Michelle ThompsonDr. Natalie RosenbergEnglish III Honors5 March 2014Therapeutic cloningWhat is immoral about saving human lives? Therapeutic cloning represents a realistic opportunity for patients suffering from numerous diseases. Murnaghan says, “The process of therapeutic cloning is simple: a scientist extracts the nucleus (which contains genetic material) and then extracts the nucleus of a somatic cell (any cell in the body except sperm and eggs). Next, the somatic cell nucleus is inserted into the egg [of a donor female]. The egg now contains the patient's DNA. The egg is simulated to divide shortly thereafter and form a cluster of cells known as a blastocyst. The cells at the center of the blastocyst are isolated and used to create living stem cells which are infused into the patient where they are ideally integrated into the tissues giving structure and function as needed. “Therapeutic cloning is a relatively safe procedure. One reason therapeutic cloning is safe is because cells can be safely removed from embryos or adults. In some cases cloning does not require a human embryo; cells can sometimes be removed from a living adult. Therapeutic cloning can be performed with cells that can be safely removed from adults or adolescents (Marzilli, page 19). Sometimes embryos must be destroyed in this process, but the benefits of disease treatment outweigh the cons (Murnaghan). Therapeutic cloning is also safe because the organs created come from the patient's own DNA; and there is a lower risk of rejection by the body (Murnaghan). When a new organ is transplanted into the human body, it is necessary to take heavy medications so that the body does not reject the donated tissue; this drug does not guarantee that the organ will not be rejected. “……half of the paper……would be the same as patients and there would be less likely rejection after a transplant. Therapeutic cloning has the potential to cure “many neurological, cardiovascular and hematological diseases” (Ballaro). By using stem cells to create different tissues, more organs could be used for transplants. If committed scientists continued the research, incomprehensible progress could be made in this field and many lives could be saved by this process. In just 56 years, the human species went from building the first successful airplane to landing on the moon; everything can be achieved through knowledge. If this determination were applied to the knowledge of cloning, millions of lives around the world would be saved from horrible diseases. In the future, therapeutic cloning may become a treatment used by many, and why should a human being be denied a therapeutic option??