Similarly, Caplan (2003) examines the arguments against human cloning. It refers to the safety of human cloning while referring to the failed cloning of specific animals. Another aspect he refers to are the three reasons why human cloning would be problematic. All three problems take a toll on the clones' mental, emotional, and physical well-being. The first problem he refers to is that the clones would look exactly like an individual who lived before them. Cloned humans were often faced with people constantly staring at them while enduring comments about their appearance. Consequently, this would lead to psychological and emotional challenges. The second problem is the fact that cloned humans face “strange emotional relationships” (p. 380) because although the clone looks exactly like a deceased husband, wife, or child, new relational bonds can cause a feeling of betrayal in the person deceased. The third question is the fate of genes, because our genes control some diseases. As a result, the clones would eventually know whether a certain disease will kill them or not and this often causes psychological tension, as the clones will feel like they are a ticking time bomb (p. 381). Although the author rejects the idea of cloning a human being, he proposes that therapeutic cloning can be useful in creating cells and tissues that can save a human's life (p. 382). In general, reproductive cloning poses too many risks to a human's physical health. and psychological well-being. Looking at the health risks that Dolly the sheep experienced, it is safe to say that cloned humans will face serious complications throughout their lives. Mutation of genes poses a greater threat because these mutations or abnormalities may not be detected until after paper human cloning laws go into effect. NCSL. Retrieved from: http://www.ncsl.org/research/health/human-cloning-laws.aspx.National Human Genome Research Institute. (2014). Cloning. National Institute of Health. Retrieved from: http://www.genome.gov/25020028.Nippert, I. (2002). The pros and cons of human therapeutic cloning in the public debate. Journal of Biotechnology, 98(1), 53-60. DOI: 10.1016/S0168-1656(02)00085-8.Nordgren, A. (2006). Analysis of an epigenetic argument against human reproductive cloning.Reproductive Biomedicine Online (Reproductive Healthcare Limited), 13(2), 278-283.Rhind, SM, Taylor, JE, De Sousa, PA, King, TJ, McGarry, M. , & Wilmut, I. (2003).Human cloning: can it be made safe?. Nature Reviews Genetics, 4(11), 855-864. doi:10.1038/nrg1205.Vogel, G. (2003). Claim of human cloning pushes government to support total ban. Science,299(5606), 489.
tags