Human cloning is “the production of individuals, entities or
populations, identical or nearly identical to the parent or original
organism, from which they were obtained or derived” (Nasrullah et al,
2020)
There are many ethical issues involved in genetic cloning.
The main ethical concern in reproductive cloning is the human desire
to control the genetic characteristics of one’s offspring. The outcome
would be to create children of a certain kind. This can be compared
to other forms of genetic engineering. By Reproductive Cloning, one
can seek to choose the traits of their children, their sex, eye color,
and maybe even their special abilities if technology continues to
evolve. It is unethical to create human beings with certain traits using
technology. Human cloning and bioengineering can also result in
nurturing certain human tendencies that are already prevalent in
certain cultures and countries, eg, in countries like India where boys
outnumber girls and certain cultural groups there prefer girls over
boys. So, it is only imaginable what human cloning or bioengineering
can do to continue certain trends that exist in certain cultures. There
are also ethical issues and moral arguments against cloning for stem
cell research to cure diseases. If the six-day, pre-implantation is
morally equivalent to a person, then it could be argued that it is
wrong to extract stem cells from it, even if it is for curing diseases
which could mean all cloning and all embryonic stem cells research
should be banned. So, it all comes to what moral status is attributed
to the embryo(Sandel, 2016).
People, Scientists, and religious groups all hold different views and
values when it comes to the sanctity of life. Many Individuals and
theological groups consider the human embryo as an individual or a
person that has rights and should be treated with respect from the
1st day of the human embryo (Nasrullah et al, 2020).
There are a lot of risks involved in the growth and survival of the
clones and most of the embryos are lost before they reach their birth
stage, and the clones may have certain abnormalities as well. “The
percentage of cloned organisms to reach the period of adulthood is
very low at 0.3% for cows and <1% for sheep” (Nasrullah et al, 2020).
When life is a gift from God, the desire to create superior human
beings by bioengineering is unethical.
References
Nasrullah, Iqbal, R., BiBi, S., Muneer, S., BiBi, S., & Anwar, F. (2020).
Ethical issues of human cloning. Journal of Medical Sciences, 40(3),
103. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A625112887/AONE?
u=nhc_main&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=84620b60
Sandel, M.J. (2005). The Ethical Implications of Human
Cloning. Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 48(2), 241-
247. doi:10.1353/pbm.2005.0063
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