Cloning and Stem Cells
Dr. Ian Wilmut, who first introduced the world in 1997 to Dolly, the first mammal ever to be cloned,
has now become a strong opponent of using the technology for cloning humans.The controversies over cloning and stem-cells raise fundamental questions about how technology affects our lives and what it means to be human. Biology and medicine are blurring what people previously thought were clear moral lines as to what is right and wrong. There is perhaps no more important issue before us today.
Take cloning, for example. The cloning debate has suddenly shown its face again, with a Massachusetts company announcing December 2, 2001 that it had created cloned human embryos that survived for several days. Advanced Cell Technology Inc. said it was not planning to make humans, only harvest tissue to treat people with diabetes, Parkinson's and other diseases. But the potential to clone humans was apparent years ago, in 1997, when IIan Wilmut and his colleagues at the Roslin Institute near Edinburgh, Scotland, announced in February 1997 that they had cloned a sheep named Dolly from the udder cells of a ewe. The technique used by Wilmut and his co-workers--a technology called somatic-cell nuclear transfer--will probably be the way in which the first human clone will be created - if cloning of a human ever occurs. But should we clone humans? Could an evil scientist make thousands of copies of himself? Could an infertile couple have a baby? Is it OK for humans to clone other mammals in order to use their organs? Research on the basic processes of cell differentiation and cloning holds out the promise of dramatic new medical interventions and cures. Burn victims or those with spinal cord injuries might be provided with replacement skin or nerve tissue grown from their own body cells. The damage done by degenerative disorders such as diabetes, Parkinson's disease or Alzheimer's disease might be reversed. In the more distant future, scientists might be able to grow whole replacement organs that our bodies will not reject. Is this humans helping themselves and improving the quality of their lives? Or is it playing God?
And then there are the "stem cells." The NIH rules deal specifically with "human pluripotent stem cells"—cells harvested from human embryos or fetal tissue, tissue taken from live fetuses that have the ability to divide indefinitely. Such cells are able to form muscle, nerve, blood, and, eventually, almost any human body part. Many scientists predict that stem cell experiments will lead to cures for Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, severe burns, spinal cord injuries and more. President Clinton hailed the "potentially staggering benefits" of the research and "breathtaking" evidence that the cells can help cure these maladies. To be sure, ethicists must wrestle with guidelines for gathering these cells, most often taken from frozen embryos or aborted fetuses; vigorous debate about how the information is used will be needed. The world's most recognized religious leader raises issues that should be part of the debate. The debate continues with both cloning and stem cell testing.
Repairing broken bodies, extending life, and improving individuals' capabilities sound like good ideas at first glance, but are we playing God? How far may we go in defying nature without undermining our humanity? What does it mean for human beings, who are defined by their mortality, to entertain, even fleetingly, even as a remote possibility, the idea of immortality through cloning? Are we enhancing our humanity or transcending it?
Questions to keep in mind: What molecular magic makes cloning possible? Why did they succeed recently, when they had failed before? What are the advantages to cloning mammals such as sheep and pigs? "Humanized" organs suitable for translplantation? "Cross-species" transplantation? Engineered farm animals? What are the risks? Should the cloning of humans be permanently banned, or is it the inevitable outcome of a centuries-long attempt to improve creation through science? Is it only a matter of time until a human is cloned? Is it inevitable? Can it be prevented? Can you stop science? Would a human clone be treated differently than other people? If sometime, somewhere, someone will generate a cloned human being - what will happen then? Is anyone working towards human cloning? What are the current U.S laws? Are new laws needed? Could cloning be the end of humanity, and the start of something quite different? Should the government control cloning research? What does the National Institute of Health say? President Clinton? Can public money be used in cloning research? Can private institutes work on cloning? What do Dr. Richard Seed and Dr. Ron Bailey say? What is the case for the cloning of humans? What could the technology do for infertile couples? Are politicians overreacting, exploiting unfounded public fears for quick political gain at the expense of important scientific research? Should -- or can -- advances in biotechnology be controlled by the government to satisfy particular moral or ethical beliefs?
What is the argument opponents of stem-cell research make? What is the position of Pope John Paul II? What are the dangers? Why might it violate the "sanctity of life"? How might it reflect the "logic of the Nazis"? How might America's "tiniest unborn" be exploited? Do we have a moral obligation is to the future health and welfare of everyday people? Do we have a moral obligation to the future health and welfare of embryos? Is an embryo a human life? What are the possible advantages to stem-cell research? What might we be able to do in the future? Can adult stem-cells serve the same purpose as fetus cells? What guidelines has the National Institutes of Health developed to steer this important work? According to current guidelines, when is it permissible to do stem-cell research? When is it not? What are the "petri dish" politics? Will biotech help future generations to become healthier, smarter, and perhaps even happier? Or will we create monsters and violate the natural order of humanity?
STEM CELL RESEARCH LINKS:
Stem Cell Research at Newshour
Stem Cell Fact Sheet from the White House
CLONING RESEARCH LINKS:
Reason online cloning and stem cell
