HUMAN CLONNING “and the lord god formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed

in to his
nostrils the breath of life; and ma became a living soul. The lord god then took one of his ribs and closed
up his flesh instead thereof: and with the rib from which lord god had taken from man he created
woman.” Is cloning necessary for advancements in improving the quality of life? People often question
whether or not we as a scientific nation are trying to play the role of god by the diverse issue of human
cloning. Early in 1997 Scottish scientist Ian Wilmot revealed to the world that he had successfully cloned
an adult sheep, known to the world as Dolly. With this invention the world made a collective gasp at the
realization that cloning was no longer an element of a science fiction movie. Since then the cloning of
human beings has been one of the most largely debated topics in the world. From the schoolhouse to
the White House discussions have begun regarding the ethical implication of cloning. In several recent
polls by Time magazine (The Ethics of Human Cloning 1998) it was shown that 75% of the responding
population thought that human cloning was a bad idea. Furthermore, 74% of the respondents believed
that cloning was against gods’ will, and when asked if they would clone themselves if presented with an
opportunity, 91% responded with no. However when asked to define human cloning an estimated 95%
could not do it correctly. Opponents of human cloning often argue that it is immoral unethical to clone
human beings for both religious and humanitarian reasons. Moreover others describe human cloning as
a luxury for the wealthy and as a tool for the Organ Market Development. Conversely, I feel that cloning
is immoral and a bad idea for the following reasons. First of all cloning may reduce genetic variability.
Producing many clones runs the risk of creating a population that is entirely the same. This population
would be susceptible to the same disease. That means that one disease could devastate an entire
population. One could easily picture the human race being wiped out by a single virus. However, less
drastic but more profitable events could occur from lack of genetic diversity. For example, if a large
percent of the nation cattle population are clones, a particular strain of mad cow disease could affect
the entire population. The result could be catastrophic food shortages. If human identical clones are
made and disease strikes, what could we do to stop it from devastating our entire population? How
many people would have to suffer and die for the sake of technology? Second, cloning is currently a very
expensive process. It requires large amount of money and biological expertise. It took Ian Wilmot and
his associates 277 tries to successfully create Dolly. Since then a new cloning technique has been
created that is proven to be more reliable. Although, even this technique has a 2% to 3% success rate.
How much money would the United States be willing to spend on this project? Money that could
otherwise be spent on things such as social security, Medicare, defense, roads, education, and towards
our environment, any research would eventually need to be tested on human beings. The ability to
clone humans may lead to the genetic tailoring offspring. It is conceivable that a scientist will be able to
determine a baby’s eye and hair color. In most cases even the baby’s gender, or its’ resistance to a
certain disease. Last but not Least, let be known that a clone is not an exact replica of another, it is
simply a delayed identical twin. As with an identical twin the clone would have a different set of
fingerprints. Scientists are concerned with the medical risks and uncertainty associated with the cloning
of humans. Because clones are derived from an already existing adult cell, it has older genes. One fear is
that if a baby is cloned, its chromosomes would match that of the donors. Meaning that a 5-year-old
would look like a 10-year-old and a 10-year-old would look like a 20-year-old, with potential for heart
disease and cancer to develop. Will the clones’ life expectancy be shorter? Don’t ask me, I don’t know.
Yet, neither does the scientists that pushing to create them. Of all the things that cloning might be used
for, it could be used to create a genetic underclass that could be used as slaves in the years to come, or
on more positive note it could be used to create humans with sub normal intelligence and above normal
strength that could someday rule the world. A person cannot change what has happened in the past.
Although they can influence what will happen in the future. If the United States government would
decide to legalize cloning the results on our nation could be catastrophic to the future generations of
America. As I previously mentioned, 91% of the responding population in Time magazine responding no
to cloning themselves. Now for my pole, would you?