Human Cloning

Have you ever wanted to have an exact clone of yourself? This possibility is becoming more and more possible as technology becomes more advanced. If you were to clone yourself, the clone would have to have a natural birth just as any human does. Therefore, the clone would not be the same age as you, but be identical to you. It is an identical twin that is delayed in time. This has never happened to humans though. Our technology is not that advanced yet, but is almost there. The picture to the right is scientist Ian Wilmut and his cloned sheep named Dolly. In 1997, this Scottish scientist was the first ever to clone a mammal. This just shows how close we are coming to human cloning. There has been various other animals cloned in the past century. Dolly the sheep is still the only mammal though.

 

The problem with human cloning is that humans are far more complicated than sheep as far as our genetic make up goes. Also, there is the question of morality and ethics. Many people feel as though it is not right or natural to perform something like this. Many religious groups think that these scientists are trying to take over the role of the creator, or God. They believe only God should have the power to create humans. Another issue with this is the cloned child will not have a sense of identity. They will feel like a science experiment rather than an actual human being. They will feel overshadowed by the person they were cloned from. Some people also believe that it is not right to clone a human. They find it unnecessary and think technology has gone too far. It is also a very dangerous process, which can harm the clone and the surrogate mother carrying the clone. It took nearly three-hundred tries for Dolly the sheep to be a success. We are not quite there yet, but when we do get there it will be a very controversial issue.