Cloning

Few have heard about the state-of-the-art fertility clinic in Cohasset, Mass., where a boy named Michael R. was cloned after dying at age 5. Now 3 years old, the new Michael, cloned from genetic material taken from the original child, lives with his parents, who have joined several other mothers and fathers of replacement children in praising the man who genetically replicated their lost sons and daughters. "We restore a life to families that have lost one," says Godsend's Web site. "We bring happiness to those who have known only grief. How can anyone find fault with that?" Type in the word "cloning" on Google, and a sponsored link will come up: "Cloning Is Now a Reality, The Godsend Institute Can Create Life From Life Via Cloning, Today!" Click on "The Process," and read about how the doctor does it -- information that is reasonably accurate as far as animal cloning goes, though, of course, this has never been done on humans for all we know. Click on "Testimonials," and read blurbs by satisfied parents pictured with their lovely little clones. If this news is chilling, it's supposed to be. If it sounds plausible, it is. If it also sounds dubious, it's that, too - it's a Web site created to market "Godsend," a new film from Lions Gate Films. It sounds potentially edgy and tantalizing. The "Godsend Institute" site mimics real sites for hospitals and clinics, with their smiling, model-beautiful patients and images of glittering, gizmo-laden operating theaters (godsendinstitute.org). The movie is one in a million of the bizarre stories about how cloning will lead to some major problem, and leaves the world in chaos.

History of Cloning

Millions of people have enjoyed stories about how something goes wrong and cloning technology ends up conquering the world, probably because they hadn't expected cloning to become reality. Yet now scientists have the technology and knowledge to do what we once thought was impossible. What many people don't know is that scientists have been in the business of cloning since 5000 B.C. Early humans discovered that they plant seeds produced by the heartiest plants, the next crop will be stronger (www.actionbioscience.org). For years, the prospect of human cloning was fodder for outrageous science-fiction stories and nothing more. However, in more recent times, human cloning has moved significantly closer to becoming a reality. Accordingly, the issue has evoked a number of strong reactions, both praising and condemning the procedure. The fact that human cloning not just affects human lives indirectly but actually involves tinkering with human creation has forced human cloning into a position of controversy. The progress of the issue of human cloning, then, has been shaped not only by the abilities and resources of scientists but by public opinion and by governmental regulation which has resulted from public pressure.

Although the issue of human cloning has received the most attention within the last two years, cloning techniques have existed since the late 1970s. The cloning technique used at this time was a process called artificial twinning which involved splitting a single fertilized ovum into what are then considered new embryos and then implanting each into a female to be carried to term (religioustolerance.org). These experiments, however, were limited to animals. By the 1980s and early 1990s, during the presidencies of Ronald Reagan and George Bush, restrictions had been placed on the research of the cloning of human beings. The pro-life groups, which have considerable influence in the Republican Party, held many concerns about the experimentation and destruction of human embryos, which they consider people with rights, thus they pressured the administration for restrictions on research (NSTA.org). A series of measures prohibiting federal funding for human cloning were thus applied, and little innovation occurred in the field for quite some time. President Clinton's administration, however, lifted the ban on public funding for human embryo and fetal research within the first few days of the presidency.

By 1994, the first publicly announced human cloning experiments had been done. Robert J. Stillman, who headed a research team at the George Washington Medical Center in Washington, D.C. was responsible for the experiments. The team took seventeen flawed human embryos, which could not have developed into fetuses under any conditions, and successfully split them in October 1994 to produce clones. The purpose of the experiment was not really to create viable human clones but to encourage public debate about the issue of human cloning in general (ThinkQuest.org). Public discussion on human cloning quieted somewhat until February 23, 1997. It was on this date that Dr. Ian Wilmut of the Roslin Institute in Scotland revealed the first large animal cloned using adult DNA, Dolly the sheep (religioutolerance.org). Dolly had successfully been cloned in July 1996, and since then, the Roslin Institute has cloned seven more sheep of three different breeds (religioustolerance.org).

Immediately, speculation began as to whether the process of adult DNA cloning, which involves taking a somatic cell with its nucleus removed and placing the nucleus of a fertilized cell within it, could be applied to human beings. Some were excited about the possibilities, while others feared what could happen. The government responded quickly. In less than two weeks, on March 4, 1997, President Clinton issued a ban on federal funding of human cloning within the United States. For several months after this, there was not a significant amount of movement concerning the cloning issue. Some scientific advances were made, such as the cloning of a bull named Gene and the cloning of frogs which lacked brains and central nervous systems, thus creating an organ supply(NSTA Opinion). Nevertheless, the controversy died down somewhat. The quiet did not last long, though. In early January of 1998, a physicist and fertility research scientist named Richard Seed announced that he intended to begin the process of cloning the first human being. This announcement rekindled the fierce de bate over human cloning. Moreover, it was an announcement which received international attention (Nussbaum, Martha).

The country is divided into two groups, when it comes to cloning. The process is denounced by religious groups, including Christians, Muslims and Jews, as playing God, and many scientists even felt that applying the procedure to humans would be unethical, especially at such an experimental stage. Religious aspects believe scientists are taking nature into their own hands by