Ashley Armstrong

2-22-06

One is Enough

An identical version of one’s self has been a popular topic of science fiction, but no longer is it just a fantasy. In 1997 the first sheep was cloned, named Dolly, by Ian Wilmut and his colleagues at the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh. The idea of human clones grew like wild fire around the world. Claims arose that it would be a matter of a year’s time before a human clone existed or that one had lived, but had all ready died. The United States banned federal funding of developing human cloning and the process of testing to determine if cloning was safe. Some countries, including Germany and Switzerland, and some U.S. states even made it illegal to clone. However no federal law has been passed in the United States prohibiting cloning. It appears that many political organization are against the idea of making a human copy and for good reason. Though the near future may enable it, humans should not be cloned for any reason.

It is thought that producing a clone will give a child to those who are unable to have one through normal means. Whether it be for the threat of passing on genetically harmful traits or a physical incability to give birth to a child . It gives a family the chance to have that child in the form of a clone. A clone could also be created to save the life of the one who it is a copy of, which is dieing from a genetic disease. Due however to federal laws banning testing it has not been determined if cloning is in fact safe. Of the 277 clones made of Dolly the sheep, only one was a success. All others were deformed creatures and died or were aborted. If a child clone did die for similar reasons it would hurt the parents emotionally. It is also not known if the clone will have premature aging or other problems from the elderly genes he or she received. The clone may also develop an increased risk of cancer due to the gene reprogramming used to cause cell division of the cells to create the clone. No matter if it is a clone or the original, he or she is still alive and could be harmed in his or her future.

Mass cloning could slow evolution. Evolution occurs because of the diversity of genes. A trait few possess could be the one needed for survival purposes, but if society became more genetically uniform an unfavorable trait could be harmful to the human population since many more individuals would have that trait.

Many people are viewing cloning as morally wrong. Religious worshippers view it as passing into God’s territory. Pope John Paul II spoke out saying, “Cloning risks being the tragic parody of God’s omnipotence” in his “Reflections on Cloning.” Many believe humans would commit the sin of pride, thinking humans are as powerful as God.

Cloning might change people’s beliefs negatively. If a parent could choose the genes of their children he or she is seeing the child more as an object than a life. It loosens the bound of love between parent and child. Cloning also violates human dignity through artificial reproduction. Clones could be used to save another, but some wonder if it is really right to create a life and sacrifice it to save someone else.

Someone will have to decide what are the traits worthy to be reproduced. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. One might think a certain trait is desirable, but someone else might think another is preferable. In the end it will be someone else choosing who to clone and what physical and genetic traits to clone. It would be very similar to Hitler’s beliefs that the Aryan-German race- had the best characteristics in the world and all others were unacceptable. Though a massive killing spree of unacceptable traits is highly, the idea of improving the human race through opinions is not a very keen idea. Cloning may also have effects on society. Due to expenses it will only be available to rich- probably mainly white- individuals, which could define the society class cloned individuals would fall under. Many people, who are thoroughly opposed to cloning now, could play a major role in the future if human clones really were created. Discrimination could have hurtful effects on cloned individuals.

Through cloning a “perfect” human could be manufactured, or at least it is commonly believed. The special traits of a favored athlete or genius could purposely be reincarnated. However, a person wasn’t born with talent, he or she had to build and wield it. Everyone is his or her own unique person. According to many studies the environment shapes a person more than genes. The experience a person has- frightful and happy times, the people someone meets and spends time with, the lifestyle that person is raised in- makes that person who they are. Even identical twins who are genetically the same are not the same person. Their character traits differ. Though they may have grown in the same environment, they both have had their share of personal experiences. A clone is not an exact replica to replace someone else. He or she is an individual with his or her own interests and personalities. Another person should not decide a clone’s character for him or her.

It is no doubt probable that the ideas of a replacement person will deny a clone of his or her individuality. He or she will be pressured to be just like who he or she was based upon. The clone loses the freedom to be himself or herself, the freedom everyone has and many have fought for. And how would the clone himself or herself feel about the matter? Would he or she like to be someone else? Someone utters it everyday, “I wish I were you” but does that person really mean it? Probably not. The clone will feel those pressures and effects of being based on someone else.

Cloning of humans is very possible in the future with advancing technology, however it should not occur. It may be unsafe for the clone and the future of the human race. It is crossing into God’s, and even nature’s, domain and the idea that a life can be replaced is an illogical and impossible feat. Ideas of “perfecting” humans will lead to more problems rather than the well accepted fantasy of ideal human copies. Science has shown through natural selection creatures evolve to survive, cloning is not necessary to do so. Currently cloning humans has not been completely forbidden in the United States, but it should be. Laws and enforcement need to be issued eliminating the possibilities of creating a human clone.