Genetic cloning is a biotechnological manipulation whose result is to create a genome-identical clone for a given species. Cloning any species, from E. coli to humans, is a matter of time and technical sophistication, so it is highly likely that after the relatively successful experiments to create a somatic clone of Dolly the sheep in 1996, the scientific community will reach the possibility of complete cloning of the human body (ED). This essay offers diametrically opposed views on the phenomenon of cloning based on the goals pursued by researchers.
The creation and development of such an instrumental method is undoubtedly an undeniable advantage of research thought. Cloning provides freedom for asexual couples, providing possibilities for the birth of a child even when one of the parents is dysfunctional. This includes reproductive freedom because if cloning technology develops, even same-gender couples are given the opportunity to create their own child. The clone born does not necessarily have to have identical traits to the parents since the phenotype is determined not only by the genotype but also by the environment in which the individual is raised (Xue et al. 13847). In other words, reproductive freedom made possible by cloning procedures will free individuals from the burden of having or not having a child and equalize the rights of people of all genders.
The development of cloning technologies does not mean that the researcher’s goal is to create a complete copy of an adult human being. On the contrary, once the cloning of a species is established, these procedures can be used to grow biocompatible organs or tissues for transplantation to a patient in need. This technology can solve the problems of tissue incompatibility, transplant waiting lists, and donor shortages and will significantly improve the survival rate of patients even with acute, chronic diseases in which organ function is being destroyed. Growing individual organs created by cloning technology will also prove helpful for research purposes, as such organs can be used as drug testing media instead of animal testing.
On the other hand, genetic cloning of a species is not an absolute panacea but rather is associated with severe drawbacks affecting the development of this technology. One of the critical concerns is the development of the illegal organ-selling business, as well as the manipulation in which the DNA of individuals is isolated illegally and used for terrorist purposes. Creating clones of political and cultural figures and using them for criminal purposes can present dangers — for example, if terrorists have stolen genetic material from a president to either subsequently study the politician’s genome or grow a clone and kill it demonstrably. It is not difficult to extrapolate that human cloning would create a degrading phenomenon in which human production is seen as an illegal business to produce enslaved people and organ factories. At the same time, if human cloning has reached a massive scale, it significantly reduces the biodiversity that nature intended. In this case, the mechanisms of evolution are further disrupted, causing damage to population health eventually.
Another problem with genetic cloning is the legal and moral issues associated with clone birth. From a biological point of view, a born individual is treated as an identical clone of an adult. From a legal and moral perspective, however, this creates questions about what kind of name it should have, whether it should have a unique identity and whether it should have rights and responsibilities equal to other residents of the state. Cloning will almost certainly lead to the development of psychological disorders in which the clone will feel limited in his life choices and predetermined in his fate, which can lead to suicidal patterns in clones.
Thus, cloning of this kind is not a completely unambiguous tool but instead has both advantages and disadvantages. It is precisely because of the plurality of opinions regarding cloning that one cannot be strictly convinced of the necessity or otherwise of cloning. The technology will almost certainly become available in the coming decades, but the legal and moral issues of this will be the critical limiting factors for the development of the technology.
Works Cited
ED. “Celebrating Dolly the Sheep’s legacy, 25 years on.” The University of Edinburgh, 2021.
Xue, BingKan, Pablo Sartori, and Stanislas Leibler. “Environment-To-Phenotype Mapping and Adaptation Strategies in Varying Environments.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 116, no. 28, 2019, pp. 13847-13855.