Reproductive cloning creates a complete copy of an organism’s genetic information, while therapeutic cloning creates copies of all or part of an organism to treat ailments. Animal cloning is viewed as beneficial for advancing cloning technology, but opposed on ethical grounds. Human cloning is controversial due to ethical and religious views. Proponents argue it could help those who cannot have children or have lost children, while opponents argue it could cause people to see themselves and others as objects and be psychologically damaging.
Reproductive cloning is the process of using an organism’s genetic information to create a complete copy of the same organism. This is not the same as therapeutic cloning, which involves using genetic information to create identical copies of all or part of an organism in order to treat ailments that may arise. Specifically, cloning a person to make a new one with all rights and opportunities like anyone else is reproductive cloning; cloning a person as an organ donor for the “original” person is therapeutic cloning. Many support reproductive cloning due to its use in advancing science, while others oppose it due to ethical concerns, security risks, and religious beliefs.
Genetic clones of different animals have been produced through reproductive cloning. Animal cloning poses little risk to humans, so many view it as beneficial because it allows for the relatively safe development of better cloning technology. It also provides insight into the genetic makeup of a variety of different organisms. Many people oppose animal cloning on ethical grounds, however, because most cloning attempts are unsuccessful and lead to the death or severe disfigurement of the clones.
Human cloning is a much more debated issue due to the different ethical and religious views that people hold regarding the value of human beings. Proponents of human reproductive cloning argue that those who cannot have children through currently available natural or laboratory means could use cloning to have genetically related children. It would also allow same-sex couples to have genetically related children without resorting to adoption or surrogate parenting. Another highly controversial benefit of reproductive cloning is the ability of parents who have lost children to develop exact genetic clones of lost children. Proponents of cloning often respond to ethical objections by saying that society’s ethical standards need to change as potentially valuable new technologies are developed.
Opponents of reproductive cloning argue that cloning as an accepted practice would cause people to see themselves and others as objects. It would also place great psychological stress on cloned individuals, who would need to accept that they were artificially produced and who would likely spend much of their lives struggling to get out of the shadow of their genetic “parents.” Furthermore, as demonstrated through animal cloning, reproductive cloning is highly dangerous and could result in premature death or severe debilitating debilitation of the clones.
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