Should the science of cloning continue

The positive and negatives concerning cloning.

The procedure of cloning may in the future be so beneficial to human health and longevity via cloning of organs such as livers, lungs, spinal cords, and maybe someday even hearts. However, this skill may become a double edged sword. As noted with any other technology from the atom bomb to super computers these technologies can be used to bolster society improve living conditions and even safe lives! Nevertheless, these same technologies have been used to destroy devastate communities and even kill as they provide a vector for both ends of the spectrum.
Let’s explore the history of cloning and follow it from its infancy until now. Many people may remember the story concerning dolly the sheep who was cloned and born in 1996. But only a few know what became of Dolly’s life. The cloning of Dolly was hailed as a great scientific triumph in the 1990’s instilling believe that soon we would be able to clone everything from organs to animals and of course finally humans. However, so far history hasn’t played out that way. This first highly published cloning attempt named Dolly did not turn out so well. After this animal was born in 1996 is health declined rapidly so rapid that dolly had to be euthanatized six years later and was in poor health much of her life. Scientist put out many hypotheses concerning why Dolly’s health was so poor from the frozen cells that were taken were aged as well as many others. Nevertheless, no matter what the correct hypothesis may be, it was simply that science did not have the skill to make an exact healthy replica of the parent sheep at that time. Moreover, instead produced a less than perfect organism compared to nature which produced Dolly’s genetic donor.
Armed with the history of Dolly and many other factors concerning cloning I am both enthusiastic on one hand and gravely concerned regarding this technology on the other hand. I am enthusiastic and excited regarding the possibility of cloning organs and using them to save lives and bolster the quality of life for potentially so many people. While at the same time concerned that we could be getting ahead of our science and could be producing much less than perfect results as we seen with dolly. These less than perfect results could be devastating to individuals such as animals or humans involved with these procedures. Moreover, if used for cloning humans on a large scale is even more concerning and could be potentially devastating to our evolution itself. We all like to think of cloning as if we see it in Hollywood. We all like to think that if we lost someone we loved science could keep their cells alive by cloning them and we would have our loved one’s back. However, it doesn’t work at all like that. That’s more of a myth than a reality.
For example if you cloned your dog many factors would work to produce a very different dog then the one you know and you’re cloning. First of all it’s a very slow procedure in which your dog would age before the clone was born. You can create an embryo via cloning and transfer it into the womb of a surrogate mother. Wait nine weeks and then you will have an exact genetic copy of the donor but a much younger copy. It may look like it’s donor but its experiences would be very different and the environment it learns and grows in very different as well. So, it would mature differently and hence finally it’s a different dog. It’s not the same dog nor is it identical to its donor at all. While the genetic material may be identical, life is based on many more factors. Some are: age, time lines (concerning time lines of birth), the environment, location, learned experiences and many more. I believe it’s impossible to produce a perfect copy of a living animal or human. The clone would not have the same behavior patterns much less have the same everyday thoughts of its donor. So while Hollywood may sensationalize cloning it’s a very complex procedure not yet perfected that to me will always produce very different results than its intended exact replica of an animal.
I’m skeptical that science will ever have the answers to replicating an animal or a human that will be as its donor the same in every way. Moreover, if they do sometime in the future master this skill I’m and concerned of the effects this may have on or society and our way of life. As well as the negative effects it may have concerning our continued evolution whether adequately done with animals or humans on a large scale.
Nevertheless, with all of the negatives discussed above I believe that the science of cloning must continue advancing. To be able to clone stem cells and where that technology may take us regarding health care is exciting and promising. In the in the future organs in our body’s that fail may be able to be purchased from some type of cloning factory and this technology may save countless lives. Moreover, through cloning and monitoring the cycles of cloned life may in the future provide information concerning disease and perhaps the cures for many of the diseases that plague the human existence today. In conclusion, I am a proponent of cloning for improving health, advancing longevity and promoting quality of life. However, I am against cloning if the intent is to simply provide and exact replica of an animal or human to prove that we can do it. While we are well on our way to developing different procedures of cloning naturally there will be many failures and many achievements and many moral issues to contend with along the way. However, I strongly feel there is too much to be gained regarding health, quality of life as well as an obligation to the longevity of our species to abandon such promising science and technology.