Human Cloning: Science or Bad Science Fiction?

Human cloning and its many possibilities have always been seen as a part of the world's future and have been popularized and examined through many novels of negative utopias, including Aldous Huxley's infamous Brave New World. To better understand the complicated issues that surround cloning, one should understand what human cloning actually is. Essentially, the process of human cloning, which is to create a human that is the identical genetic copy of another, focuses on somatic cell nucleus transfer in which the nucleus of one cell in placed into another enucleated cell (a cell which has been stripped of its nucleus). Ever since the notion of cloning has existed, it has been the subject of much debate about whether it is an ingenious scientific breakthrough or a ludicrous idea that can only create mayhem in our world. Criticism of human cloning ranges from the extent of its unnatural actions to its ethical legitimacy. Condemning it could cause human cloning, which has amazing potential, to not be able to achieve the apex of its abilities. As of the moment, cloning is a form of science that must be fervently experimented with until it has done much good for the human race. Cloning is a reality in our modern world that should be advocated and explored as it has amazing potential which can benefit the human race a great deal.

Some of the most fervent criticism against human cloning comes from religious objections, including the belief that cloning is unnatural and against God's will. Cloning is considered unnatural by many people who believe that it separates reproduction from sexual activity. On the contrary, this can be seen as an advantage as married couples who cannot procreate by sexual activity for whatever reason are able to have children that are truly theirs. Life's most primitive goal is to reproduce and all cloning does is offer another method of reproduction. Reproduction by cloning and not by traditional sexual activity should not be focus of condemnation in any way as in our world birth control has allowed sex to be independent of reproduction, which is undeniably a greater immoral issue than cloning. A second religious objection to cloning is the thought that cloning is "playing God." This topic seems to be one of the most repetitive arguments as it has been used to criticize not only cloning, but also organ transplants, birth control, and any other attempt by humans to regulate and alter their lives in ways not allowed by various religious customs. In a country which was built on religious freedom, why should religion even come to be a factor in the scientific advancements of the United States? If the decision on whether to continue developing and researching cloning came down to religion the decision should regard all religious thought equally. Why should a Roman Catholic belief that cloning is evil be given more value than a Muslim belief that no limits should be placed on research because knowledge is bestowed on us by God? Overall, all religious criticism on the issue of cloning should be thrown out as religious opinions are far too diverse as to decipher that "religion" and "God" are against human cloning.

Another knock against cloning is that it will be misused if certain individuals get hold of it. For many people, the concept of cloning brings about the thought of Eugenics, the selection of beneficial inherited characteristics, and Adolf Hitler's superior Aryan race. The problem with this is that all things have the potential to be misused. What if a terrorist got hold of an atomic bomb? All this criticism goes back to "What if" statements and cannot be justified as a guaranteed consequence of cloning. Even though it has the potential to be misused, the rewards of cloning far outweigh the risks. By cloning human organs, cloning can stop both liver and kidney failures. Cloning can also stop cancer by switching on and off certain cells in the human body and stop other illnesses such as cystic fibrosis, Down's syndrome, and Tay-Sachs Disease. Cloning is leading to breakthroughs with stem cells and can even reverse heart attacks. In the future, cloning may be able to reverse the aging process. In the end, the rewards of cloning far outweigh its possible risks.

One final argument against cloning is that it is immoral. This train of thought is usually connected with fictitious ideas of engineering humans and factories of spare human parts. Fantasies like this are common between critics of cloning, including President George Bush, who stated that "Our children are gifts to be loved and protected, not products to be designed and manufactured. Allowing cloning would be taking a significant step toward a society in which human beings are grown for spare body parts, and children are engineered to custom specifications; and that's not acceptable." Others, including the Vatican, claim that cloning is "grotesque" and should be stopped immediately. Undoubtedly, cloning can get out of hand but this can be prevented by passing laws limiting cloning from turning society into the fictitious one embedded in the minds of the critics. Clones could also be given civil rights. Although cloning may seem immoral and "wrong" now, it has the ability to further progress human growth in the right direction. The human race is built on altering nature and society, concepts which has brought man to its present point. The argument that scientific breakthroughs are immoral will result in man being stuck in its present situation, never advancing.

Overall, cloning is a bold new scientific discovery which needs much experimenting on in order to fully understand its abilities. However, cloning comes with much consequences and critique, including the thought that cloning is unethical, anti-religious, highly dangerous, and immoral. Although, some of this is true, the human race needs to take risks in order to advance as cloning has some amazing abilities. It can allow infertile couples to have their own children, cure cancer, stop aging, and much, much more. Cloning is a reality in our world and can aid the human race significantly. Give it the chance it deserves.