Cloning

1
Cloning
2
Introduction

• Cloning has the potential to create sentient and
  non-sentient life.
• Mammalian cloning has been achieved through a
  nuclear transfer process as well as cell
  splitting.
• Agricultural cloning is widely used in crops.
• The cloning of mammalian life from adult cells
  using nuclear transfer leads to a host of ethical
  issues about the use of this technology.

3
How does cloning work?

• http//www.synapses.co.uk/science/clone.html
• http//www.roslin.ac.uk/
• http//www.howstuffworks.com/cloning.htm
• http//www.time.com/time/newsfiles/cloning/

4
Professional Issues?

• Mammalian cloning, although possible, involves
  high degrees of risks to both donor and
  recipient.
• Spontaneous abortion, fetal size, etc.
• The long range problems are as yet unknown.
• Aging, etc.
• Research into Dolly has revealed that she may
  have telomeres on her chromosomes similar to
  those from the cell from which she was derived.
  The telomeres are small pieces of DNA that help
  to protect chromosomes from damage. Very young
  animals have long telomeres, but as the animal
  ages, the telomeres are worn away.

5
Legal/Policy Issues?

• 13 Euro States have banned Human Cloning.
• U.S. has not yet passed legislation banning human
  cloning. It is presently voluntary!
• States
• California and Rhode Island
• 5 year moratorium
• Michigan
• permanent ban
• Currently an International legal minefield.

6
Legal/Policy Issues? (contd.)

• http//www.georgetown.edu/research/nrcbl/nbac/pubs
  .html
• http//www.humancloning.org/legality.htm
• http//strategis.ic.gc.ca/SSG/bb00003e.html

7
Ethical Issues?

• Physical harm to embryos
• Dolly was 1 of 277, 276 perished!
• Eugenics
• Poor use of scarce resources
• Human right to a unique identity
• Treating People As Objects
• Freedom of Scientific Inquiry

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Ethical Issues?

• http//www.bioethics.gov/topics/cloning_index.html
  
• http//www.cs.virginia.edu/jones/tmp352/projects9
  8/group1/home.html
• (Excellent student project.)
• http//www.ornl.gov/TechResources/Human_Genome/els
  i/elsi.html

9
Stakeholders?

• Individual being cloned
• Mother carrying fetus
• Spontaneously aborted fetuses
• Potential offspring
• Society

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Possible actions?

• Ban all cloning
• Ban human cloning
• Allow animal cloning for scientific research
• Allow human cloning on a limited basis

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Consequences of banning all cloning

• The greatest happiness is achieved by
  understanding the consequences of cloning.
• ? Cloning should be allowed on a limited and
  controlled basis in order to determine its
  effects.

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Consequences of banning human cloning

• The greatest happiness is achieved by the least
  trauma to society.
• Animal cloning demonstrates the dangers.
• Human cloning may be fraught with dangers.
• ? Human cloning should be banned.

13
Consequences of allowing animal cloning for
scientific research

• Sufficient scientific research can be gained by
  research into animals.
• Sufficient scientific knowledge is not yet
  available to know the consequences of going
  beyond limited experimentation.
• ? Animal cloning should be permitted on a
  restricted basis.
• This is consistent with educational and
  scientific freedom of research ideals.

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Consequences of human cloning on a limited basis

• The greatest happiness is achieved by the least
  trauma to society.
• Animal cloning has demonstrated sufficient
  concern that human cloning may be fraught with
  dangers.
• ? Human cloning should be banned.

15
Individual Rights/Fairness

• Some religions and cultures consider the fetus to
  have human rights, therefore, the rights of the
  spontaneously aborted fetus is in violation of
  this right.
• The cost of this procedure is prohibitive. Funds
  could be better used for other medical research.
• The medical moral standard of do no harm is
  called into question.

16
Common Good

• Animal cloning may lead to new findings that will
  benefit humankind.
• Human cloning may eventually lead to better
  quality of life.

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Final Decision?

• Human cloning should be banned.
• Animal cloning should be allowed under restricted
  circumstances.