Should cloning humans be legal? That is a tough question to answer. Human cloning is a complex issue, and as in many complex issues there are differing opinions on the subject. Take for example the theory of man’s evolution, there are two completely different sides, and each side is positive they are right. Since the creation of Dolly the sheep, human cloning has erupted into a global debate. There are those people who are all for science and technology. They want human cloning to be a reality. There are other people who think human cloning is morally, ethically, or religiously wrong. These people want their governments to intervene and place a ban on human cloning. American society already have negative feelings on the issue. About 70% of Americans think human cloning is wrong. This is mostly because of widespread misconceptions and far fetched stories. To wisely choose if you think human cloning should be permitted you should be more educated on the subject than most of these people.

The Basics

Let’s start with some basic information. What is a human clone? It is simply a time-delayed identical twin. A clone has the exact DNA of the original. If a clone is made of an adult it would have to develop in a women’s uterus and be born like a normal baby. It would be a normal baby. A clone of a certain person would have it’s own memory and thought’s totally independent of the original. Clones would be human individuals and be guaranteed the rights of one, under our constitution.

So how do you clone a person? There are two main techniques used to clone mammals and if scientist are allowed these techniques may be applied in the near future to clone human beings. The first is embryo splitting. An embryo is the early stage of a fetus. Embryo splitting is the artificial division of a single embryo. The same process happens naturally to produce identical twins. Identical twins are actually clones of one another because they have the same genetic code. Embryo splitting is not very popular because embryos can only be split a few times therefore can only produce a few clones.

The second technique, somatic nuclear replacement, has the potential to create endless numbers of the same person. For this reason this technique is the target of human cloning attacks by political figures, religious leaders, and even some scientist. Dolly the sheep was cloned by this nuclear replacement procedure. It involves transferring DNA from a person’s cell to a genetically blank egg. Dolly was cloned in the following five basic steps and humans can probably be cloned the same way.

Step 1. Scientists need two cells. One cell is a body cell from the individual the wish to clone. This cell contains the DNA that will make the clone. It is a somatic cell, which is a cell from an organ or tissue. The second cell is an unfertilized egg. The nucleus is removed from the egg so it no longer contains any genetic material or DNA.

Step 2. The somatic cell which has the genetic code is starved of nutrients. Because of this the cell enters a suspended state. While the somatic cell is in this state it matches the enucleated egg cell, which simply means the egg has no nucleus.

Step 3. The two cells are than fused together by an electric current. The current stimulates the development of the egg.

Step 4. The egg is placed in an oviduct where it begins divide. The oviduct acts as an insulator. The egg has now reached the stage of it’s development where it is no longer an egg but an embryo.

Step 5. The last step in somatic nuclear replacement is to implant the growing embryo into the uterus of a surrogate mother where it will continue to develop until it is born. The rest of my report will focus on this process because it is the technique the government is trying to ban. There are two types of human cloning reproductive and therapeutic.

Reproductive cloning is creating complete human beings with the same genetic code as someone else. This type of cloning faces the most opposition. However medical breakthroughs such as this, have always been condemned upon their discovery. Many people think reproductive cloning allows scientist to play God, and these people accused doctors of the very same thing when they first performed heart transplants. Now heart transplants save thousands of lives every year. In vitro fertilization was also attacked when it was first used. It is combining sperm and egg outside the human body. Now this process is used nation wide to allow people, unable to conceive naturally, to have children. Human Cloning may be accepted in a few years as these common practices have been.

Reproductive cloning could be used for many purposes. It would be much more effective than modern day drugs and procedures to treat infertility. Another possible use of creating an entire human would be to make clones of exceptional people in hopes that their gifts and talented could be passed on. For example, Albert Einstein’s brain has been preserved in a jar. A somatic cell could be taken from it to produce another Einstein. Brain capacity is genetic so this duplicate of one of history greatest minds, could possibly have the power to solve some of the modern worlds greatest mysteries.

The second type of cloning is therapeutic. It is more readily accepted than reproductive cloning. This type of cloning is meant for medical research and has no intention of creating entire human beings. It’s purpose is simply a way to try to extend human life which is what medical science has been doing since man’s beginning. The government is trying to instill laws to ban reproductive cloning but many scientist fear these bans will interfere with therapeutic cloning, which has the potential to find cures or treatment for all major disease known to man.

The Benefits

Human cloning could offer many benefits which would by far out weigh the detriments. Therapeutic research could be especially helpful in unlocking many of the unsolved puzzles in the medical field. New developments in therapeutic cloning have led researchers to stem cells. Stem cells are basically no specific type of cell. However they may be able to produce cells with certain characteristics. For example a stem cell could be cloned to produce blood. By using stem cells scientist anticipate that it will one day be possible to clone human organs or tissue without cloning a complete person. By using this technology it may be possible to reverse heart attacks by cloning healthy heart cells and injecting them into the damaged areas. Another almost unbelievable application is to fix the problem of organ shortages for people who need transplants. There are thousands of people on an incredibly long list waiting for an organ donor, because one of there organs have failed. It is a sad fact that most of them will suffer and die before they get the transplant they need. Of those who do receive organs, many of the operations are unsuccessful because the organ was not a close enough match. It is quite conceivable that stem cells can provide an exact duplicate of an organ for a person who would otherwise die without a transplant. This means new skin could be produced for severe burn victims. Human cloning could also provide new brain cells for a person with brain damage. It could give a quadriplegic a new spinal cord so he could walk again, or an amputee a new arm, leg, or other body part. The applications of human cloning are numerous as are the benefits. They used to be thought impossible, yet now they don’t seem that inconceivable.  Continue...