Re: Cons of Cloning Humans

Many people have different opinions on cloning.  Some people think it's 
great and we should go right ahead with any research we want to.  Other 
people think it is a horrible idea and no one should have anything to do 
with it.  Most people take a moderate stance, somewhere in the middle.

There are many reasons why people think cloning is a bad idea.  First of 
all, why would you make a clone of a person?  Some people want to clone a 
child or a parent that has died.  They say it would "bring back" the 
person that died, or at least remind them of the person that died.  But the 
clone wouldn't be an exact copy of that person.  They would be much 
younger, and would have different experiences as they grew up.  Your genes 
are only half the story of what makes you be you.  These clones would grow 
up to be very different people.  And how would you feel, knowing that you 
were the clone of another person?  Would people always expect you to act a 
certain way, to like certain foods or hate certain kinds of music?  What 
would it be like to know that you were the clone of your father, or 
grandmother, or a little sister or brother that had died?  Some people 
think that expecting someone to go through this sort of thing would be 
unfair.

Another reason to make clones is for organ transplants.  Right now, if you 
get a transplanted heart or lungs or liver, there is a good chance your 
body will say "Hey!  THAT doesn't belong here!" and try to get rid of the 
invader.  If you could get a cloned heart, then it would have the same 
genes, and your body wouldn't try to kill it.  But what if the only way to 
get cloned organs was to make an entire human?  Do you have the right to 
kill your clone to take its heart?  How would you feel if you were the 
clone?  Would clones have the right to say "No, you can't have my heart - 
I'm not done using it" ?

Some people are afraid that scientists or governments would make clones to 
be soldiers, or workers in dangerous jobs, or jobs nobody else wanted.  
Other people are afraid someone would try to make "super people" that 
looked and acted the way THEY wanted people to act.  

Finally, cloning is difficult!  A lot of times, it doesn't work and the 
embryo dies.  Other times, the baby clone is deformed or has other 
problems.  What should be done with THESE clones? 

There are a lot of possible benefits from cloning, but there are also some 
problems.  We have to be careful with the ethics involved.  Your generation 
will probably have to deal with questions like these even more than mine.  
Do research, ask questions, and get involved!

Here are some sites I used to help research this. 
 http://bioethics.gov/pubs/cloning1/executive.htm
Probably above a 7-9 grade reading level, but give it a try!

Scientific American article http://www.sciam.com/1999/0999bionic/0999green.html#link2
 http://www.worldbook.com/fun/bth/cloning/html/ethics.html
A World Book Encyclopedia article, with an excellent breakdown on arguments 
for and against human cloning