In this blog post, we will take a balanced look at the scientific possibilities that human cloning technology can bring and the ethical and social controversies that come with it.
In 1997, Ian Wilmut and his fellow scientists succeeded in creating Dolly the sheep, a clone. This event shocked the scientific community and sparked a debate on human cloning. Human cloning, which was previously only possible in science fiction, has become a technology that could be realized in the near future. Of course, there is no doubt that the development of cloning technology and the realization of human cloning will bring many benefits to humanity. It will enable the development of genetic treatments for various diseases and give infertile couples hope of having children. It will also prevent children born with genetic diseases from suffering and will be of great help in producing organs for organ transplants.
However, despite the fact that the benefits of cloning technology are numerous, the risks that this technology can bring cannot be ignored. Human cloning is accompanied by ethical, social, and legal issues, and these issues are not something that humanity can easily solve. Therefore, in this blog post, I would like to discuss why humanity should not approach human cloning just yet.
First of all, cloning can be seen as a kind of life creation. However, the process is not simple, as was already clearly shown in Dolly’s case. Ian Wilmut produced 29 embryos from 277 eggs, and three of them successfully gave birth, but in the end, only one cloned sheep survived. The fact that all three lambs that were successfully born had big baby syndrome shows that current cloning technology is still inefficient and dangerous. It is also a cause for great concern that these problems in animal cloning can be applied to humans as well. If we forcibly apply cloning technology, which has many risks, to humans for the infinite possibilities that human cloning will bring, it could lead to numerous sacrifices and tragedies.
Moreover, even if human cloning becomes technically perfect, it is doubtful whether human society will be able to accept and adapt to the existence of cloned humans. Human cloning technology gives people the ability to create another person. This is a very controversial issue from an ethical perspective and conflicts with many religious beliefs. Many religions believe that only God can create humans, and this belief makes it likely that human cloning technology will be seen as a technology of evil. As a result, the development of cloning technology that can help people with genetic diseases and give hope to infertile couples may be delayed due to religious opposition.
Furthermore, there is a possibility that human cloning technology will be exploited for commercial or personal gain. Some people will try to create cloned humans for purposes such as organ transplants or clinical trials, and there is a risk that cloned humans will be treated like a commodity. Such commodification of humans will undermine human dignity in a way similar to the slavery of the past. Of course, there may be attempts to prevent such acts legally, but history shows that it is difficult to completely prevent all human deviations with laws alone. This can eventually lead to serious social problems that may arise from the indiscriminate use of human cloning technology.
I am not arguing for a complete ban on research into human cloning. However, the academic discipline of human cloning still has many technical and social risks, and we must approach it with full awareness and caution. Considering that it has only been 20 years since the first successful mammal cloning, I believe we still do not fully understand the limitations, side effects, and possibilities of cloning technology. Therefore, I believe it is right to conduct research on human cloning only after further deepening our research on cloning technology as a whole and ensuring the safety of the technology. This will allow us to minimize the side effects that may arise from human cloning and maximize the benefits that the technology can bring.
