Is Cloning Ethical? Or Could it be Used to Solve Social Problems?

This group raised the question on whether or not it was ethical to clone. This subject has raised eyebrows for years and people usually lie to stay away from addressing the topic. The group gave advantages and disadvantages of the cloning process. If cloning were to be legalized worldwide it would increase diseases and it would be highly unethical and unnatural. There would be no diversity and a loss in genetic variation; we would all be the same. Lastly there is the case of having conflict between humans and clones. There is no way to tell how they will react and behave in society. They could easily rebel and put us all at risk. Some benefits to cloning would be creating people for donating organs and it would allow sterile families to have children. The group touched on the economic factor in cloning which would not benefit us in anyway; it would only cost the country money. Bill Clinton disallowed federal dollars from being spent of cloning research and the actual process. The long term effects of cloning are premature aging-people will die quicker-, world hunger, and the loss in genetic variation. Cloning is banned in 23 countries including the United States, France, and Europe.

1952: 1^st animal cloned (tadpole)

1983: 1^st mammal cloned (mouse)

1997: Dolly (lamb)

2003: human genome- 1^st step to human cloning

Erin White