Cloning: pro and con. Arguments against human cloning

One of the most controversial issues in medicine has been cloning for many years: many are in favor of and against this procedure. The first mention of clones is dated 1963. It was then that the term was used by a geneticist from Great Britain.

Necessary terminology

Biologists use several definitions for the word "clone". Most often, this term means a certain organism, which appeared through out-of-multiplication and stored hereditary information from its ancestor. In the process of cloning, the gene structure is reproduced. It can not be said that these are absolute copies. They have the same genotype. But according to their supagenetic properties, clones can differ. They may have different size, color, susceptibility to diseases.

So, for example, the famous Dolly lamb was not completely a phenotypic copy of that sheep whose cells were used to obtain it. She had a lot of pathologies, because of which she died at an early age. And the sheep-parent had no illnesses. After the birth of Dolly, many began to talk about the possibilities of extraterrestrial reproduction of man. Few of the supporters of this branch of biology is stopped by the fact that about 85% of attempts to make clones fail. But the unknownness of this sphere is far from the only arguments against cloning.

Potential Opportunities

It is still too early to talk about the reproduction of replicas of people. But it's not just for this that you need cloning: for and against the continuation of research in this area, you can now find many arguments. But do not forget that this industry gives a lot of opportunities.

So, one of the promising areas is transplantology. For an organ transplant, do not look for a donor, check for compatibility, wait for surgery, and pray that the rejection process does not begin. Cloning would allow to grow an absolutely identical organ and transplant it.

Also, many say that this is a chance for childless families who do not want to take a foster child. In addition, cloning will avoid a number of hereditary diseases. Many want to use these technologies in order to avoid old age and natural death.

It's hard to say what the future is for cloning. Pros and cons of the arguments are strong on both sides. But adherents and opponents of such reproduction of the person speak about different sides of the coin.

It is believed that once scientists can make neurons, which can be replaced by nerve cells in the brain, dying as a result of the progression of Parkinson's disease. Also in the plans to create pancreatic cells that can produce natural insulin in the body of diabetics.

Prohibitions on conducting experiments

Despite the fact that scientists are still very far from creating a full-fledged healthy copy of a person, at the legislative level this is already prohibited. For example, the UN has developed a special declaration, which states that it is inadmissible to conduct such experiments on human reproduction as cloning. Against (the composition of legislators, fortunately for researchers, is only advisory in nature), only 84 members made the development of these technologies. But the declaration is actively supported in the US, in the East in the Arab countries, in Latin America and Africa.

Many people spoke in favor of continuing to develop technology, conducting experiments with cloning. But at the same time copying people remains unacceptable. Reproductive technologies through cloning have been banned in more than 30 countries. Among them are Russia, many states of Europe, Japan, China, Israel.

True, scientists continue to clone embryos. It is believed that this direction should produce a revolution in medicine. In their opinion, doctors with the help of these modern technologies have a chance to defeat a number of diseases, such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's or diabetes. Genetics believe that any prohibition, perhaps, protects morality, morality, but they doom to the death of people living today. To understand your attitude to this issue, you need to know all the arguments of the militant camps. Then everyone can make a choice for themselves and understand how it relates to modern technologies. Many people in the school deal with all the nuances and determine both sides of the coin called "cloning: pro and con." Composing on this topic helps to understand well your attitude to this issue.

Threatened by danger

Speaking about the need to ban any artificial reproductive technologies, people are afraid that doctors can not competently handle any scientific discoveries. Even the most secret developments are becoming known to a wide range of people. For example, it happened with atomic weapons. Therefore, it is impossible to control scientific knowledge and their distribution.

Despite all the opportunities that cloning of man opens, "for" and "against" should be well appreciated. For example, the development of these technologies can untie the hands of aggressive states, terrorist groups. They can create armies of physically hardy people who are not burdened with intellect. In addition, it will be possible to create clones of world rulers and undermine their authority, to bring chaos into political life.

But speaking about this, many forget that in order to get a clone of a person aged, for example, 40 years, it is necessary that these 40 years have passed. After all, they grow in the same way as ordinary people. In addition, it is also necessary to find parents who will agree to give birth and bring up a cloned child. So, in order to obtain an army of clones, it is necessary that at least 20-25 years have passed.

Another menacing danger is that people will be able to program the desired gender of the child. For example, in China or Muslim countries, where the birth of a boy is more preferable, there may be a huge imbalance.

Also, do not forget that these reproductive technologies are not yet perfect. Scientists have learned to take and reproduce genetic material, but it is too difficult to create viable copies for them. For geneticists - this is not an excuse to stop. Without further research, it is impossible to develop this industry.

Other objections

Many people are opponents of reproductive technologies simply because they do not understand what human cloning is for. Pros and cons are not clear to them. Opponents say that a person is a unique creature and it is unacceptable to make a copy of it. In their opinion, this is below the dignity of people. But at the same time they forget that similar codes have identical twins. There are about 150 million of them on the planet.

The thought of cloning itself is disgusting to many people. But this is not a reason to prohibit research in this industry. The decision to reproduce oneself must be made only by the people themselves. Otherwise, mankind is deprived of the right to the propagated freedom of choice. Supporters sincerely wonder why cloning is more disgusting than, for example, sex change.

But there are other arguments against the cloning of man. So, copying the code will reduce the genetic diversity of people on the planet. Cloned offspring will become weaker, more susceptible to various diseases. And this will be the impetus for the development of epidemics. But for this it is necessary that cloning in the literal sense be put on an industrial stream. About 6 billion people live on the planet. Even if 1 million clones appear, this amount will be negligible to influence not the genotypic diversity. But even if you copy each person, you get 6 billion different copies.

To understand what cloning is, for or against this phenomenon, one must also take into account that this process is incomparable with genetic engineering. In the process, genes are not modified and do not change in any way, they are simply copied. This leads to the appearance of an exact copy of the person without any changes. He can not become a freak or monster. Such results can only lead to the application of genetic engineering technologies, where DNA is modified.

Ethical aspects

Opponents of the idea of human cloning emphasize that the reproduction of copies of people is unethical. The church also actively opposes it. But religious people in the majority are opponents of all reproductive technologies, including ECO. They say that the creation of man, the mystery of his appearance on the light must be subject only to God. A person should not interfere in these matters.

But representatives of the Orthodox Church of Russia say that individual organs, tissues, animals can be reproduced. But they also oppose the complete reproduction of man. However, they do not consider this issue, as scientists, do not evaluate from the scientific point of view cloning. "For" and "against" they have their own. The Orthodox speak about the ethical side of the question. First of all, they ask about how a person will feel when he finds out that he is completely someone's copy. Also important are the legal aspects. Will the clone be the heir of a person who has become a donor? Should he continue his journey?

In addition, it is obvious that people are unlikely to stop on simple cloning. They will want to combine it with genetic engineering. That is, if this industry develops, then many will want to make improved copies of a person. For example, they will strive to increase physical endurance, improve mental abilities, stimulate individual organs, influence the appearance.

The universally recognized norms of morality

Speaking about the advantages of cloning and threatening dangers, very few people think about exactly how this process is going on. Thus, embryonic stem cells are best suited for growing organs. After all, about 14 days from these, all the organs and systems of the body begin to form. Scientists believe that 3-4 day old cells are ideal for cloning technologies.

For cloning, stem pluripotent cells are most suitable. Of these, all organs and tissues are formed, but a single organism can not be recreated. It is at this stage that geneticists are given maximum resistance. For many years now there has been an active discussion, an assessment has been made of how ethical the cloning of human embryos is: "for" and "against" each camp is strong enough. Thus, the opponents do not get tired of recalling that abortive embryos are used to produce these cells.

To obtain organs, this variant of cloning is considered. The embryo is grown up to three months of age. After this, it is removed from the artificial uterus and placed in a sterile space where the processes of its vital activity will be maintained. According to the adherents of the theory, the body grown in this way can not be called a person, nor a full-fledged clone. They call them simply a group of interacting organs, because the consciousness of a living being ceased activity during the abortion period. With this scheme of development of reproductive medicine, the cloning opponents categorically disagree.

Opinion of geneticists

Specialists engaged in technologies of growing living cells artificially, argue that you can not get an identical copy of a person. After all, it is formed not only by genes, but also by the circumstances in which it grew up. And it is impossible to recreate it. People are thinking about the reproduction of famous people, outstanding athletes, geniuses, but they forget that only external resemblance will be common. Form the same copy as the original, it is impossible.

In addition, it is too early to talk about such opportunities. Therefore, while it is useless to argue about ethical aspects and hold discussions on the topic of "Cloning: Pros and Cons." Now scientists can take the tissue of the donor, place it in an egg, devoid of its own genetic material, to grow blastocyl from it. But after that, it must be placed in the uterus. During the cultivation of the Dolly sheep, 277 clones were created, only 29 of them survived in the uterus. Of this number, only one viable sheep was obtained.

Experiments on mice made it clear that you can get offspring in this way. But thus in animals there is a certain latent defect. Outwardly they are absolutely healthy. But with each generation they are all the worse suited to cloning.

Even experts are not going to argue that these technologies are safe. They themselves can tell everything they know about the advantages and dangers that cloning in themselves ("for" or "against"). The writing on this topic of each of them will be able to show what additional dangers lie in wait for the experimenters.

Cons according to the eyes of specialists

Genetics calmly refer to the fact that they use embryos for research, they are not bothered by the religious side of the issue or moral and ethical aspects. They can call other arguments against cloning. But, in their opinion, they are related only to the fact that this industry requires additional research.

So, while specialists are clear that cloning can not become a substitute for the natural reproduction of offspring. But the reason why, with each generation of clones, the process is more and more difficult to find out yet is not possible. There are two main versions. According to one of them, with each cloning, the end of the chromosome called "telomere" is "lapped". And this makes impossible further copying. But this assumption was refuted as a result of experiments on mice. According to another version, this is due to the fact that the health of clones worsens with each generation. But it also failed to confirm.

Right choice

It is endless to talk about whether it is worth reproducing a person or other living beings. After all, there will always remain conflicting parties who can argue on the topic of "Cloning: Pros and Cons." A table in which all the potential advantages and disadvantages of this method will be displayed will hardly help to reconcile them. Although it will give each person the opportunity to determine their point of view.

Experienced it was found that even copying DNA will not give an opportunity to get an identical living being. So, for example, a cloned cat had a different color than its mother - a donor of genetic material. Many people thought that this technology would allow "resurrect" pet pets, the boldest hoped even to reproduce the departed people.

Therefore, to consider cloning, as a branch of reproductive medicine, no one at this time takes. But here it is possible to develop its potential in the therapeutic field. If we go only this way, then the number of opponents is sharply reduced. To do this, you can consider all the nuances that affect the process called cloning. The pros and cons can be summarized as follows. The main advantages include the opening opportunities for the treatment of many serious diseases, the restoration of skin that has suffered from burns, and the replacement of organs. But the opponents insist that it is necessary to remember the moral and ethical side of the issue, that these technologies are designed to kill the life that has arisen (embryos, from which stem cells are taken).