In this blog post, we will look at how human cloning technology, which began in earnest after Dolly the sheep was cloned, could have an impact on the future beyond ethical controversy.
Dolly the sheep was born in 1997. The birth of Dolly attracted worldwide attention and made a great contribution to biotechnology. Until then, the common belief was that it was impossible to clone an adult mammal, but this remarkable event suggested that human cloning might become a reality. This led to many human rights organizations voicing their opposition. The debate over the technology of “human cloning” is fierce. This is due to the nature of human cloning.
Human cloning, to be precise, means to clone a human embryo at the stage of cell division after the fertilization of a sperm and an egg and before the development of a fetus, and to give birth to a human with the same genes. The method of human cloning currently in progress is the nuclear replacement technique. The nuclear replacement technique is a method of removing the nucleus of a mature, unfertilized egg and replacing it with a nucleus obtained from a special cell of an adult or embryonic tissue. Since all of the genetic information of a cell is contained in its nucleus, the egg with a changed nucleus and the individual generated from this egg are genetically identical to the organism that was the source of the implanted nucleus. In other words, genetically identical individuals can be created infinitely through nuclear transplantation. In principle, this method can be used to clone any person, and because it can live longer than the source of the cells due to laboratory cultivation and tissue storage, it is also possible to clone a dead person.
Wilmut and his colleagues, who created Dolly the sheep, found a way to reprogram the state of the DNA in the cells provided, returning the differentiated state to the initial state and restoring the developmental potential to produce a mature organism, making it possible to reproduce the entire process. In other words, it is to make a primitive cell by returning the process of somatic cell division of a cell to the state before differentiation of each cell. Therefore, the ongoing research is not to give birth to a human being through the fertilization of a sperm and an egg, but to give birth to a human being through the somatic cell division of a single cell.
If human cloning is achieved, the field that will benefit the most will be the medical field. Currently, stem cell research is being actively conducted, and stem cells can also be considered a type of cloning. Stem cells are cells that have not yet differentiated into tissues, and they are attracting attention because they can be injected into damaged tissues to produce therapeutic effects. Proponents of cloning research argue that it should be continued because stem cells can be obtained. If you have an individual with the same genes as you through human cloning, you can treat the disease by receiving organs from that individual when a problem occurs in a specific internal organ, and you can also contribute to extending the lifespan of humans.
In this regard, human rights issues are raised. The movie “The Island” deals with this issue, and the protagonists in the movie live in isolation from the outside world as clones of other people. Sponsors believe that their cloned humans merely survive, but cloned humans have the same genes as their sponsors and can think and live in the same way as them. How should the human rights of cloned humans be guaranteed? Should they be recognized as a single personality? If they are recognized as a personality, the original purpose is deviated from, and the original cannot use their organs at will.
Generally, the position against human cloning can be divided into two categories. The first is the essentialist view that human cloning is inherently bad. Advocates of this view emphasize the naturalness of sexual reproduction and argue that the cloning of life forms by asexual reproduction is inherently wrong. They believe that children born through asexual reproduction are less likely to have their own identity and that their bond with their parents will be weakened. Mailander said at the NBAC on March 13, 1997, “Our children are born with a kind of genetic independence from their parents from the very beginning. They do not copy either their father or their mother. This ultimately reminds us that we must recognize the independence of our children and that it is our duty to prepare them for independence. “Although in principle, we should not forget that children are a gift given to us,” he said, emphasizing the importance of genetic uniqueness.
The second is the consequentialist view that the result of cloning is bad. This view is the most weighty moral objection to cloning and can be divided into two. The main concerns are the possibility of physical or genetic damage to the child during human cloning, and the psychological trauma caused by unrealistic parental expectations and identity confusion. Nevertheless, the reason why we cannot abandon nuclear replacement technology (cell fusion method) is that this is the only way to understand cancer on a genetic basis and to treat genetic diseases such as cancer.
Molecular biologist Leon Kass argued that any attempt to clone a human is an unethical experiment on an unborn child and carries serious risks of failure and deformity, as confirmed by animal experiments. He believes that considering the concept of cloning, it is unlikely that a future child would choose to be cloned, even if the child is healthy. Therefore, he points out that we cannot be sure that human cloning is ethically justifiable and emphasizes the dangers of it. On the other hand, Gregory Pence argues that the claim that human cloning will be harmful cannot sometimes be justified. He asks, “We are doing very new things to save human lives, from genetically modified tomatoes to human-grown livers for transplantation in pigs, crossing the barriers of nature. Why are we so worried about somatic cell nuclear transfer?” Pence argues that we should not set overly strict standards for human cloning, as high rates of embryo loss are accepted in normal reproduction and in vitro fertilization.
Human cloning technology has its obvious advantages, but it also has many problems. I support a result-oriented perspective, and the problems with human cloning are as follows. First, there is the issue of human rights violations mentioned earlier. If human cloning becomes possible, there will be a tendency to devalue life. Life is a precious thing that is given to everyone equally and is a one-time event, but if human cloning is realized, life can theoretically be extended indefinitely, which could lead to a trend of belittling life. Some opponents of human cloning are concerned that a child born through cloning will be treated like an object rather than a person. This is because people may begin to perceive the act of giving birth as “creating” a human being, which could lead to objectification.
Second, if biotechnology is misused, the damage will be enormous. Cloning technology is the creation of life, so if it is misused, it can have serious consequences. For example, if it is used in connection with a crime, another individual may be created without the person’s knowledge, and the individual may be wrongfully accused of the crime.
Third, human cloning is inseparable from genetic manipulation, and the tendency to pursue the perfect human image will intensify. This could exacerbate discrimination. Like the issue of racial discrimination in the past, if individuals with superior genes are created through cloning, they could be separated from children who do not have superior genes, which could lead to discrimination. This can be seen as a problem related to eugenics, but it will become more serious if human cloning becomes possible, which is an important issue that cannot be separated from human cloning.
I am critical of human cloning. As we have seen, cloning technology is very medically significant and has the advantage of contributing to improving the quality of life for humanity. However, this technology must be handled with great care as it is directly linked to life. If used well, it can expand the human realm, but if used incorrectly, the damage will be enormous. There are also still issues that this technology may cause. Human cloning technology is an important issue that could determine the future of humanity, so we should think carefully about it rather than making hasty judgments.
