For centuries, humans have genetically modified everything from food to dogs, using a process called selective breeding. This process takes the best of what you have and makes more of it, or mixes the best of one with the best of another to see what happens. While this process is relatively refined, it is still subject to trial and error. Today's cloning technology allows scientists to identify the genetic quality they wish to reproduce and insert it directly into a plant or animal, effectively eliminating the trial-and-error phase of selective breeding. Regulating cloning, or worse, banning it altogether, would significantly limit scientific progress. Potential benefits for society range from increasing crop viability to curing genetic diseases. If cloning were banned entirely, the scientific community, with these discoveries in its sights, would be forced to take its experiments underground to avoid political repercussions. The opposition insists on the regulation of cloning and suggests a permanent ban, arguing that cloning in any way is unethical. Some argue that scientists cannot be ethically trusted to know when experiments should end, so the scientific community would not be able to regulate itself effectively. There still needs to be an organization, that everyone agrees on, to enforce regulations for the scientific community regarding this issue. Another fear of the opposition is that public funding and/or private sector funding would determine which research would go forward based on its profitability factor, putting society's wants and needs secondary to monetary gain... at paper center...as currently known to man. The scientific community has brought us this far, modern technology has already done wonders for society as a whole. We have no reason to believe that they cannot or will not live up to our expectations regarding this cloning issue. Works Cited “Plant Cloning.” News from the agricultural sector. February 15, 1999. May 20, 2003. “Human Cloning and Human Dignity: An Ethical Investigation.” Presidential Council on Bioethics, Washington, DC, July 2002. May 19, 2003. "Stem Cell Research: Medical Progress with Accountability." Chief Medical Officer's Panel on Therapeutic Cloning, Department of Health. August 16, 2000. May 10 2003.