Forum
Human Cloning Foundation Hails British Scientists
Paralyzed
Walk Again
Childless Couples
Essays
The Benefits of
Human Cloning
All the Reasons to
Clone Human Beings
The Top Ten Myths
about Human Cloning
Human Cloning is the Cure for Infertility
Infertility is
a Disease
Books
People
Reports
Archives
Feedback
Donate
Links
Website Links
About Us
Contact Us
Site history
Site Map
Past Books of the Month
John Kunich's Books
Copyright
Illegal Beings: Human Clones
Re: interview needed! any help would be appreciated
ghalelowe ( 04/15/2004, 15:13:18 )I would love to answer your interview questions. 1) I have been interested in cloning every since I first heard of it as a child, through science fiction books(25 yrs or so). What I read was mostly aimed at shock and horror to create a good story. I saw it differently and still do. The only difference now is that I am angered by the mischaracterization of the possibilities. While we should tread carefully, I do not believe in purposely maintaining ignorance. 2)Most definately we should dig. It is part of human nature to aquire knowledge and understanding of the world we live in, It's laws, it's nature, and of course to see how we can control it. We should however proceed with great caution when using our advancements in knowledge on humankind, but that does not mean don't do it. It means we should proceed with the responsibilites that come along with our knowledge and make attempts to put it to the greastest use for good, while attempting to mainatin the lowest risk for harm. 3) They potentials of therapeutic cloning are terrific. High expectations and the potential for failure to meet them are often used as arguments against there use, but to me it means we need to only delve in further to gain greater knowledge so that we can truely see the potential come to fruitation. The possibilities in my opinion are misleading. Therapuetic cloning allows for the productin of stem cells from your own cell line or others. It is these stem cells which are truely desired and from these the treatment possibilities grow. By being able to manipulate your own cells you can theoretically regrow your own organs, replace damaged cells and the likes, without rejection or having to take powerful immunosuppressants. When combine with gene therapy it may be possible to regrow your cells without the genetic errors that have caused many disease states in the 1st place. 4)That depends on many factors, including which form of cloning you are refering to. Unfortunately many governments are trying to ban all types of cloning. I think eventually people will slowly open there minds to new possiblities and not say because I think it is against my religion or my personal belies you should not be able to do it even if it is not against your own religion or beliefs. Therapuetic cloning will be accepted, and more slowly reproductive cloning will be accepted just as test tube babies have been accepted by the majority. There will likely always be some holdouts. Some people can not except progress, often out of fear of the consequences. But life without risk is in my opinion the same as having armies of drones thinking likeminded and all sticking to strict boundaries, like in those horrible movies about cloning(all fiction). 8-15yrs on therapuetic cloning. 30-50 for reproductive cloning. 5) I was ecstatic. I thought this wa a great turning of the tide. I am always amazed at how the masses manage to turn up fear when great changes are about. By the way, cloning of a different type has been going on for decades prior to that incident. It is often ignored and no-one seems to think it nearly as controversal, but a method of cloning in which embryos are split to create multiple offspring with the same genetic traits is quite common. This is often used for prized bulls and pigs of strong genetic background. 6) I definitely support reproductive cloning. I think great care needs to go into this though and pregnancies should be monitored very closely. We truely need more research in this arena so that we may understand the flaws in our methods and learn how to correct them before moving to live births of humans. It is currently understood that the main problem is with gene activation and that natural reproduction has specific proteins turning on genes at different times (regulation) of the same genes. We need to identify these changes and learn how to apply them to reproductive cloning. I feel it is unthical not to develop treatments for any flaw in which we maybe able to cure. As for people who say"We are playing God", may I remind them we "Play God" everyday in many ways. We take medicines which we created from our research using our brains that "God" gave us. We look to nature for many of these "Cures". We study our own body and other animals to see where the errors or disease occur. We study our reaction to these meds, many of which have done great harm to a few. We live as society, combining our knowledge to extend the lives of those who would not survive. We strive to make all our live "Better". We use our knowledge to increase food supplies, eradicate disease, and improve our quality and length of life. This is playing God in my mind, but it is the ethical thing to do. If we can cure, create and improve, but don't- that would be the wrong or EVIL thing to do. I personaly do not think we should knowingly create diseased humans of any great degree. If you are stating that one partner has a genetic defect so why not clone the other to prevent that defect, I support that. Eventually, believe that we will be able to use hybridized gene therapy to correct those flaws so that offspring will not carry that defect. Again proceed with caution, but still go forward. 7) I see nothing wrong with correcting known genetic defects if it is within our realm of possibilities. I think world dominance theories and most media views are highly flawed and implossible. Designer babies in the since of blues eyes, brown hair ect. is not morally just if it puts the babies at risk. To me thses are trivial traits and don't justify the risk. If we got to the point where these additional trait changes posed no risk, then really don't see much harm, but still trivial. 8)The ability to regrow and replace organs/cells from your own cells which you take out and manipulate to grow replacements for whatever parts go bad. PS: Many movies and media outlets have portrayd cloning as a tool to live forever. Remember, there are many genetic clones in the world-identical twins, and while they share many traits and personality characteristics, tehy are seperate individuals with different life experiences and perspectives. They are not 2 of the same person living 2 lives. As goes for cloning, a baby me would not be me. It would have its own life, it own experiences and be its own individual with a shared gentic makeup. Its not nature vs. nurture. It is nature in relatioship with nuture.By the way, good thoughtful questions. Greg
This Message is being posted for educational purposes, as well as for comment and criticism, by the visitors to the HumanCloning.org Foundation website (www.HumanCloning.org ).
Disclaimer: Information provided on this web site is for educatonal purposes only. It is not a substitute for, nor can it replace advice from your own physician.
HumanCloning.org™ Established December 11, 2002.
Who's Afraid of Human Cloning?
Disease Prevention and Treatment