Cons of therapeutic cloning

Science ‘ 1 April 23, 2012 Cons Of Therapeutic Cloning Therapeutic cloning is the transfer of nuclear material isolated from a somatic cell into an enucleated oocyte in the goal of deriving embryonic cell lines with the same genome as the nuclear donor. Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) products have histological compatibility with the nuclear donor, which circumvents, in clinical applications, the use of immunosuppressive drugs with heavy side-effects. Therapeutic cloning is also often tied to ethical considerations concerning the source, destruction and moral status of IVF embryos based on the argument of potential. Legislative and funding issues are also addressed. Future considerations would include a distinction between therapeutic and reproductive cloning in legislative formulations. Some groups feel it is unethical not to use this technology to search for medical advances. One of the largest groups opposing this therapeutic cloning is also opposed to stem cell research. Stem cell research is an integral part of therapeutic cloning. Stem cells are cells that can become any cell in the body with the proper stimulation. They are found in bone marrow as well as in embryos. The stem cells that are found in embryos are very desirable because they have the potential to grow into youthful cells, cells taken from adults turn into older cells. One of the largest problems that people have with stem cell research is creating an embryo in order to harvest stem cells. Many groups see this as degrading for humans. Many groups consider a human life to begin with conception, and when the cells are taken from the embryos this is considered destroying a life (LiveScience. org 2010). Anti-abortion groups are strongly opposed to therapeutic cloning because they believe that gaining stem cells from embryos is killing a human. Others claim that cloning will turn human life into a commodity, leading to a spare parts market for harvesting human organs from cloned “ brain-less bodies” for the rich as they seek to extend their lifespan. · Cloning would also deal with killing embryos. You might not have known, but Dolly, the sheep that was cloned in 1996, was one of over 200 sheep embryos and hers was the only embryo that survived. The rest died or were thrown away. Imagine if the failure rate was that high when we started to clone humans. More than 200 embryos, the start of 200 human beings, would die for the sake of just one embryo that would have the same DNA as some one else (LiveScience. com 2009). Cloning organs will probably lead to the designer person since the fertilized organ could also be enhanced with extra genes for special traits such as musical or athletic talent. Furthermore the egg cell could be tested for special hereditary diseases. If they don′t excist, the egg cell can be implanted into the woman′s womb, otherwise it will be annihilated. This technique is called pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (pgd). Maybe the parents want only a boy or a girl. Then, using a procedure called sexing, scientists separate the sperm cells and choose the sex of the planned child. There are several critical points that have to be considered when talking about those embryo selecting techniques. Cloning humans would also mean that organs could be cloned, so it would be a source of perfect transplant organs. This, surely would be immensely beneficial to millions of unfortunate people around the world that are expected to lose their lives due to failure of single (or more) organ(s). It is also arguable that a ban on cloning may be unconstitutional and would deprive people of the right to reproduce and restrict the freedom of scientists (LiveStrong. org). Overall cloning is really just scientists “ playing god”. Humans were created perfectly without the aid of scientists for decades, and now messing with organs wastes money and time. The gap between those able to afford cloned organs may also rise leading to an immortal first class. Overall therapeutic cloning messes with the balance of life and the idea that everyone is perfect in their own unique way. It also limits mutations eventually leading to less of human evolution. *