The Dilemma of Cloning

Our era is considered to be the period of discoveries focusing mostly in the spheres of technical and medical research. Some scientists even dare to call our century, as well as the end of the previous one, the new scientific revolution. Many prominent scientists and researchers gave their lives in order to be heard, in order to keep to their words and defend their views on the newly discovered essence of many things – our planet, Solar system and of course, the complexities of being a human.

More so, many scientists and experts have been intrigued by the mysterious nature of human beings and out of curiosity numerous studies have been conducted as an attempt to reveal and discover new fascinating things about human beings. Other experts would go beyond the norm to see the extent of the limitations of humans as living beings.

One of the most controversial and most anticipated researches on humans is cloning which is the process of creating of a duplicate genetic copy of another. In an effort to further studies about human cloning, scientists have ventured into animal cloning. “Now that a cloned cat is a reality, pet owners may wonder when they will be able to duplicate their own kitty or pooch” (Wood 1).

Nowadays, people are not scrutinized or criticized based on their scientific views because the present society is far more democratic and liberal compared to previous years. However, relatively recent events connected with the research of cloning have proved that investigation in the cell domain may lead to the whole range of medical, ethical, religious and even political disputes. Present day medical science had made an extensive and significant undertaking that extended the boundaries of human knowledge but breaking the limitations can either enrich mankind with new useful knowledge or yield visible harmful effects and destructive consequences.

Stem cells themselves would not have caused such a thunderstorm of critique if not for the source of their extraction. The point is that scientists believe that stem cells taken from living organisms have the highest transformational potential and can better serve as the precursors for the whole variety of cells in the living body of an animal.

However, the very idea that these cells are extracted from living embryos, some people considers this a form of a murderous act. In fact, not all the people are aware of the real situation regarding embryonic cell research. It is not a secret that stem cells are taken from surplus embryos, which are more likely not going to be useful for particular purposes in the future.

In the article “Where on the Web Register to Clone Your Pet” by Christina Wood, it stated that the cost of pet cloning is about $895 and up and after there is an annual fee of $100 per year. More so, people interested in cloning their pets have to pay a vet to collect the pet’s skin sample. Obviously, clones do not come cheap. “The cost, when the technology is perfected, could start at nearly $20,000” (Wood 1). It is important to stress that any science or research should be primarily useful to mankind for the present time and in the succeeding years.

Animal cloning and stem cell research should be developed only if it does not harm mankind and if it generates positive changes, or at least reduces all negative effects to a minimum. According to Wood, “hundreds of people already store pet DNA with GSC” disregarding the fact that there are many stray cats and dogs in animal shelters that need to be adopted. This situation shows that people would rather pay thousands of dollars to replicate the genes of their pets (take note that pet when cloned will not be a carbon copy of the original pet which contradicts the definition of cloning) instead of caring for real animals that are in need of love and care.

Furthermore, people should not forget about ethical and moral aspects of pet cloning and possible dangers of this scientific endeavor. According to ethical principles cloning is not accepted in certain countries and is restricted by some government. Although some scientists may accept the risks in order to benefit and stand up for further rapid development of stem cell research, there is no guarantee that casualties can be reduced to zero. Every science is worthy of attention and further development of it should benefit the whole of mankind. Therefore, the first and foremost objective of cloning and stem cell research should be the promotion and delivery of advantages to mankind where everyone can benefit from it.