2004-03-13 16:26:00麥斯
Essay #3 Biotechnology and Human Health
Q2. In your opinion, is human cloning justified? How about therapeutic cloning?
There has been much controversy nowadays over the justification of human cloning. Undoubtedly some people would argue that human cloning is justified while others myself included think that such an act is absolutely irresponsible and unjustified.
Cloning is creating a later born twin by inserting a human or animal cell into an enucleated egg and giving it a small jolt of electric current so that it behaves as if it has been fertilized. It then undergoes cell division and differentiation into an embryo. The embryo then becomes a foetus and then a later born twin of the original cell donor.
Through cloning, one can make a genetically identical copy of himself/herself so that his/her clone can live to a longer life even the original one dies. This thought impressed people who want to be immortal, such as some tycoons or even politicians. It is always a known fact that immortality or longevity is a common goal which scientists in the past and at present strive to achieve. The first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, illustrated an excellent example of the human desire of longevity. To be fair, the idea of human cloning may be beneficial towards some people. But, in the above situations we are only talking about the benefits to the people who cloned themselves. How about the impact of human cloning on the society and ethic?
If we examine the issue from another perspective, we will probably see things in a very different light. Imagine if you are cloned, what is the relationship between you and the clone? Is him just a spare part of yours or is he another individual but share the same identity with you, including your ID card number, social insurance number and your bank account? Needless to say, such situation involved countless problems due to the confused identity of the clone. It absolutely violates one’s individuality, values and most importantly the human dignity.
Apart from this, as human cloning enables people to choose the human traits which they find desirable, it could very possibly lead to feelings of superiority. They may think that they are of better quality and more intelligent race of human beings. Such a thought is highly likely to develop into racial injustice, just like the problems of racial discrimination nowadays in the some area in the US, which is detrimental to the civilization of the mankind. The ’genetic selections’ will certainly like the one practiced by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party. Human cloning therefore poses a huge risk to society.
However, the derived technology of cloning, therapeutic cloning, brings numerous merits to the mankind, especially to the patients with genetic diseases. It involves using embryonic stem cells to differentiate the cells into any tissue in the body, like liver cells, nerve cells or blood cells. Hence, patients with diseased organ, like kidney failure, can have an organ transplantation in which the organ is derived from himself so that the problem of rejecting the organ is eradicated. Similarly, diseases like Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s or diabetes can be treated or cured.
Although there are certain benefits of therapeutic cloning, there are some protestors think that it is morally incorrect to do so. They claimed that such human embryo used in therapeutic cloning should be treated as an individual. They cannot be deprived of the right of living. Nevertheless, it must be measured against alleviating the suffering of thousand of patients so that any medical breakthrough can probably improve the quality of living of the entire human race.
There has been much controversy nowadays over the justification of human cloning. Undoubtedly some people would argue that human cloning is justified while others myself included think that such an act is absolutely irresponsible and unjustified.
Cloning is creating a later born twin by inserting a human or animal cell into an enucleated egg and giving it a small jolt of electric current so that it behaves as if it has been fertilized. It then undergoes cell division and differentiation into an embryo. The embryo then becomes a foetus and then a later born twin of the original cell donor.
Through cloning, one can make a genetically identical copy of himself/herself so that his/her clone can live to a longer life even the original one dies. This thought impressed people who want to be immortal, such as some tycoons or even politicians. It is always a known fact that immortality or longevity is a common goal which scientists in the past and at present strive to achieve. The first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, illustrated an excellent example of the human desire of longevity. To be fair, the idea of human cloning may be beneficial towards some people. But, in the above situations we are only talking about the benefits to the people who cloned themselves. How about the impact of human cloning on the society and ethic?
If we examine the issue from another perspective, we will probably see things in a very different light. Imagine if you are cloned, what is the relationship between you and the clone? Is him just a spare part of yours or is he another individual but share the same identity with you, including your ID card number, social insurance number and your bank account? Needless to say, such situation involved countless problems due to the confused identity of the clone. It absolutely violates one’s individuality, values and most importantly the human dignity.
Apart from this, as human cloning enables people to choose the human traits which they find desirable, it could very possibly lead to feelings of superiority. They may think that they are of better quality and more intelligent race of human beings. Such a thought is highly likely to develop into racial injustice, just like the problems of racial discrimination nowadays in the some area in the US, which is detrimental to the civilization of the mankind. The ’genetic selections’ will certainly like the one practiced by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party. Human cloning therefore poses a huge risk to society.
However, the derived technology of cloning, therapeutic cloning, brings numerous merits to the mankind, especially to the patients with genetic diseases. It involves using embryonic stem cells to differentiate the cells into any tissue in the body, like liver cells, nerve cells or blood cells. Hence, patients with diseased organ, like kidney failure, can have an organ transplantation in which the organ is derived from himself so that the problem of rejecting the organ is eradicated. Similarly, diseases like Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s or diabetes can be treated or cured.
Although there are certain benefits of therapeutic cloning, there are some protestors think that it is morally incorrect to do so. They claimed that such human embryo used in therapeutic cloning should be treated as an individual. They cannot be deprived of the right of living. Nevertheless, it must be measured against alleviating the suffering of thousand of patients so that any medical breakthrough can probably improve the quality of living of the entire human race.