Is cloning ethical?

[BubbaGump04]

I just read the synopsis of Robert DeNiro's new movie coming out called Godsend. In the film a couple loses their 8 yr old son and want him cloned. This is only a movie, but cloning is a reality. Is cloning ethical/moral? Under what circumstances? What are your thoughts on this issue?

[Blood Angel]

Its about as ethical as slaughtering livestock on live national television, extremely slowly with a cheese grater.....

Playing "god" like this will open a pandoras box, that could never be closed again.

[Gazz]

Big WHAT IF here...

Remember the shroud of Turin'?

If it has the actual blood of Jesus on

it and we can extract his DNA and

someone clones him, what have we done?

I think cloning is wrong, but we have

to ask WHAT IF?

as humans we will always seek answers

to the many riddles of life, and like

it or not, cloning is then next step in

human evolution... In my opinion of

course!

Gazz

[Talon]

Cloning opens up an area of science we shouldn't touch. Not only for the fact that we don't want to turn into a 'Brave New World' where all babies are cloned to be absolutely perfect and the basic reproduction of our speices is removed from our society, but because it could even lead to a case were clones are treated as superior like that movie Gateway (or some such).

There is also the fact that we are individuals, and we should respect individually and not tamper with that which could downgrade the rights of formentioned individuals. I mean how important would life be if you can simply recreate that person. Plus how often do you recreate some, technically we could clones of some who died hundreds of years ago still running around. Population boom!

That said, I'm refering to a time far off when we have clones walking up and down the streets, not grown in test tubes for medical purposes. The later is completly different issue which lies in the hands of the scientific and governmental comunity.

There's also cloning other species, such as to reintroduce a species we caused to go extinct, or which numbers are depleted. I'm completely in favour of that, as long as its species WE are affecting/affected.

[Talon]

cloning is then next step in human evolution

Evolution is the practice of nature to continue the species and adapt it to the changing world, increasing its chances of surivival. Cloning is a man-made issue of contining the current species again... and again will no natural selection or prossess of natue. Hardly therefore a step in evolution.

Life has existed on Earth for about 3 billion years, complex life forms such as ourselves have been reproducing the way we have (i.e. male + female = offspring) for about 1.5 billion years. Who are we to come around now and with technology we produced over the space of two generations say, this is going to be the new form of reproduction method of our species?

[KayEl]

The movie is "Gattica". Instead of cloning, it is about genetic engineering. You get "designer" children as a result...thus everybody is tall and beautiful, nobody is fat, npbody has inherited diseases, and nobody moaned about not being good looking enough....

Personally I think this solved half our problems!

As for cloning...go right ahead! Instead of banning it outright, find a way to do it right!

[sabretooth]

Big WHAT IF here...

Remember the shroud of Turin'?

If it has the actual blood of Jesus on

it and we can extract his DNA and

someone clones him, what have we done?

I think cloning is wrong, but we have

to ask WHAT IF?

as humans we will always seek answers

to the many riddles of life, and like

it or not, cloning is then next step in

human evolution... In my opinion of

course!

Gazz

cloning jesus ?? never happen theres no money in it for big companies or goverment scientists cause then every thing in the theory of evolution and the big bang would be wrong and they would look stupid

[Talon]

find a way to do it right!

And what classifies as right?

Say I'm a multibillion dollar terrorist organisation and I place funing into creating an army of clones.

Say I'm rich and I want to life forever, I simply clone me and pass on my wealth to him so he to can be cloned and pass on his wealth etc.

What if we, as a society of clones, decide that those with impurities such as heridary deceases or are born the natural are inferior?

If we start cloning one child which has died to cheat death (although the clone with NOT be the same person as the deceased, but simply a genetic copy) then we cannot forbid all parents who lost their child cloing it (can't have one rule for one set of people, and one for others), so what stops us starting to clone anyone who dies of anything but natural causes. Ah.... but that natural causes, most of us don't want to loss our parents to age, family to disease, so we'll clone them too. It sounds like a stupid arguement, but it isn't, cause we can't simply say that this it right to clone him but not him, or clone her but not him etc etc And when do we stop cloning an individual over and over again and understand death is the final path for all of us, we can't simply attempt to cheat death forever and we have to depart to make room for others.

When does it go from right to wrong?

God, even creating embryos for organs, although saves one life, will result in the death of a being which could become a huan. Simply, exchanging one life for another. Now I'm an athiest so I've not got any religious morals to tell me thats wrong, however I'm showing more concern for life than the religious people here preeching its okay. So much for that 'thou shalt not kill' thing you people are supost to follow.

[geeohn]

cloning is ethical. cloning lungs, hearts and whatever parts is good. at least people don't have to take alot of drugs for any foreign object transplants which most people have to do when they need a new heart or a lung.

what if they clone a whole human being, well the person would not be the same, because whoever clone a whole human being will get a different person. the real non-clone person who was born on a different time, date, year and was raised with real parents will be different compare to a cloned whole human being. a cloned whole human being (if someone clone an adult) would be just a zombie waiting to learn ABCs and watching cartoons for all i know. if they clone a child, it would be different again because the parents would considered that child a second child

Physically it is possbile to make a good copy but mentally you can never recreated or copy someone's mental process or personality.

cloning has been around like forever, people have been cloning plants.

[Gazz]

There is one area of cloning I think we

all should support.

Stem Cell Research, so far it has shown

amazing resusts, and you can create any

part of the human body in tissue form

from stem cells... and they wont be

rejected!

For example... you need a liver, and

through cloning of stem cells they can

grow new liver tissue for your body!

Don't knock a good thing until you know

for sure it is bad!

In lab tests they have already been

able to grow spinal tissue from stem

cells... so for those who are in wheel

chairs there could be a day through

cloning stem cells to create spinal

tissue they can return to a 100% normal

life!

Gazz

[Talon]

We are not debating stem cell research we are debating the cloning of a child to replace another.

[KayEl]

And what is classify as wrong?

Right now we have yet to clone anything that is viable. Even Dolly the sheep has tons of problems.

Instead of focusing on cloning humans, perhaps we can find ways to apply the technique to cloning organs.

Anyway it should be reminded that the cloned person is NOT the original, just a new being with the same genetic code and information. So you are super rich and clone yourself. Well, you are going to give your money away to somebody else who has your genetic information. But he's not you. So when you die, you are not going to enjoy your money, your clone will.

And I doubt anybody would clone their parents because clones started out as babies, not full grown beings like in the movies.l

[Talon]

Your missing the point, I'm not saying clones will be like the Vorta, where the memories of the previous body are implanted to create as close a being as possible to the original. Nor am I talking as if cloning is like 'The 6th day' were the conscious is transfered from one body to another so technically it is the same person. I am well aware it not the same person, simply a genetic copy, I have already stated such in my arguement. A hence repeating myself, why bother cloning someone who's died when your not getting that person back.

As for the rich thing, that was simply an example, but it still remains the closest to imortality we have, our genetic code lasting forever, when if up to nature it would have blending with another and then died out.

And I doubt anybody would clone their parents because clones started out as babies, not full grown beings like in the movies.l

Again, your missing the point. The 8-year old child will also start out as a baby again, yet the parents still want it. My point is when do we put up the restriction on who can be cloned and who can't.

I'm sorry for any couple who looses a child, but cloning it will not bring it back, it'll be a new entity which looks ike him, but isn't. Why not just have another child and not fool around with nature, a force over 15 billion years old which we can't begin to fathom.

[Dowdy]

would cloning for the purposes of scientific reasearch be ethical??

ie. clone a child and use him solely for the purpose of experimenting on. Genetically engineer him so he'll have no memory, feelings, emotions and he already has no soul. Think of it as a living robot and then use him to test viruses on, experimental cures etc.

Would that be ethical?

[Seraphina]

clone a child and use him solely for the purpose of experimenting on

Hell NO that wouldn't be ethical

I think one of the things everyone seems to be missing about the whole clone thing is that variation in nature exists for a reason If the species is going to go on and on recycling the same genetic structure, it's a biological time bomb waiting for some disease to wipe us out Cloning human beings, whether you consider it ethical or not, is scientific lunacy.

Now, cloning individual organs and so forth is a different thing altogether...in fact, I've got no problem with that. It's the sort of thing this kind of technology SHOULD be used for, helping people with medical problems lead a normal life...not to create a new race of super beings, or to create human lab rats to test out medical expiriments on.

[Kismit]

Now, cloning individual organs and so forth is a different thing altogether...in fact, I've got no problem with that. It's the sort of thing this kind of technology SHOULD be used for, helping people with medical problems lead a normal life.

Well said Seraphina

Right now we have yet to clone anything that is viable. Even Dolly the sheep has tons of problems.

I don't mean to upset you but Dolly's dead ...

[Benjo Koolzooie]

I didn't know Dolly was dead. Then again, not something I check on everyday.

I agree with Seraphina's statements.

[Fluffybunny]

Now, cloning individual organs and so forth is a different thing altogether...in fact, I've got no problem with that.

I agree with you 100% Seraphina...

[Talon]

cloning jesus ?? never happen theres no money in it for big companies or goverment scientists cause then every thing in the theory of evolution and the big bang would be wrong and they would look stupid 

Er, and how can you even prove that Jesus existed in the first place to be cloned?

Anyway, most scientists do not deny that Jesus existed, just that he was simply a normal man who preached a creation story that made him imortalized in public memory... just like Tolkien's LotR is popular... just people don't take it for truth like they do the bible. If you could find Jesus' DNA and clone him it would in no way disprove evolution or the big bang, hell if we cloned him and found out that the baby had no special powers it may even aid in discrediting Christianity.

[geeohn]

dolly was cloned from another sheep(an adult one), so technically dolly was really an old sheep, most likely the same age when the real sheep had it's DNA taken.

[shirini]

My mom almost died of renal failure in 2002, you have no idea how offended I get when I read stuff like” is cloning ethical?”

The only I have to say is when was lat time you watch someone die? Over the 4 years my mother was on dyalies, 7 people in front of her while they were all the machines. I only witness one. At least 10 people died from her clinic after they received a kidney from cadavers. The time one has to wait of the list for organ donations is 3- 5 years. And of course after the transplant, you have to meds for the rest of your life .

its euthanasia is unethical, then cloning is ethical.

[LittleIrishVampiress]

seraphina is right, (surprise, surprise! ) imagine a world with nearly half the population, and growing, "perfect" and all with similar genetic structure!

come on now, do you really want "perfect" clones walking around! the idea is horrifying and revolting! just imagine it! urrrgh!!!

they would not, would NOT be human! they'd be clones! CLONES PEOPLE! CLONES!

the loss of a child does not, DOES NOT justify something so ungodly as human cloning. of coarse its ok to clone organs, but not a whole freakin person!!!

where would this persons soul come from, would they have proper souls? would they have a humans conscience? would they like the idea of not being ''a real boy''?!

i know i would'nt be too happy!!!

[crosswarrior]

I do noty believe that cloniong itself is wrong; but I do see it as a very dangerous portal to our creating of things that were never ment to exist. But as for the practise of cloning for body parts... That is simply murder, and whoever came up with that idea ought to be shot! It is absolutly barbaric that we would even conceive such a notion.

[BubbaGump04]

In the movie (Godsend) where the parents want their dead 8 year old son cloned, they do have him cloned but he turns out to be a completely different person. He was physically the same, yes, but he was a totally different personality. That's what I would figure would happen if you cloned someone.

[Fluffybunny]

I do noty believe that cloniong itself is wrong; but I do see it as a very dangerous portal to our creating of things that were never ment to exist. But as for the practise of cloning for body parts... That is simply murder, and whoever came up with that idea ought to be shot! It is absolutly barbaric that we would even conceive such a notion.

I think that when people speak of cloning for body parts, they don't mean that a whole person is created and the part is taken out and the person is killed, rather a particular organ is created by itself....

No clones were harmed in the making of this kidney...