Cloning?

[JGG]

Well if it was like in The Island with Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johanson...that would be unethical.

But from someone who studies psychology, the amount of information we could gather by essentially seeing two twins grow up in different time periods would be incredible. Nevermind what medical sciences would learn.

 

[Mayflower1]

The world is over populated as it is. If they start cloning human beings, I think the world would be in a lot of trouble. I still see all life made from 'God, that humans are altering it... Still though, I chose unsure... Altering something such as a human life is playing God and I hope it never comes to that point... Still though, if the organs can help someone else's life... it is a hard matter to think about.

 

[Caylin]

Altering something such as a human life is playing God and I hope it never comes to that point... Still though, if the organs can help someone else's life... it is a hard matter to think about.

ANY medical procedure is altering a human life. While some Drs like to think they are god, they aren't.

 

[TooCurious]

The world is over populated as it is. If they start cloning human beings, I think the world would be in a lot of trouble. I still see all life made from 'God, that humans are altering it... Still though, I chose unsure... Altering something such as a human life is playing God and I hope it never comes to that point... Still though, if the organs can help someone else's life... it is a hard matter to think about.

I won't dispute the claim that the world is overpopulated, but isn't that just as much an argument against in vitro fertilization and fertility drugs as it is an argument against cloning?

 

[Mayflower1]

What are vitro fertilization and fertility drugs? What do they do?

 

[TooCurious]

What are vitro fertilization and fertility drugs? What do they do?

They are ways in which couples with fertility problems try to improve their chances of having children. In vitro fertilization involves removing a woman's ova and fertilizing them with sperm outside of her body, and then placing the fertilized egg back into her uterus. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_vitro_fertilization

Fertility drugs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fertility_drug) are used to increase a woman's fertility in the hope of producing a successful pregnancy.

 

[Mayflower1]

Oh. Well, that is like cloning also. I think it should be counted the same. I don't know why people don't just adopt... Like CF pets for example... There are so many cf pets in the adoption center and people would rather create one instead. Odd example but it is just like cloning or fertility.

 

[TooCurious]

Oh. Well, that is like cloning also. I think it should be counted the same. I don't know why people don't just adopt... Like CF pets for example... There are so many cf pets in the adoption center and people would rather create one instead. Odd example but it is just like cloning or fertility.

In that case, while I'm not sure if I completely agree, I think your reasoning is logical and consistent. It's applicable to so many situations, too: think of how many people go to dog breeders when they want a new pet, when there are so many dogs without homes, living in shelters or pounds. Even worse, some pounds can't afford to keep animals indefinitely, and will euthanize them if they aren't claimed or adopted within thirty days. And yet people go to dog breeders to get puppies.

 

[Athene]

Assuming cloning technology improves greatly over time, and clones become just as viable as the original version, would your not sure change to a full yes?

Don't know, from a scientific POV I think it would be fascinating . . . but what about they psychological effects on a person who is aware that they are a scientific experiment - which is essentially what they would be. What would the clone be used for? Is it right to clone a living breathing person just to prove we can?

 

[SummerMadness]

Don't know, from a scientific POV I think it would be fascinating . . . but what about they psychological effects on a person who is aware that they are a scientific experiment - which is essentially what they would be. What would the clone be used for? Is it right to clone a living breathing person just to prove we can?

I don't see how that is the case because "test tube" babies don't feel like they're experiments. If there is any psychological turmoil, it wouldn't be how the person was conceived, but more along the lines of you'll know how you look when you get older. Worse, you look completely different than the older version of yourself. Imagine the original is fit and muscular, but you turn out to be fat and unhealthy?

That's the only problem I could see. It could work in reverse for the original to the clone. The clone could grow up and be smarter and more successful than you. Instead of viewing the clone as a separate entity, people will always say, "That's me," that is unless cloning becomes so routine that such thoughts never enter the mind.

 

[Stuco]

Ok this may come across as ubsurd to some but bear with me.

Im guessing that at least half or more of you have seen the new star wars films. From just that I beat you can guess what I am geting at. Keep in mind that a lot things that use to be science fiction are now science fact. If we started cloneing humanbeings then there will be people who want to make them stronger smarter and faster than a normal humanbeing. They might also want ot control them. This would lead to armys of super soldiers being built by countrys and people you would not want to have this capabilty. Some of this we can already do and it wouldnt take long for someone with enough brains time and money to come up with the rest of the tech requiered for it. Some of you may have played Hitman. Personally I would like for Agent 47 to stay in his world and not come to mine. Cloneing organs would be ok but must be watched and monitered very very closely. If anyone tries perfecting this type of human cloning they should be treated with the utmost hostilaty and taken out by anymeans nessecery.

 

[SummerMadness]

Stuco, that would really be fun. Each country would make their own clone army and then we'd choose a country as a battlefield and may the best clones win. Each year we would have a competition where the greatest scientific minds would compete to see who could make the best clones.

 

[Stuco]

Stuco, that would really be fun. Each country would make their own clone army and then we'd choose a country as a battlefield and may the best clones win. Each year we would have a competition where the greatest scientific minds would compete to see who could make the best clones.

Its always fun untill someone gets hurt................... then its hilarious!

 

[Trigger]

Clones are people too....

Stuco got the basic idea pretty dead-on. Even if I concede that cloning is not 'playing God' or inherently evil, the potential for evil is still to great for me to excuse cloning a whole human organism.

 

[TooCurious]

Stuco, I think what you're talking about is genetic manipulation, not cloning. A "clone" is an exact genetic duplicate of another being (which then must go through all the normal stages of fetal development and childhood, just like everyone else). The sort of "designer" humans that you seem to be worried about would require intense alterations to be made to the chromosomes before they were injected into the egg, and those alterations are not a part of "cloning."

 

[Stuco]

Stuco, I think what you're talking about is genetic manipulation, not cloning. A "clone" is an exact genetic duplicate of another being (which then must go through all the normal stages of fetal development and childhood, just like everyone else). The sort of "designer" humans that you seem to be worried about would require intense alterations to be made to the chromosomes before they were injected into the egg, and those alterations are not a part of "cloning."

While thats true cloning reserch would lead up to that so the best idea would be to never get started on it in the first place. Ex. While nuclear research has lead to many good things it has also lead to bad things.

Another aplication for cloning would be spies or a pupret rulers of sorts. Kill off one person and replace them with an identical clone you can control. This of course you can tell right off would not be good and has no practical or usefull aplication for anybody else exept to the ones useing it.

 

[TooCurious]

While thats true cloning reserch would lead up to that so the best idea would be to never get started on it in the first place. Ex. While nuclear research has lead to many good things it has also lead to bad things.

Should we never pursue medical research into disease, because it might lead to the development of biological weapons?

Another aplication for cloning would be spies or a pupret rulers of sorts. Kill off one person and replace them with an identical clone you can control. This of course you can tell right off would not be good and has no practical or usefull aplication for anybody else exept to the ones useing it.

Here's a detail that I think you may be missing: a clone requires just as much time to grow and age as any other member of its species. If you were to clone a 40-year-old man tomorrow, the clone would still require the nine months or so of gestation that every human needs before being born. By the time your clone was a year old, the "original" person would be almost 42. By the time your clone reached the genetic donor's starting age of 40, the donor himself would be over 80 years old. There is no such thing as "accelerated maturation."

 

[Stuco]

Should we never pursue medical research into disease, because it might lead to the development of biological weapons?



Here's a detail that I think you may be missing: a clone requires just as much time to grow and age as any other member of its species. If you were to clone a 40-year-old man tomorrow, the clone would still require the nine months or so of gestation that every human needs before being born. By the time your clone was a year old, the "original" person would be almost 42. By the time your clone reached the genetic donor's starting age of 40, the donor himself would be over 80 years old. There is no such thing as "accelerated maturation."

For one that is a diffrent field alltogether.

For two has a man landed on mars yet? Is ther any such thing as speedy space travel? Has a cure been invented yet for cancer? No but remember what I said about science fiction becomeing science fact? If we can alter a persons inteligence and strength with altering DNA then whats to stop us from speeding up there growth?

 

[TooCurious]

For one that is a diffrent field alltogether.

I was making an analogy.

For two has a man landed on mars yet? Is ther any such thing as speedy space travel? Has a cure been invented yet for cancer? No but remember what I said about science fiction becomeing science fact? If we can alter a persons inteligence and strength with altering DNA then whats to stop us from speeding up there growth?

So just because something has been imagined in science fiction, we should avoid all genuine scientific research in that field because we might someday find a way to do something similar? Should we stop the space program because we might someday be able to build a Death Star?

 

[Stuco]

I was making an analogy.



So just because something has been imagined in science fiction, we should avoid all genuine scientific research in that field because we might someday find a way to do something similar? Should we stop the space program because we might someday be able to build a Death Star?

Well no. Like I said in my first post Im all for the medical part of cloning as long as it is supervised strictly so that no one trys some of the stuff I just suggested. Because then the medical benifit will be useless if we are ran by a clone militia dictatorship. As long as we are not makeing superhuman soldiers pumping out manchurian candidates or doing anything like they did in the movie "The Island" then I am cool with it. This is just something that carefully needs to be thoughtout and take everything in to consideration. America got lucky once lets not try our luck a second time. It could be safer.