Are you still you? Will Human cloning lead to a better future or a disaster?
Human cloning will probably bring an irreversible disaster to humanity instead of a better future.
As technology advances, we might probably turn the idea of human cloning into reality in the coming future. There is no denying that human cloning might be a revolution for humankind. However, human cloning is biotechnology we should never do, as it will bring chaos and irreversible impacts to humanity on several aspects, such as biology, ethics, and society respectively.
Impact on the biology aspect and the genetic diversity
While people pursue more possibilities through human cloning, severe impacts follow simultaneously. To start with, human cloning is an over-intervention of humankind in terms of both natural development and genetic structure. It interferes with nature and even the whole system of nature since people can modify the gene and make the natural process of birth artificial. This in return can threaten the survival of humanity by reducing human genetic diversity. “In principle, all artificial breeding can reduce biodiversity.” (Bulfield 50) According to the report, the cloning technique adopted on animals has shrunk the genetic diversity among many populations of livestock (CIWF 40). And it can result in dangerous consequences to the species since genetic diversity and natural selection serve as the essential factors for the population of evolutionary adaptation to changes in the environment. In 2005, a university researcher warned that “If there is no genetic variability, the disease can affect all the animals simultaneously.”(“Biodiversity”)
Additionally, according to Endangered Animals can be Identified by Rate of Genetic Diversity Loss published by Purdue UP, Willoughby mentions that “genetic diversity is a key component to the long-term survival of a population.” Similarly, the same things can also happen to human beings if we lose genetic variation. Take Covid-19 as an example, this pandemic has caused a huge impact on humanity. It has infected 504M people and caused 6.2M deaths worldwide. Here is the question, “what if there is another Covid or even worse deadliest pandemic in the future?” There is no guarantee that it would not bring much more devastating consequences on the survival of humanity as cloning reduces genetic variability among the human population.
Societal concerns and the negative influences on family
Aside from biological issues, human cloning can also leads to several problems for both society and families. As the clones appear, there will also be the identity issue. For instance, which one is the real you? Should clones have equal human rights as us? Are they humans or objects? ,etc. Clones are totally identical to us physically, thus, it would be difficult to distinguish the originals and clones when they have the same DNA. It not destroys the genetic uniqueness of an individual but also leads to the problem when the clones are abused to commit crimes. Moreover, there might be a disparity and conflicts between natural humans and clones if one group is not given equal rights and treatments as the other one. There is already racial discrimination in our society, and clones are also likely to be discriminated against as they are just the production of biotechnology. “Individuals born by this technique are in great danger of being discriminated against. Anti-clone racism would of course be based on pseudo-biological fantasies for which there is no possible moral justification, but as is the case for ordinary racism, that fact would hardly prevent it from existing” (Atlan et al 16). Consequently, human cloning can cause more unrest and chaos in society.
As for the family, parents would not let their children go if cloning technology is available, and vice versa. However, a clone is physically identical to an individual, but mentally. The environment and the life experience shape one’s characteristics and make one a unique individual, and this means that clones are also independent individuals who have their own consciousness (Murayama). Thus, this can result in harming the psychological development of Clones (UNESCO 11). Clones might lose the sense of belonging as they do not have the same memory as the original (dead) individuals. In other words, they do not have the memory of living in this family. Also, people in the family might have the same feeling since the clones might behave differently from the individuals they used to know. It, therefore, harms the relationship between family members and will alter the family of origin.
High risk of failure and ethics
Last but not least, cloning is accompanied by a high failure rate and several potential health defects. “Ninety-five to ninety-seven percent of animal cloning attempts still end in failure, and the scientists who cloned Dolly failed 276 times before they succeeded in producing a single live-born clone of an adult sheep.” Weldon said. Moreover, most scientific experts believe that the procedure of cloning humans will result in even higher failure rates (Weldon, 2002). Besides the high risk of failing, the clones are also likely to suffer an increased risk of serious genetic malformation, cancer, or shortened lifespan. (Savulescu, 1999). Meanwhile, several failures in cloning experiments mean the high likelihood of scarifying many lives when it comes to human reproductive cloning, and the process is unethical. Also, how do we deal with those clone humans if they are viable but imperfect? Is it murder if we “scrap” them? Furthermore, the existence of clones will also lead to various ethical and moral concerns that I had mentioned in the previous paragraphs, such as human rights and clone human rights, abuse of clones, the identity of clone humans….etc.
There are still many further problems that haven’t been mentioned in this paper. In conclusion, the drawback of reproductive cloning does outweigh the benefit it brings to humankind. There is no guarantee that whatever happens in the future will all be in our control. This biotechnology might lead to an irreversible disaster for us rather than an ideal future. Based on past history, defying the natural laws and gods ultimately end up with unpredictable consequences. Just because we can doesn’t mean we should. “Human cloning for any purpose opens the door to a ‘Brave New World,’ and we must shut that door now.”(Weldon, 2002)
Bibliography
Bulfield Grahame. “Biotechnology: advances and impact.” Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, Vol. 80, no. 14, 28 Sep. 2000, pp. 2077–2080. https://doi.org/10.1002/1097-0010(200011)80:14<2077::AID-JSFA742>3.0.CO;2-R
“Biodiversity: | Biodiversity & Corporate Control.” Center for Food Safety, https://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/issues/302/animal-cloning/biodiversity. Accessed 17Apr. 2022.
Compassion in world farming. “Farm Animal Cloning Report — Compassion in World Farming.” Farm Animal Cloning Report, 2010, pp.40 https://www.ciwf.org.uk/media/3816935/farm-animal-cloning-report.pdf.
Hoose, Natalie van. “Endangered Animals Can Be Identified by Rate of Genetic Diversity Loss.” Purdue University, 31 Aug. 2015, https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2015/Q3/endangered-animals-can-be-identified-by-rate-of-genetic-diversity-loss.html.
Savulescu, J. “Should we clone human beings? Cloning as a source of tissue for transplantation.” Journal of medical ethics vol. 25,2 (1999): 87–95. doi:10.1136/jme.25.2.87
Pulman Bertrand. “The Issues Involved in Cloning: Sociology and Bioethics.” Revue Française de Sociologie., vol. 48, no. 3, Julliard,, 2007, pp. 129–56, https://doi.org/info:doi/.
Murayama, Satomi Angelika. “Op-Ed: The Dangers of Cloning.” Fung Institute for Engineering Leadership, Berkeley Master of Engineering, 11 May 2020, https://funginstitute.berkeley.edu/news/op-ed-the-dangers-of-cloning/.
Dave Weldon, “Why Human Cloning Must Be Banned Now,” Dignity 8, no. 1 (2002): 1, 4. https://cbhd.org/content/why-human-cloning-must-be-banned-now
