Genetic Cloning
Genetic Cloning/Engineering Scientists believe that they may be able to treat heart attack victims by cloning their healthy heart cells and injecting them into the areas of the heart that have been damaged.
The cloning of humans is a very debated issue. Many agree with the fact that organ parts can be cloned and it will help provide answers for cures and help women that can’t have babies. Scientists may learn how to switch cells on and off through cloning and thus be able to cure cancer. People still do not know exactly how cells differentiate into specific kinds of tissue, nor do they understand why cancerous cells lose their differentiation. Cloning, at long last, may be the key to understanding differentiation and cancer, but little do they know that with the interference of nature and the processes it takes to continue with it will cause overpopulation and disrupt the balance of natural selection in mankind. (Benefits of Human Cloning) Genetic alterations are an act that defies nature and what many people stand for.
Although the alterations are used for crop production and other farm production, the use on humans is largely misunderstood: The techniques of placing genes in specific areas to make an organism unique in a human host are not well known about and can cause “gene silencing”(hcsl.org) It is hard to deny that genetic engineering wouldn’t disrupt with many natural balances in the world and a large number of people disagree with it. On the other hand animal cloning is on its all time high including the show cattle industry and other meat production operations. In Taiwan, biologists crossed DNA with a jellyfish and a pig and created a “glowing pig” (gracelinks.org). In 2001 animal cloning became used internationally and used on many commercial farms, but was requested that producers keep the defected animals off the meat markets and away from the public (FDA).
( Threat to Equality) Genetic engineering is the modification of an organism’s genetic composition by artificial means, often involving the transfer of specific traits, or genes, from one organism into a plant or animal of an entirely different species. (Gene Therapy) When gene transfer occurs, the resulting organism is called transgenic genetically modified organism (gracelinks.org) Many concerns have been raised over the inadequate testing of the effects of genetic engineering on humans and the environment. Genetic engineering is still an emerging field, and scientists do not know exactly what can result from putting the DNA of one species into another. The introduction of foreign DNA into an organism could trigger other DNA in the plant or animal to mutate and change. In addition, researchers do not know if there are any long-term or unintended side effects from eating genetically engineered foods.
One aspect is the possibility of physical harm to the human embryo. (Medical Ethnics) They see that technology is not safe enough to use on humans. Some are also afraid that clones will age quicker since the cell used in the cloning procedure has already been used in a real life individual. Opponents also argue that psychological harms could fall upon children. They could suffer from a reduced sense of individuality, and a cloned child may feel that their future is worth less as it now rests in a cloned individual. Also critics argue that cloning encourages parents to value how well children can genetically meet their expectations rather than loving them for being just their children.
Also with cloning humans, parents and society may now see their children as objects and not as human beings with actual feelings. It is also seen that if human cloning becomes a reality and a regular social practice, parents who want to “play the lottery” and not genetically choose their child may be cast out of society (Cons of Human Cloning) The interruption of gene selection can cause many problems that would affect the future population of people in the world. To have the option of picking how intelligent or what good attributes a person will eventually make everyone so similar that there would be no variation. People would all be immune to the same diseases and the natural selection of the world be disrupted and the outcome would be an explosive rise in the world. Although genetic engineering is a beneficial way of producing desirable traits, in the end there would be no people left to do the small jobs that are overlooked such as working in stores, waiting tables, and etc.
Scientists are led to belief that with the control over this, it will lead to the destruction of evolution and interfere with many religious beliefs. The practicing of genetic cloning and selection is a practice that shouldn’t be allowed. With some positive benefits to it, it has a larger percentage of bad uses. In the future this issue will be seen more, and be experimented with to produce new ways of finding cures and testing products on humans. The technology will be improved and will create new ways to clone an object with human DNA.
The world will need to stand up and fight for the right of humanity and prepare for many religious controversies to happen.
