. A human being brought up as a clone would possibly suffer from expectations. Such a person would suffer a sense of loss of individuality. But these are problems faced by kids under normal circumstance with normal parents. A cloned human would suffer from an idea that he or she was not a real person. Wachbroit argues that this is no different than if the child was conceived by in vitro fertilization.

Wachbroit does voice some concerns that the risks associated with cloning were the experimental and nascent at best. Failure rates were very high. Also Dolly died from complications without going through a sheep's entire lifetime. There is a risk with humans and failed experiments. The author believes that rather than public outcry driving the movement underground without recourse to regulations is counter-productive. The whole debate and research should be out in the open in the interests of true progress.

Supporters of cloning do so as a means to extend the progress of reproduction. Couples who cannot have children -- in case of sterility and for homosexual couples -- have a chance with cloning. Family relationships would not be affected because the parents would perceive a cloned baby as their child despite the genetic ramifications. There is also the fear that the facility would be available only to the rich where people would create custom-designed children who were talented who would have better futures. To this, Wachbroit once again counters with the argument that environment plays an important role.

Wachbroit makes strong and well-reasoned arguments. However, accept for concerns that he personally voices -- namely, that cloning is a nascent science -- his arguments leave a lot to be desired. During the attempts a cloning a sheep, the failed results were grotesque creatures. No human should have to witness failed experiments when humans are involved. As in the case of the most celebrated clone yet -- Dolly -- did not survive long. It means that there were genetic factors that made the clone susceptible to disease with a potentially weakened system.

Wachbroit repeatedly makes the argument that environmental factors play an important role in a person's upbringing. This theory called the Blank Slate was developed in the early sixties, and till recently has held sway. In a recent book by MIT's cognitive scientist Stephen Pinker, "The Blank Slate," the author systematically debunks the blank slate theory. Whatever, one might think of these competing theories, the Blank Slate theory cannot be considered as absolute.