Discussion on Whether Human Cloning Should Be Legal

Cloning is the process of producing genetically identical individuals of an organism in either a natural or artificial way. Another definition is the process used to create an exact copy of another gene, cell, tissue or organism. This means that the copied material or clone has the exact same genetic material or DNA as the original material used. The cloning technique is used all over the world and is a very common method used for biotechnology.

Biotechnology is a very important technique that manipulates the genetics of micro-organisms to produce antibiotics, hormones and many more. However, another very important cloning technique is that of mammals which is a very important aspect used in the modern society. Mammal cloning occurs very rarely naturally. For example: the cloning of parthenogenesis in bees is very rare. Cloning animals is very common by using the genetic engineering method. These animals are then used for both scientific study or for manufacturing human proteins (such as insulin) which we need in order for survival. These newly cloned animals are called ‘transgenic animals’. They are made in a fairly complicated process called recombinant DNA technology which is a main method used for cloning in animals as well as plants. In this technique the plasmid/ gene vector in a bacterial cell is cut open at specific points by the use of the restriction enzyme endonuclease. A desirable gene (section of DNA) from another cell is identified and located (for example – the gene coding for human insulin). This desirable gene is then cut from chromosome fragments using the restriction endonuclease enzyme which is specifically used for the ‘cutting’ process of the genes and plasmids. The enzyme ligase then ‘splices’ the desirable gene into the opened vector. The vector, which is now carrying the gene, is now inserted into the host bacterial cell. The bacterium containing the desirable gene is selected and then cultured in a nutrient medium which provides a large population to be capable of producing the desired gene product. The selected bacterium is cultured in a fermenter or bioreactor which provides the optimum pH, temperature and nutrient levels allowing the new transgenic gene to produce into a healthy and successful gene. After lots of processing the product (for example: the removing of the bacterial cells for recycling) the product then becomes extremely pure and therefore can be allowed to be produced rapidly which leads to one of the concerns of cloning mammals as well as other genes.

A big concern with regards to cloning is that there may be less variability in populations therefore exposing the transgenic organism (s) to disease and much more. There is also a concern with the interference with nature and that there will be a decrease in the genetic diversity. Another concern is that it may be against religious/ morals of people. Although there are concerns, there are also many positives towards cloning. Cloning can allow organisms to be produced in very large numbers which may save a person’s life if needed and it also not costly to run the process. Thus therefore make it economically viable. When an organism is cloned the outcome for the process is very predictable as the DNA of the transgenic organism should be identical to the original. This forms a sense of uniformity and the consumer is then driven therefore the production rate is very high and the transgene or transgenic organism is produced in large volumes.

There are three main types of cloning: therapeutic cloning, gene cloning and reproductive cloning. In therapeutic cloning (also known as embryo cloning) the goal is to produce a clonal embryo that then generates embryonic stem cells. This is then used to replace cells, tissues, organs and for scientific research. These embryonic stem cells can be used to treat clonal donor without the risk of immune rejection as it replaces damaged/ diseased tissues or organs. In future therapeutic cloning may be used to grow replacement organs by the use of stem cell technology. This is a very helpful method of cloning as it produces cloned tissues (for example – skin grafts in burn victims therefore if they feel uncomfortable with their skin they can go for procedures until they are happy with their skin). The use of “bioprinters” can be used to print 3D living tissues. Gene cloning is a method that produces copies of genes or segments of DNA from a cell. This method is also known as DNA cloning and it is very different to therapeutic and reproductive cloning. Whereas reproductive cloning is almost identical to therapeutic cloning, yet still so different. In reproductive cloning the goal is to produce a clonal embryo implant in a mother’s womb with the intention that the mother will carry the child and then eventually give birth to him/ her later on. This method forms new individuals with an identical clone of DNA to the original. There are three different types of reproductive cloning: Micro propagation or plant tissue culture for plants and Somatic cell nuclear transfer and embryonic nuclear transfer for animals. In animals this method relies largely on surrogacy to carry the foetus formed in the artificial ways in laboratories by the use of the “in vitro” method or by using test tubes. With regards to reproductive cloning there are two way to clone animals: a non-embryonic way or a way using the cells from early embryos. The non- embryonic way is the somatic cell nuclear transfer (also known as the SCNT). A nucleus is removed from a somatic body cell with desired genes and the nucleus is removed from the egg cell. This nucleus from the somatic body cell is then fused with the egg cell without a nucleus. A clone cell is then made which will then be placed into a surrogate mother who will then give birth to this identical copy of the original. For example: Dolly the sheep is an identical copy to her mother with the exact same DNA fingerprint. She was the start of animal cloning as she was one of the very first animal to be successfully cloned. To enable reproductive cloning in animals by using cells from early embryos, you use the embryonic nuclear transfer method. Cells are taken from early developing embryos and these can then be used to generate many identical embryo clusters. This clones species of animals very rapidly and it is not costly to do this. These cells may also be used as a source of stem cells to be used in scientific research that may lead to great discoveries in our future.

It is legal to do cloning in animals and it is done very often, however, it is illegal to clone a human. It is possible but it is not ethical. There are so many concerns with regards to cloning of humans. It goes against people’s moral/ethical/religious ways. It could lead to future abuses and lots of chaos as the question will be “who owns clone?” . Cloning is a very important aspect in our life, everyone will want to be a part of the ownership as they would want to stay high up ranked. This will cause lots of drama between countries and may even cause a war. Human cloning is not ethical at all and it is illegal in all countries around the world. Another big concern towards this is how many women will be needed in order to provide the amount of eggs needed for this human cloning research. Human cloning is believed to never be made safe to do and some feel as if it would affect the psychological well-being of the cloned children. Below is an article taken from: Science Daily by Springer in March, 2017.

Since Dolly the Sheep was cloned in 1996, the question of whether human reproductive cloning should be banned or pursued has been the subject of international debate. In an attempt to address the issue, the UN formulated a Declaration on Human Cloning in 2005, but this was ambiguously worded and received ambivalent support from UN member states. Now Adèle Langlois of the University of Lincoln, UK, argues that those in pursuit of a robust global governance framework on human cloning will do well to look at recent successes in the areas of climate change and business ethics. The report is published in Springer Nature's open access journal Palgrave Communications.

Langlois' study focuses specifically on official records and first-hand observations at various bioethics meetings to examine the impasse in the human cloning debate currently experienced by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

The UN Declaration on Human Cloning prohibits 'all forms of human cloning in as much as they are incompatible with human dignity and the protection of human life,' but the lack of support it has received from some member states and the ambiguous way it can be interpreted galvanised UNESCO to set up a working group in 2008 made up of members of its International Bioethics Committee.

The working group had to investigate the feasibility of a legally binding convention to ban human reproductive cloning. It found that the current lack of clarity in international law is unhelpful for those states yet to formulate national regulations or policies on the topic. Despite this, member states of UNESCO resisted the idea of a convention for several years. This changed in 2015 but, according to Langlois, no practical progress has been made since.

She believes this impasse can be addressed by establishing a robust global governance framework which uses a deliberative format. It should be based on knowledge sharing and feasibility testing rather than the interest-based bargaining that is common to intergovernmental organisations. It should also involve numerous stakeholders. This framework is similar to that which the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, another intergovernmental forum, used to move forward on climate change talks. It also allowed the UN to adopt the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in 2011 after years of failing to agree on a set of norms on this topic.

Langlois says human cloning talks should move away from short, formal discussions within committees towards more in-depth information exchanges among a broader range of stakeholders. It needs bottom-up pledges of action and the development of best practice through feasibility studies. This might not result in a decision to begin negotiating a treaty, but could at least give light to a set of resources and commitments that could prove effective in promoting ethical behaviour on the part of states and other actors.

'If there was a more flexible deliberative format, and we were able to mirror successful moves in other global forums, we could move towards a robust governance framework for human cloning, which would see less interest-based bargaining and more buy-in from stakeholders,' she adds.

In the article above, Langlois states that she believes that human cloning could be possible and efficient if scientists looked at it from a different point of view and approached human cloning in a much different way. She believes that instead of just banning human cloning, experiments should be done and everyone should be educated about what is happening and that they should be involved in the successes and the non-successes. Langlois says the government should be more sharing more of their knowledge of human cloning instead of what they have seen on the internet with regards to everyone else’s concerns and not really their own. She believes human cloning discussions should be more in depth and not so much just short talk. They should get into more detail about the disadvantages and possible successful outcomes of this cloning method. She believes that if we do experiments and there is a positive success rate then we could move towards more experiments and could build a safer environment with regards to cloning. She believes that it could involve a lot of money and that you could earn even more from it.

Personally I believe that human cloning should remain illegal and that it should not be allowed. It is very dangerous and has many health risks towards the newly cloned child. Scientists do not know what will occur in the future and can only try predicting the possible outcomes that may occur and these can lead to lots of disorders and health hazards for the environment if the human cloning experiments go wrong. The cloned child may be bullied or go through difficulties in life as they may feel as if they aren’t their own person or they may feel as if they are just some experiment used for studies with no worth. There may be a possibility of human cloning in the future but I believe that for now we haven’t researched enough about it therefore it is very unsafe for us and we should not be allowed to do it.