Thread: Why is cloning "profoundly wrong"?

So, while passing the embryonic stem cell research go-ahead bill, Obama also says of cloning

"It is dangerous, profoundly wrong, and has no place in our society, or any society,"

So, people of reason, why is embryonic stem cell research OK, but cloning is not?

Or is Mr. Obama wrong, and cloning should be allowed?

Originally Posted by Seraphim

So, while passing the embryonic stem cell research go-ahead bill, Obama also says of cloning



So, people of reason, why is embryonic stem cell research OK, but cloning is not?

Or is Mr. Obama wrong, and cloning should be allowed?

it's wrong because he doesn't like it and is projecting his own insecurities onto the nation.


haven't you heard? he's the new Decider, and will be doing all the Decidering from now on.

There are at least 2 sides to this issue.

One side says that clones are people and should be afforded the rights that are afforded to all humans.

The other camp says that as long as they do not have life then it is ok.

I believe that I would like a clone of my organs or other body parts though not as a whole. Just my arms in an arm bank, liver in a liver bank, etc.

I do not think it is right to produce a body and "prune" it as the need arises.

Something about a body as a whole is sacred to me and not in the religious sense. I would feel more at ease if my arm was torn off and the Arm bank sent my other arm to me for replacement rather than sawing off the arm of my whole body.

I think it would be nice to have all your parts cloned in a warehouse someplace. There is one part I would have retrieved already. Wouldn't it be great if we had a backup of all our memories and could retrieve them. Wow a backup brain. I am for cloning.

bj

Originally Posted by 2Sharp

I think it would be nice to have all your parts cloned in a warehouse someplace. There is one part I would have retrieved already. Wouldn't it be great if we had a backup of all our memories and could retrieve them. Wow a backup brain. I am for cloning.

bj

How do you think the "Warehouse you" would feel about that arrangement?

Cloning is not wrong. Neither is stem cell research.

How we use those techniques and for what purposes might very well be wrong, but all the more reason to allow open research. If you ban it, you risk it being abused (like the rogue Italian Professor, I forget the details, or the fraudulent results that were reported).

Splitting the atom eventually led to the A-bomb, as well as atomic energy. The research leading to both these developments was not wrong, but the way the research knowledge was used led to two very different outcomes.

Anyway, who are we kidding? There's no stopping scientific progress. Banning cloning or stem cell research today is like King Cannute trying to stop the incoming tide.

Before the discussion goes too far, you might want to consider the distinction between reproductive cloning, which would be done to make a person, and therapeutic cloning, which would be done strictly for the purpose of making embryonic stem cells.

I kind of hate these debates, because the argument is pretty much moot. Legislative debates about banning or allowing a technology that doesn't exist yet just isn't the best use of time and effort.

Originally Posted by majurey

Cloning is not wrong. Neither is stem cell research.

How we use those techniques and for what purposes might very well be wrong, but all the more reason to allow open research. If you ban it, you risk it being abused (like the rogue Italian Professor, I forget the details, or the fraudulent results that were reported).

Splitting the atom eventually led to the A-bomb, as well as atomic energy. The research leading to both these developments was not wrong, but the way the research knowledge was used led to two very different outcomes.

Anyway, who are we kidding? There's no stopping scientific progress. Banning cloning or stem cell research today is like King Cannute trying to stop the incoming tide.

The A-bomb led to Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Atiomic power led to Three mile Island and Chernobyl. Is that what we're saying?

Originally Posted by Seraphim

The A-bomb led to Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

wonder how many American lives were saved by those two events, hm???

Originally Posted by Seraphim

The A-bomb led to Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Atiomic power led to Three mile Island and Chernobyl. Is that what we're saying?

Well, sure if you take a specific event and judge purely on that!

I guess what I'm saying here is, would human life be worse off without atomic research, taking into account Hiroshima etc. and Chernobyl etc.? I say a resounding yes. Our lives would be worse. Same applies to Cloning or Stem Cell research.

But I still reckon legislation against research such as this is pointless anyway. How do you stop progress? Sure, you can delay it, but it's going to happen. GM foods is a case in point. Europe and UK spent so much time and effort trying to outlaw GM... even going so far as to damn what little GM crop research there is in the UK with stories about the risks of cross-fertilisation with normal crops. And the whole time we import foods which are GM. Now, I don't see GM issue reported anymore in our press. They've moved onto the next Frankenstein's monster, be that Cloning or growing an ear on the back of a mouse. (OK, old example, but you get my point I hope.)

Instead of trying to outlaw such research, we should be devoting our efforts to thinking about how we use our new-found knowledge to the best of its potential.