Why cloning is wrong
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Why cloning is wrong
Below, we publish an edited version of the Singapore Catholic Medical GuildÂ’s explanation on why human cloning is wrong.
IN CLONING, the nucleus from a cell of an individual to be cloned is injected into a donor egg whose own nucleus has been removed. A “spark” is introduced to excite this new cell to divide, just like a fertilized egg would. At the blastocyst stage, that is, about the fourth day, the cloned embryo will be implanted in the surrogate mother in the case of “reproductive cloning” or the stem cells from this four day old embryo will be extracted for culture in the case of “cloning for research” and the embryo is destroyed in the process.
Scientists who pursue cloning for research (also called “therapeutic cloning”, a misnomer as embryos are killed instead of being treated) hope to develop tissues that can be used to treat diseases like Parkinson’s Disease and diabetes.
In Singapore, reproductive cloning is banned because the Bioethics Advisory Committee (BAC) set up by the government in 2000 says it “goes against the moral idea that holds that a human being is not to be treated as a means to an end, but only as an end.”
However, the BAC also says that cloning embryos for research could be permitted if there is “strong scientific merit in, and potential medical benefit from, such research, no acceptable alternative exists, and on a highly selective, case by case basis.” The main purpose is to obtain stem cells from the cloned embryos for research into possible treatment of diseases.
It is hard to see the logic of the BAC statements since cloning for research requires that the human being in his early embryonic stage be used (experimented on and killed) as a means to an end (scientific progess).
Cloning drawbacks
• Cancer is a common problem associated with stem cells derived from embryos.
• The chromosomes in a clone are actually “old” chromosomes, not “young” as in a naturally fertilised egg. The clone is “older” than what it should be and this leads to early disease and premature death as shown in the case of Dolly the sheep.
• There is a high wastage of embryos cloned. Only about 2% of cloned embryos make it to term. Many animal clones die during pregnancy and many show abnormalities such as enlarged heads, short limbs and enlarged torsos.
The Church on cloning
The Church teaches that every human being has the right to come into existence through the loving and life-giving union between his father and mother in the conjugal act proper to marriage.Human cloning is a deviation from GodÂ’s design for creating new life.
The Pontifical Academy of Science, in its “Reflections on Cloning” released in 1998, explained why cloning of humans was morally wrong:
• Women are radically exploited and reduced to a few of their purely biological functions (providing eggs and womb), and their bodies are regarded as mere research tools.
• Cloning fosters the idea that some individuals can have total dominion over the existence of others, to the point of programming their biological identity - selected according to arbitrary or purely utilitarian criteria. There will be a growing conviction that the value of man and woman does not depend on their personal identity but only on those biological qualities that can be appraised and therefore selected.
• It degrades the dignity of the cloned person; he enters the world by being the “copy” of another person.
The Church has always taught that all human life from conception must be respected and protected. If human embryos are killed to obtain a certain type of cell, such action is morally wrong no matter what good might be derived.
“God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning to its end: No one can under any circumstance claim for himself the right directly to destroy an innocent human being.”
The alternative
Adult stem cell research is viable and ethical since it does not involve the killing of any human being.
Adult stem cells from bone marrow, umbilical cord, placenta, and even brain and skin cells can be used in research and treatment. They have been successfully used to treat some forms of heart disease, thalassemia and leukemia. -
Are u justified in taking life to save life?
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Imagine a day u wake up and found ten other people who look the same like u and behave the same way as u do...
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then agent smith wakes up every morning to find thousands of himself!!
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Me... me... me...
Me too...
The best thing about being me... is that there are so many mes! -
unlike common belief, clones do not look identical, nor do they think the same way. you may have the same genes, but you are still 2 seperate individuals.Originally posted by Dj_Shadow:Imagine a day u wake up and found ten other people who look the same like u and behave the same way as u do... -
science will progress no matter what stance the world takes.
you can either regulate it, or drive it underground. -
True , surgery was underground in medieval times. Horribly crude though (no sanitationOriginally posted by nismoS132:science will progress no matter what stance the world takes.
you can either regulate it, or drive it underground. ) , who watched the documentary on body snatchers? -
About the last point from the church. I dun think even God has the right to destroy lives even if its its creation, well if a God does exsit that is.
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an embryo has as much as life as moss growing on stale bread.
the church is always too eager to take a stand on moral high grounds without proper rationalisation. -
i dunno nismo.. could it be your own prejudice against religions allow you to equate your life and sentience with the life of moss?