Is cloning ethical?
- Thread starter Rawiyah
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Cloning simply for the sake of saying we did..I don't really see the point in that.
However, if cloning can one day be used to ensure that there were always transplant options for everyone when they need them, I'd be all for it.
As for whether it's ethical or not, not everything that's right is ethical and vice versa.
Is abortion ethical? One can't really answer that definitively without controversy, but in a lot of cases, it's a much better choice than raising it if you cant do it properly or putting it in the adoption system...You know, controversially speaking. Same issue arises with cloning.
However, if cloning can one day be used to ensure that there were always transplant options for everyone when they need them, I'd be all for it.
As for whether it's ethical or not, not everything that's right is ethical and vice versa.
Is abortion ethical? One can't really answer that definitively without controversy, but in a lot of cases, it's a much better choice than raising it if you cant do it properly or putting it in the adoption system...You know, controversially speaking. Same issue arises with cloning.
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If you clone a 5 year old dog, then you basically have a puppy with 5 year old DNA that's probably not going to live more than an average dog's years - or maybe not. Look at Dolly the sheep. I reckon it's fairly certain that when a biochemist 'made' her, Dolly already had problems related to old DNA and thats why she copped an early death. And she deteriorated so very quickly. :|
Cloning DNA sequences such as making a protein from DNA, thats ethical and being done, like in cloning with plasmid vectors, eg. taking the DNA for a protein and showing it in a plasmid vector in E. coli for instance, and thats quite a standard procedure which ethically, has nothing wrong with it whatsoever and is acceptable practice in labs. Except what becomes a serious issue is when cloning another human being. I hope its never allowed because it's like making yourself God, and as a scientist you have control over what you 'made'. Looking at it even deeper, if the purpose of cloning that person was for the biochemist to use their organs to fix the person from whom they had been cloned - then you would have a huge ethical issue. Because they'd be muchly treating a living breathing human as a parts factory. Pretty **** if you asked me and then there would the ethical question about who is the parent of the clone? And there would open a floodgate of legalities. And then there's the moral aspect.
Good topic!
Cloning DNA sequences such as making a protein from DNA, thats ethical and being done, like in cloning with plasmid vectors, eg. taking the DNA for a protein and showing it in a plasmid vector in E. coli for instance, and thats quite a standard procedure which ethically, has nothing wrong with it whatsoever and is acceptable practice in labs. Except what becomes a serious issue is when cloning another human being. I hope its never allowed because it's like making yourself God, and as a scientist you have control over what you 'made'. Looking at it even deeper, if the purpose of cloning that person was for the biochemist to use their organs to fix the person from whom they had been cloned - then you would have a huge ethical issue. Because they'd be muchly treating a living breathing human as a parts factory. Pretty **** if you asked me and then there would the ethical question about who is the parent of the clone? And there would open a floodgate of legalities. And then there's the moral aspect.
Good topic!
it depends on how it's used.
if it's used to make organ farms out of living beings, then no. that's hardly ethical. practical, yes, but there's absolutely 0 ethics involved in that sort of practise.
if it's refined enough to clone endangered species, or to clone things like plants for food, that's rather ethical, i'd suppose. there's probably a large debate behind it being 'natural' or not, but it's ethical if it's going to be beneficial to a species and the world.
what matters, at least to me, with cloning, is whether or not those that practise it are going to realise that the things they clone will have feelings of their own. skimming over whether or not they have souls (or whether or not souls even exist), they will feel pain. they will feel physical, mental, and emotional pain. they will have their own thoughts (if human) and actions, and will be very, very real and very, very alive.
i feel if cloning human beings does come into play in order to have a living breathing plant for organs/limbs, they should know. they should have the right to be judged as a human being and have a choice to refuse to be used like that. they should have a chance at actually living and not just be cooped up in a pod matrix-style.
though, if they were able to clone human beings but have the brain snip-snipped enough that they cannot feel or think, the line blurs and i find that much more okay of a deal to have an 'organ farm'. but it does make me a little squicked out to imagine screwing with a living thing's brain like that and turning them into a literal vegetable used only for harvest.
shrugs! i don't think we're quite close enough to having to worry about this sort of thing. it's still a very imperfect process and concept.
if it's used to make organ farms out of living beings, then no. that's hardly ethical. practical, yes, but there's absolutely 0 ethics involved in that sort of practise.
if it's refined enough to clone endangered species, or to clone things like plants for food, that's rather ethical, i'd suppose. there's probably a large debate behind it being 'natural' or not, but it's ethical if it's going to be beneficial to a species and the world.
what matters, at least to me, with cloning, is whether or not those that practise it are going to realise that the things they clone will have feelings of their own. skimming over whether or not they have souls (or whether or not souls even exist), they will feel pain. they will feel physical, mental, and emotional pain. they will have their own thoughts (if human) and actions, and will be very, very real and very, very alive.
i feel if cloning human beings does come into play in order to have a living breathing plant for organs/limbs, they should know. they should have the right to be judged as a human being and have a choice to refuse to be used like that. they should have a chance at actually living and not just be cooped up in a pod matrix-style.
though, if they were able to clone human beings but have the brain snip-snipped enough that they cannot feel or think, the line blurs and i find that much more okay of a deal to have an 'organ farm'. but it does make me a little squicked out to imagine screwing with a living thing's brain like that and turning them into a literal vegetable used only for harvest.
shrugs! i don't think we're quite close enough to having to worry about this sort of thing. it's still a very imperfect process and concept.
I don't see how cloning people is ethical. Taking someone with a preestablished life, identity, appearance, and impact on the world, and making a complete copy of them- a copy that wouldn't live as long as normal, that would always be seen as inferior (or superior?)... It doesn't seem like a good idea.
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Ethical or not, doesn't matter to me. At least there are practical, helpful uses to cloning, unlike many things.
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But if it's the exact same DNA then you'd have the exact same problem sooner or later.
This film kind of covers everything, still haven't watched it but my mum said it was pretty decent.
Same as most people here, if it were perfected in a way that could offer organs for medical use then I'm all for it. Lots of work is yet to be done though, getting past all the problems associated with it.
Cloning in regards to a whole person though? Nah. I'm alive now, if I were to die tomorrow and a clone made of me, I myself would still be dead. There would be a brand new brain, body and mind going around somewhere that just looks like me. Would do me no good whatsoever.
Cloning in regards to a whole person though? Nah. I'm alive now, if I were to die tomorrow and a clone made of me, I myself would still be dead. There would be a brand new brain, body and mind going around somewhere that just looks like me. Would do me no good whatsoever.
