Should We Clone?

“Cloning is the process of making an exact copy of someone or something” (WHAT IS CLONING?). Since the February 1997 announcement of the birth of Dolly, a sheep cloned by Ian Wilmut, cloning research has increased greatly (science museum). Cloning humans has recently become much more of a possibility than it was years ago (Batra). Scientists are on the edge of a huge breakthrough in the field of human cloning, and society must ask itself whether or not it should be allowed. Many arguments can be made for and against human cloning, but since it is inhumane and would take away individuality and social values. The practice of cloning humans is one that government should ban and we should not accept.

Proponents of human cloning may argue that it is just a logical and inevitable advance in science research and technology. It is, however, too risky for human subjects. "At the present time, the general consensus of the public is against human cloning" (science museum). Within a few years' time, however, the medical possibilities of human cloning may be attractive enough to change public opinion. Research on human cloning would involve huge risks for the initial clones, because any experiments in human cloning would eventually have to be carried out on human beings.

Human cloning is unethical because the risks of this practice greatly outweigh the benefits. The technique that produced Dolly the sheep was successful in only 1 of 277 attempts (science museum). If this technique were attempted in humans, it would risk miscarriages in the mother and severe developmental problems in the child. Standard medical practice would never allow the use of any drug or device with such little study and without much additional animal research (National Bioethics Advisory Commission). The actual risks of physical harm to the cloned child cannot be certain without conducting experiments on human beings. This in itself is unethical because no one knows what will happen and the child is in danger because one does not know what is going to happen, and are possibly leading to a child who could be disabled and have developmental difficulties.

Human cloning would violate a person's individuality and take away a child's identity. Cloned children would see themselves not as a person, but as an object that their parents could discard because of imperfection. A family is no longer a genuine family.

Children should be valued for who they are, not according to how closely they meet their parents' expectations. If a child were cloned, his life would already have been lived by another human being. Suppose a boy is cloned from a grandparent. The cloned child knows too much about himself because another person in the world is exactly like him. It is unfair for the earlier "twin" to determine the child's life in this way. Imagine a world in which cloning is permitted and practiced. Human cloning poses a huge risk to society and nature. It is unethical and unacceptable, inappropriate and intolerable. Society should not reduce itself to cloning of humans for its own benefit. Cloning would produce many more problems than improvements. The course of life should be left up to nature, the way it has been since the beginning of time. 
 

Bibliography

Batra, Karen. "Process of Cloning." 2008. clonesafety.org. 17 April 2012 <http://www.clonesafety.com/cloning/facts/process/>.

"science museum." 27 April 2012 <http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/antenna/dolly/121.asp>.

"WHAT IS CLONING?" 2012. Learn.Genetics. 17 April 2012 <http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/tech/cloning/whatiscloning/>.

Difficulties

Author’s note: This is a piece on the similar themes used in the two books April Morning and I Am Number Four.

In life there are certain aspects to the passage from childhood to adulthood that create this transition. In the books April Morning by Howard Fast and I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore the disagreements between the adult authority figure and the adolescent play a key role in this theme. There are many similar themes in these two books but the main one is “growing up”. This theme presents many challenges to the main characters of each book. Some of the challenges are conflicts, loss of innocence and overcoming adversity. The challenges experienced by the main characters play pivotal roles in their transition from childhood to adulthood.

Conflicts are one of the many challenges adolescents face and can be very hard to overcome. Some conflicts that occur in both books are arguments between the guardian and child. For example in both books the characters have tantamount arguments with their guardian. In April Morning, the main character (Adam) gets into arguments with his dad (Moses) about him being a man. Adam feels that he should be considered a man but his dad doesn’t. This argument affects on how Adam looks at his dad, and realizes the authority needed to be an adult. While in the other book the main character (John) gets in an argument with his guardian about why he tried to run away. John argued with Henri, saying it was because he wanted to start a normal life but eventually Henri explained to him that this is not possible. John realizes what would have happened to him and ends up apologizing to Henri, and is closer to adulthood because he now knows how much thought is needed before he acts.

Another challenge that takes place during the process of growing up would be the loss of innocence. The loss of innocence reflects the changes that a person experiences as they grow up and comes to certain realizations that things aren’t as perfect as they once thought. Coincidently, both of the characters have the same tragic loss of innocence. Moses of April Morning dies in the latter part of the book after getting shot during the war. Adam was present when this happened and experiencing Moses’ death was definitely a cause of the loss of his innocence. Henri, on the other hand, dies while protecting John from the Mogadorians (bad guys). The Mogadorians are trying to kill John and because Henri is John’s guardian he tries to save him, but tragically ends up getting himself killed. The loss of innocence is a common aspect experience by individuals as they mature.

Although these are tough challenges that a person faces in life, I feel that the most difficult one is overcoming adversity. In childhood there are many things a person needs to overcome such as the death of a close family member or friend, injuries to yourself both mentally and physically, or it could even be an argument with someone. When an individual starts overcoming these adversities, they begin to mature. Even a small child faces adversity when overcoming little challenges like walking and taking their first few steps. Each time a person overcomes a new adversity they get a step closer to adulthood. On the journey to this reaching adulthood, an individual is growing up.

            The transition from childhood to adulthood involves many challenges. In both April Morning and I Am Number Four, the main characters faced similar adversities on their passage. Despite the initial non-realization of the importance of the advice they are provided from their guardians, they eventually realize the wisdom and importance of it. Once they accept the advice, it becomes clear that using the knowledge will help to overcome the challenges presented.  It will also assist them into successfully complete their journeys into adulthood.