Posted on 08/20/2013 2:15:08 PM PDT by Welchie25
Seventeen years have passed since the milestone birth of Dolly the Sheep, the first mammal successfully cloned from an adult cell, which launched worldwide speculation as to whether humans were next.
Scientists applied the technique in attempts to achieve human embryos, but were unsuccessful in reaching their central aim – obtaining embryonic stem cells for research – until May, when a research team in Oregon led by biologist Shoukhrat Mitalipov announced it had accomplished the feat.
Some scientists hailed the work as groundbreaking, opening a new route to the creation of patient-specific stem cells and unlocking the potential for new therapies and cures.
Not everyone, however, applauds the development.
Like all embryonic stem-cell research, cloning research necessitated the intentional destruction of human embryos, which the Catholic Church always finds morally impermissible. Cloning itself is also morally problematic, but some fear myriad ethical quandaries aren’t enough to squelch scientific curiosity and the profit motive.
The concerns are vast, including:
• The creation of human life with the intention of destroying it
• The creation of human clones solely for scientific experimentation
• The creation of human clones for “spare parts”
• The creation of human clones in an attempt to “re-create” one’s self, a loved one or famous figure
• Risks involved in female egg donation, which is necessary to the process
• Potential health risks to a woman gestating a clone and the clone itself
• Issues surrounding participants’ consent to be cloned.
When most people think of cloning, they envision sci-fi movies such as 2005’s “The Island,” “where you have all these cloned people walking around or being slaves,” said Rebecca Taylor, a genetic researcher who writes on Catholic bioethics. They also imagine it as something futuristic, she said.
(Excerpt) Read more at catholicreview.org ...
Sorta makes me think that today's scientists are still trying to play catch up with God.
Nothing new....there has been the odd case IIRC where a need for some fetal tissue involved intentional pregnancy followed by intentional abortion.
They have all the rights and responsibilities and are considered the sibling of the person who was cloned.
Suddenly most people are no longer interested in having clones made.
To weed out the rest require anyone who wanted to have a clone made of themselves submit to physiological test with the fact that you actually want to have a clone made being a disqualifying factor.
Yup. I can’t see any ethical issues with cloning individual organs.
Grammatical dilemmas too!
To desire a clone is to desire a slave.
I agree, anyone who desires a clone (for parts, work or whatever) deserves tagging as psychologically deficient and morally repugnant.
I will bet my next EBT card that “scientists” are right now experimenting and fertilizing eggs and destroying most of them, and destroying those that begin to develop but don’t develop properly.
There is more respect for the lives of animals than for people.
Trust me, Progressives do not believe in “ethics” let alone having an “ethical dilemma”.
Far better to have a child, hopefully with someone smarter or better looking then you are.
One clone I’d like to see: Obama The Rodeo Clown
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