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CHAPTER 3 CLOWNS AND COWBOYS |
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Human cloning hit the headlines in a big way in 2001, and again late the following year. The results of that publicity linger on in the form of some dangerous misconceptions, the most obvious of which is that a cloned human already exists.
This chapter describes what's really going on, including the appalling failure rates for animal cloning, and examines the arguments put forward for and against human reproductive cloning — many of which apply to human GE in general. It also briefly profiles the most prominent of those who claim to be, or want to be, cloners. The section titles, below, are followed by
There are many more resources in the Appendix. |
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INTRODUCTION
WHAT IS CLONING? HAS ANYONE CLONED A HUMAN? WHAT IS WRONG WITH CLONING? EVERYTHING! SPECIFIC REASONS NOT TO TRY CLONING PEOPLE JUSTIFICATIONS GIVEN FOR CLONING PEOPLE OTHER POSSIBLE MOTIVATIONS SO WHY HASN'T CLONING BEEN BANNED YET? FURTHER READING Box 3.2 The Most Famous Clone Box 3.3 Mammal Cloning Success Rates Box 3.4 The Difference Between Clones and Twins Box 3.5 Human Cloning Claims 1: Rorvik Box 3.6 Human Cloning Claims 2: The Raelians Box 3.7 Human Cloning Claims 3: Antinori Box 3.8 Human Cloning Claims 4: Zavos Box 3.9 Dr Seed, and Those Who Would Clone the King |
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Cloning has become a freak show, an easy headline and a source of cheap laughs at the "clowns" or "cowboys" claiming to do it to humans. But the circus atmosphere conceals some very serious issues: Like a magician's patter, the carnival surrounding the self-promoting self-proclaimed cloners serves to distract us from much of what is really going on. People may be getting hurt, and worse may be to come. Moreover, the arguments against cloning include many of the most important arguments against all human genetic engineering. The reasons that drive a few people to encourage cloning — which are not necessarily the arguments they put forward to justify it — are also worth examining. Cloning may not be the worst possible example of human GE, but it is the most immediate. And it is still not illegal in most of the United States. ... |
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Links were checked and functioning as of 5/08/05; they are supposed to open in new windows. Please report broken ones. The Human Genome Project "Cloning Fact Sheet" is a substantial overview of the history, science and ethics of cloning, with well-selected links arranged by topic. Human Cloning and Human Dignity: An Ethical Inquiry, by the President's Council on Bioethics, is a 340-page report, available as a single pdf (3.3mb), one huge web page, or a series of web pages. The site also has useful background materials, including a FAQ, working papers by the Council's staff, and transcripts of the Council's deliberations. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) hosts a series of public-service web pages under the rubric "Religion & Ethics" that includes lists of arguments on both sides of the issue and some excellent links. Professor Julian Savulescu, Uehiro Chair in Practical Ethics, University of Oxford has made one of the more coherent arguments in favor of reproductive human cloning in his "Equality, cloning and clonism: why we must clone." He does, however, repeat the fallacy of twins as "natural clones" and assumes that the safety issues can definitively be overcome. Other pro-cloners, would-be cloners and self-proclaimed cloners can be found at and from: |
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Leon R. Kass and James Q. Wilson,The Ethics of Human Cloning, The AEI Press, 1998; an uncommonly good-looking little book, which includes Kass's classic essay, "The Wisdom of Repugnance" M. L. Rantala and Arthur J. Milgram, eds, Cloning: For and Against, Open Court, 1999; a collection of 54 essays with a wide range of points of view. Gina Kolata, Clone: The Road to Dolly and the Path Ahead, William Morrow and Company, 1998 David Rorvik, In His Image: The Cloning of Man, J.B. Lippincott Co., 1978, is generally assumed to be science-fiction. |
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