Human Cloning

[EE-Cuber]

NO. And its not an ethical / moral question for me. I dont think human kind is mature enough to handle such a feat of science. we can't even preserve our own planet.. more of us is not a good thing.

 

[daniel0731ex]

i think there's nothing wrong with cloning, because you have cloned neither the memory nor the age of the original person.
It's a totally different person, just that he/she have identical DNA with someone else.

PS: cloned human will have a shorter lifespan because the telemeres (lol spelling?) on the chomosomes are worn out to a degree, compared to a normal newborns' chromosomes.

 

[RyanO]

Clone organs, don't make whole humans for an organ farm. Anyone read "House of the Scorpion?"

Very good book. If we cloned a human, does it have a soul?

You could ask the same question about naturally born humans. The idea of a soul is pretty abstract.

 

[a small kitten]

But he is obviously Ichigo from Bleach.

I don't have a very strong position but it leans towards "no".

 

[riffz]

I doubt people would be studying it right now if there were no use at all...

If this were true then Pure mathematicians and philosophers would be out of jobs. Sometimes we do things out of curiosity and for the sake of furthering our understanding of how things work, regardless of the benefits.

Sure, but this isn't one of those cases. Cloning is expensive.

Universities all over throw millions of dollars into pointless research. But I do agree that cloning is extremely costly.

 

[DavidWoner]

It seems a large majority of the people posting in this thread do not understand how cloning works. It's not like I would just step into a tube with a bunch of flashing lights and ten seconds later two 20 year old David Woners with the exact same physical features and memories walk out. Cloning is basically just creating a fetus with the exact same DNA as myself, and it would be born naturally as an infant. And given what a large influence environmental factors has upon a child's development, my clone would likely be very dissimilar from how I am now by the time it is 20. It's diet and level/type of exercise as a child would not be the same as mine, so we may be physically different as well. And since we would have different scarring, we wouldn't even have matching fingerprints!

And since clones are born the same way as humans are currently born, it wouldn't have an effect on the birth rate.

Personally, I find nothing ethically objectionable about it. If we can use it to clone organs and shorten the donor waiting list, then that's great. I can't think of any other applications that aren't kind of pointless though.

 

[Kyle Barry]

So, you're saying "Family Matters" lied to me. I don't buy it.

 

[shelley]

I really don't see any point in cloning an entire human. It's not like making a new human being is hard, plenty of people do it without even intending to (which can sometimes bring us to this thread, but that's beside the point.)

Okay, I can see one reason for wanting to create a human being with the same genetic information as another - guaranteed match for transplants. But most people would see that as a big ethical no no, not to mention excessively unnecessary if cloning just a single organ is possible.

 

[beingforitself]

Having two genetically identical humans violates my sense of religious morality. Ergo, I believe all currently existing identical twins should be rounded up and one of them eliminated.

 

[Dene]

Ok here's a scenario (might we bear in mind the fact that 1 in 6 couples is infertile):

Me and my hot azn wife want a baby. We try the "natural" (lol) way for a whole year, but no results. So we go to a doctor, take some tests, and it turns out that we are among the other (1 in 6) couples that cannot conceive. Say, for example, it turns out I have an abnormally low sperm count. What are our options?
Adoption: But it turns out I am an ex-con, and they reject us from being allowed to adopt on that basis.
IVF: I simply don't have enough money for this risky experiment.
Surrogacy: Again, not enough money.

The only option left is to clone myself and for my wife to give birth to mini-Dene. Is this not a good enough reason to allow for cloning?

 

[Escher]

Ok here's a scenario (might we bear in mind the fact that 1 in 6 couples is infertile):

Me and my hot azn wife want a baby. We try the "natural" (lol) way for a whole year, but no results. So we go to a doctor, take some tests, and it turns out that we are among the other (1 in 6) couples that cannot conceive. Say, for example, it turns out I have an abnormally low sperm count. What are our options?
Adoption: But it turns out I am an ex-con, and they reject us from being allowed to adopt on that basis.
IVF: I simply don't have enough money for this risky experiment.
Surrogacy: Again, not enough money.

The only option left is to clone myself and for my wife to give birth to mini-Dene. Is this not a good enough reason to allow for cloning?

This is pretty much exactly what I was going to say. Also, even if you could afford IVF, would you really want it?
From the point of view of the male parent, your bond with the child might be different (i.e. possibly worse) if they are the product of another man's sperm. In a biological sense it isn't your child.
And from the point of view of the child; not knowing who your 'real' father is, or having anything to do with them, could well be psychologically damaging.

In these circumstances, I know what I would choose.

 

[Mike Hughey]

@Dene: Why do you think cloning will be cheaper than IVF or surrogacy?

 

[shelley]

Cloning would be like IVF, but with additional complex steps. If you can't afford IVF you probably can't afford cloning either.

 

[Inf3rn0]

It's not like making a new human being is hard

Not to mention much more fun than cloning

 

[Chapuunka]

Or even worse, stupid people.

*Shudder*
There are FAR too many of those in the world as it is.

If we're looking way into the future, people might eventually start being breeded, which would be much more practical with clones. I'd like the think that would mean less stupid people, although I don't think humans should be breeded--we're not animals.

Having two genetically identical humans violates my sense of religious morality. Ergo, I believe all currently existing identical twins should be rounded up and one of them eliminated.

That seems rather cruel. What kind of religious morality gives you that belief?

cubes, ditch your computer, car, clothes etc

Just wanted to point out the order they're placed in.

 

[Cride5]

cubes, ditch your computer, car, clothes etc

Just wanted to point out the order they're placed in.

Haha ... ordered by entertainment value. Clothes lowest because sometimes no clothes can be more entertaining

 

[aronpm]

we're not animals.

Yes we are.

 

[StachuK1992]

Absolutely. Yes.
Like, apart from religion, and Dan's initial reason, I really can't see why not.
But I'd only like to make a few, like 5. Then we can do awesome genetic altering.

 

[qqwref]

Clone organs, don't make whole humans for an organ farm.

Obviously. Unless you're looking for infant organs for some reason, raising someone just for organs would be incredibly cost/time inefficient.

If we cloned a human, does it have a soul?

Um, DUH? It's just a person who happens to have the same DNA as someone else. Your question is like asking if identical twins both have souls.

I don't think humans should be breeded--we're not animals.

Sure we are.

 

[iasimp1997]

Cloning would be so much more boring than the original method.