Since March 1997, the birth of a cloned sheep, named Dolly, has
caused a great sensation around the world. Though it was not the first
time that the experiment using cloning succeeded, the reason why Dolly
shocked the world was that she was the first clone from a cell of
an adult mammal, something previously thought to be impossible. This
meant that the possibility of cloning human beings was increased.
For fear of realizing human cloning, a lot of countries have taken
necessary measures to regulate the study of it. Some people, such
as scientists in this field and certain infertile couples, are now
arguing against banning it. But I think we should ban human cloning
because it has a possibility to reduce the value of our life, to take
away individuality in our society, and to destroy the moral and social
systems human have long cultivated.
Richard Seed, a physicist who supports human cloning, said in a
radio interview that he would open a clinic of human cloning for
infertile people and make a big profit (Hotwired Japan). If human
cloning is allowed, there would be so many people such as Seed,
who use cloning technology to make money. The business operating
the technology looks so profitable because according to a report,
there could be 100,000 or so women in the U.S. who would like a
similar chance to use cloning to have their own babies (Watson).
Probably, they do not care how much money they pay to have their
own blood-related babies. To allow human cloning creates a world
where we could get life with money. Buying life reduce the value
of it because we cannot respect things which we can get easily.
It could lead to the increase of murder. And it would be possible
that someday at a department store we can buy life that is labeled,
"ON SALE!"
There are many people in the world who do anything for the sake
of money. As a result, cloning technology is in danger of being
abused. First, I think I should explain how to clone humans. In
the simplest language, cloning is the process in which the DNA from
some cell of a body is put by electrical shock into a female egg
cell whose DNA has been removed. Then the egg cell is implanted
into a womb, and after that it grows as same as a natural baby does.
The problem is that there is absolutely no reason why the egg cell
need be implanted into the same woman who offers DNA. Hence it might
be connected with abuses, such as a black market of egg cells or
a black company offering surrogate mothers. Watson pointed out that
because many women suffer from anatomical complications which prohibit
successful childbearing, they might try to find a suitable surrogate
mother. And he also insists that women who just do not like the
discomforts of pregnancy might use cloning technology. In this point,
human cloning is no longer developed for only infertile people but
also for lazy women.
As I explained in the previous paragraph, cloning needs the DNA
of only one person. Dr. Ian Wilmut in Roslin Institute, where Dolly
was produced, claims that we should use the word, "copying,"
for reproduction of a human instead of "cloning" (Otsuka
1). He has investigated cloning technology in order to produce milk
which contains a human protein for premature babies, not to clone
humans (Begley 47). Human cloning would create duplication of humans,
and the individuality of each human would be lost. Someone may oppose
the idea saying that the environment in which a person grow largely
contributes the formation of his personality, however, his appearance
would be completely the same as the original. Someone may contend
that twins have the same appearance and are accepted. However, making
twins restricts the individuality artificially, not naturally. Natural
and artificial are very different. We should separate them.
I doubt whether a human conceived by cloning will be treated as
same as the others. In a present school situation where bullying
is an everyday occurrence, the fact of being a clone may be a factor
of being bullied. And it is possible that a cloned human would be
dependent and inferior existence to the original. We would most
likely think a clone is kind of a copy of the original rather than
a kind of twin because of the disparity in age. Thus human cloning
is an invasion of privacy for the human conceived by cloning. We
should consider human cloning in that light. We do not have a right
to take away the originality of any human - even a clone.
Of course, there are advantages to develop cloning technology.
Ian Wilmut demands that the study of it not to be banned, emphasizing
that the technology would be useful for the development of treatment
for genetic diseases and of mass production of good cattle which
will be surely needed in the future when population is larger than
today (Otsuka 1). Meanwhile, he opposes human cloning for moral
reasons. Human cloning will make family system even worse than it
is at the present. Because cloning needs only one DNA, and it does
not matter whether a man or a woman offers it, we can easily imagine
that there will be much more single-parent families. If a man wants
to have a baby by himself, he can have one, offering his DNA to
a surrogate mother. In other words, children conceived by cloning
cannot have both blood-related father and mother. Even if it is
okay for a parent, it is very hard for the child. We may anticipate
that juvenile delinquents would increase at higher rate than now.
Some religions would be badly damaged for the reason that the belief
that God give a birth to human would be destroyed. Mark D. Eibert,
an attorney at law, argues that religious thinking should not be
an excuse of banning things since all people in a country do not
believe one specific religion. I agree with this point; however,
we should not ignore religions completely. In fact there are some
countries where one religion play an important role. Likewise, I
suppose that human cloning would create a society where science
technology controls everything even our birth. According to Watson,
cloning technology might allow us to choose which baby we have,
a boy or a girl. The technology will influence so many things in
so many fields.
By permitting cloning of human, too many problems would occur.
I can understand that the research of human cloning will help infertility.
But I attach more importance to the value of our lives, individuality,
and bond of a family than curing minor number of people. Eibert
strongly insists that the government should not make cloning of
human illegal. He claimed that everyone has the right to have his
baby and it is a freedom which the government cannot infringe. I
opposed this opinion and the government should intervene in this
kind of dispute. I wonder who else except the government can make
the scientists think calmly and tell them to stop improving the
technology that has a possibility of breaking rules in our society.
I insist that cloning of human should not be done.
by Maki Kimura
Works Cited
Been. "Can We and Should We Clone Humans?" Computer Writing
and Research Labs X. http://cwrl.utexas.edu/~mchorost/
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Begley, Sharon. "Little Lamb, Who Made Thee? "Newsweek
10 Mar. 1997: 43.
"The Commission of Science Technology of LF Group Banned Human
Cloning (ศwZp๏cLFชศ๏AqgยฬฬN[คึ~)."
Bio Technology Japan.
http://biotech.biztech.co.jp/NEWS/
(23 May 1997).
Daniel, M. "Why Cloning Should Not Be Banned." Human
Cloning Foundation. http://www.humancloning.org
(11 Aug. 1998).
Eibert, Mark D. gHuman Cloning, Infertility, and Reproductive Freedom.h
Reason Magazine. http://reason.com/opeds/eibert.html
(13 Feb. 1998).
"A Scientist in Chicago Declared the Intention of Cloning
Babies (VJSฬศwาAิ๑V๐N[ท้ำ}๐\พ)." Hotwired
Japan. http://www.hotwired.co.jp/news/
(9 Jan. 1999).
"Human Cloning: Should It Be Done? What Would It Mean?- FAQ's."
Online. National Center for Genome Resources.
http://www.ncgr.org/gpi/odyssey/.
(7 Aug. 1997).
Otsuka, Ryuichi. "Ban Human Cloning. The Way of Applying it
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Reibstein, Larry., and Beals, Gregory. "A Cloned Chop, Anyone?"
Newsweek 10 Mar. 1997: 48.
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