Preview

Critical Thinking Cloning

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1058 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Critical Thinking Cloning
The issue is whether or not society should support cloning. I do not agree with cloning based on the premises the author presents in the paragraph. First, I do not agree with the premise that cloning produces 100% (genetically) identical human beings nor do I agree with the hidden premise that people have autonomy over their clones. Did you know 277 eggs were used to make Dolly? I will explain the relevancy of this question and how it supports my argument in the paragraphs to come.

Cloning does not produce 100% identical human beings. The theory behind this is that the biological blueprint of the genes is the same in cloned humans as it is in normal ones, but they are read and expressed incorrectly. Researchers have found several abnormalities in cloned organisms. The cloned organism may be born normal and resemble its non-cloned counterpart, but majority of the time will express changes in its genome later on in life (Jaenisch, 2001). The concern with cloning humans is that the changes in genomes may not only result in changes in appearance, but in psychological and personality changes as well. This is an example of an inductive argument, because if it happens with one test subject, it would happen with all clones.

I would inductively argue that unknown and undetermined pathologies are likely to emerge with cloning. Cloning Dolly the sheep had a low success rate per fertilized egg. She was born after 277 eggs were used to create 29 embryos, which only produced three lambs at birth, only one of which lived. Seventy calves have been created and one third of them died young. There were early claims that Dolly the Sheep had pathologies resembling accelerated aging. Scientists speculated that Dolly's death in 2003 was related to the shortening of telomeres, DNA-protein complexes that protect the end of linear chromosomes. The opposing side of the coin would counter that Dolly's early death due to respiratory infection was unrelated to deficiencies

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    Kass mentions his four different objections of why cloning should not be performed and the reason they should completely stop researching and experimenting. On the first premises he mentions that it’s an unethical experimentation on the unborn. His reason behind this statement is that it is unethical and too risky to perform such experiment on the unborn child. Mr. Kass mentions that less than 2-3% of cloning attempts succeeded. Moreover, many of the cloned animals that did survive were born with deformities like cows with heart and lung problems and animals not reaching their normal developmental milestone. It is without much doubt that cloning humans would begin on a trial in error. A scientist discovered that a nucleus of an unaltered egg is formed and arranged through months or years as in an altered egg it must reprogram within minutes or hours. Thus, this is why there is a high chance of developmental defects. Mr. Leon E. Kass doesn’t believe in this type of research and believes strictly that cloning should not be permitted because of its unethical experimentation to the unborn child. His second premises, he makes it clear that it threatens identity and Individuality. The reasons behind this statement are that clones, as he mentions, would experience concerns about their own self and appearance; being identical to another person whose genotype is the same. Moreover, He mentions about issues with mixing parents with twin relation and the issues of having too…

    • 1985 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    One of the main issues that cloning brings about is whether or not people will take advantage of this new technology. For instance, Lewis Thomas wonders if “the rich and powerful but socially objectionable” or the “governments of dumb, docile masses” will misuse the technology. These seemingly important people may be able to give themselves a “version of immortality”. Just because the ability to clone exists does not mean that valuable people should be able to multiply themselves. No one on Earth is exactly the same for a reason, and it should stay that way. If there were to be several hundred Paris Hiltons or Kim Kardashians walking around, the world would be a pretty terrifying place. People should remain unique, separate from the “precise sameness” that Thomas…

    • 686 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Leon Kass’s provides a compelling article on why the world should ban cloning. Kass’ article, “Preventing a Brave New World”, provides Kass’ theories of if society progresses on its current path, society would start to turn to cloning as an alternative to typical reproduction. Cloning offers a way to design an offspring rather than the typical experience of child raising. Kass believes if cloning is not banned, society will be more dependent upon technology and be at technologies whim.…

    • 944 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Macklin, R., “Why We Should Regulate—But Not Ban—the Cloning of Human Beings,” Testimony presented to the National Bioethics Advisory Commission, March 14, 1997. Macklin, R., "Splitting embryos on the slippery slope: Ethics and public policy," Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal 4: 209-226, 1994. Mill, J.S., On Liberty (Indianapolis, IN: Bobbs-Merrill Publishing, 1859). National Institutes of Health, Report of the Human Embryo Research Panel (Bethesda, MD: National Institutes of Health, 1994). Nussbaum, M.C., “Aristotelian social democracy,” inLiberalism and the Good 203, R. Bruce Douglass, et al., (eds.), pp. 217-226, 1990. Parfit, D., Reasons and Persons (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1984). Posner, R, Sex and Reason (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1992). Radin, M., “Reflections on Objectification,”65 Southern California Law Review 341 (November 1991). Radin, M., “The Colin Ruagh Thomas O 'Fallon Memorial Lecture on Personhood,” 74 Oregon Law Review 423 (Summer 1995). Rhodes, R. "Clones, harms, and rights,"Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 4:285-290, 1995. Robertson, J.A., "A Ban on Cloning and Cloning Research is Unjustified," Testimony Presented to the National Bioethics Advisory Commission, March 14, 1997. Robertson, J.A., "The question of human cloning,"Hastings Center Report 24:6-14, 1994. Robertson, “The scientist’s right to research: A constitutional analysis,51 Southern California Law Review 1203, 1977. Rothenberg, K., Testimony before the Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources, March 12, 1997. Schwartz, H., The Culture of Copy (New York: Zone Books, 1996).…

    • 11085 Words
    • 45 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    "Human Cloning? Don't Just Say No," written by Ruth Macklin, a professor of Bioethics, discusses the negative responses people have regarding human cloning. As the title says: "Human Cloning? Don't Just Say No," Macklin believes that cloning deserves a chance to be developed in humans. Though there may not be any substantial benefits to human cloning, nobody has presented a persuasive case that cloning is harmful either.…

    • 532 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    On Cloning a Human Being

    • 532 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The main topic can be a topic of controversy; before and after reading the passage, my stance on human cloning stays the same. I still believe that it is not right and not necessary, and that people should focus on more relevant issues in todays world. Cloning wont feed the poor, get people jobs, help the economy, or cure AIDS. People should learn what to focus on and invest more time and money in issues with potential benefits to society, not something like cloning. Lewis Thomas seems to take a similar stance in his work.…

    • 532 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Reproductive cloning on the other hand won’t be good as well. In the article's reproductive cloning arguments pro and con it is mentioned that “Reproductive cloning would diminish the uniqueness of an individual.” Reproducing a child is the most beautiful moment you can experience. Mostly because your partner (that you love) and you have created a human being that won’t look similar to any other person. Cloning yourself to have a “child” will ruin the perspective of bearing or raising an actual kid. Having a clone as your “child” wouldn’t be a great idea. Hhaving a kid is a major difference than having a kid that looks exactly like you in every way. Those who can’t bear children because of multiple reasons have the opportunity to adopt a child. Why want more when you can get a kid without going through so much…

    • 801 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    The concept of reproductive cloning has many opponents. Opposition comes from governments, religious organizations, citizen advocacy groups and many private individuals. Almost everyone has an opinion regarding cloning. Entire nations have banned reproductive cloning because of the potential for widespread abuse by unscrupulous parties. Many people feel that cloned individuals could be at risk for abuse even through forced servitude. Conceivably, this could even take the form of cloned individuals being trained as ruthless killing machines. Another aspect of reproductive cloning that is equally frightening to some may be the genetic alteration of babies that could cause an imbalance in the natural process. Cloning and all of its research are widely controversial. Many, if not all, social systems are affected. Controversy even surrounds determining what is and what is not…

    • 1913 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    Satire On Cloning

    • 586 Words
    • 3 Pages

    For many years, scientists have been experimenting in the field of cloning. Cloning uses an egg cell and a somatic cell to make a duplicate copy of the organism. It is currently a highly controversial topic in the scientific world. Many people can benefit from cloning. From farmers to patients, not only does cloning help scientists discover more about genetics, it will also help a lot of people. However, there are also ethical issues with cloning, such as the use of embryonic stem cells and cross-species hybrids. For instance, at the Salk institute, a human-pig embryo was recently made and destroyed. The purpose of the experiment was to see if human organs could be grown inside a pig. The authors believe that we are still far off from accomplishing cloning of human organs in animals. I believe that cloning will help this world, but there needs to be restrictions on human cloning and cross-breeding.…

    • 586 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “ It lays the technical groundwork for cloning-to-produce-children, which raises a host of ethical concerns. It could lead to fetal farming--growing cloned embryos to a later stage so that their valuable organs can be harvested for research or transplantation.” (Stark) This quote shows that clones can be created for their organs which could also help people. “Boisselier said the public needs to know "there is a huge demand" for cloning technology from couples unable to have children.” (Spar) This quote shows that people can use clones as their children if they are unable to have children. As you can see, The evidence shows that cloning would be a big help for…

    • 638 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Research Outline

    • 1598 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Evidence: “ With the advancement and expansion of technology science has been able to achieve new wonders. These improvements and discoveries in science have allowed the human race to explore and learn more about the world. One such phenomenon is cloning. Cloning has opened the doors to explore human beings in a way that was once never possible. With cloning the human body, as well as other organisms, will be studied. Cloning and genetic engineering will both come into play to improve scientific knowledge.” (Serendip, 1)Citation: ( Serendip, Cloning right or wrong)Evidence: Many people believe human cloning should be banned prior to human defects, health problems, not proper treatment, and many other things. Human cloning Has not been exactly successful, and most of the time it has failed. However, scientist are trying to figure things out and fix itCitation: ( Serendip, Cloning right or wrong)…

    • 1598 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Therapeutic Cloning

    • 630 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The third argument against therapeutic cloning is that it is not safe. There is a possibility of transferring diseases and other malformations to human. Dolly the sheep was the first animal that was ever clone, Dolly die at a young age. Scientist discovered that the problem of the premature death of Dolly was due…

    • 630 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Early in 1997 Dr. Ian Wilmont a Scottish scientist revealed to the world that he had completed a clone of an adult sheep named Dolly. With this huge step in science the world realized that cloning was no longer the plot of a science fiction movie but rather a realistic look into the future of science and medicine. Have you ever imagined what life would be like if we could eliminate human problems and diseases such as AIDs, cancer and human organ shortages? This is the question that arises when the subject of cloning is brought up and I believe that cloning is the next generation of medicine and can be beneficial to humanity for years to come.…

    • 608 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Thesis: “Those who support human cloning make several claims of fact, value and policy to argue their case for human cloning.”…

    • 605 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Should Cloning Be Banned

    • 604 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The subject of human cloning is a very controversial topic. The cloning of Dolly the sheep in 1997 by scientist Ian Wilmut generated a very unexpected reaction around the world. However these reactions were not all positive. Cloning refers to the development of offspring that are identical to their parents genetically. While it is referred to as an unnatural process, it can occur quite often in nature. Identical twins, for example, are clones. However, human cloning is very new and very complex. In this essay I will examine both sides of the argument into the banning of cloning starting with reasons why cloning should not be banned.…

    • 604 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics