Through much reading about the cloning of Dolly the sheep and cloning in general, I have come to the conclusion that at this time it is very hard to say whether it is right or wrong. There are too many factors involved in this controversial issue. The announcement that a team of British scientists had successfully cloned an adult sheep has tapped into a new wave of discussion over ethical implications. If it was possible for sheep to be cloned then how far away is it until humans can be cloned?

"There are a number of genetic diseases for which there is no cure ... and this will enable us to carry out research into the causes of those diseases and perhaps develop methods to treat them," Dr. Ian Wilmut of the Roslin Institute announced. Extinct animals would no longer have to be extinct and transplants would never be a failure because body parts could be cloned. The dream of living forever and not having to go through death or at least for it to seem that way would only be a step away. As soon as human cloning begins, then suddenly science fiction doesn’t seem so fanciful anymore as one considers the possibility of dictators cloning themselves, dead geniuses brought back to life, or beloved family pets resurrected. But even if human cloning were to succeed the clones still wouldn’t be exact replicas of the original because even identical twins have different personalities. Much of what makes up a person’s personality is as much of nature as it is nurture. The person’s environment has a lot to do with the way the person turned out and his intelligence.

If Bill Gates were to be cloned, he could turn out to be even smarter than the original one because of a different time period and setting of "growing up”, or he might just turn out to be a couch potato who sits at home watching reruns of talk shows. There are also other exciting people who we could clone like Mother Teresa and Albert Einstein but are we also ready to deal with a bad replica, the failure of an experiment and the horrific issues of morality and ethics?

We don’t yet know what genes give us our individuality or what genes are associated with higher intelligence, if there are any. In society movie producers have used their imagination concerning cloning like in the movie Multiplicity where actor Michael Keaton has many computer generated clones messing around in his life. In the 1982 movie Bladerunner, Rutger Hauer is a "replicant” which is a genetically engineered superior human being. In another the famous movie Jurassic Park the DNA of a dinosaur was extracted from the blood of a mosquito.

The ability to clone would also mean that women would be able to reproduce with out the help or the need of men. This would ultimately throw off the natural way of things. For decades, the cloning of adults - animals or humans - has been largely science fiction.

The cloning of a living being is a great breakthrough for the human race. The medical benefits alone should justify more investment in this field. But are we mature enough to possess this awesome power, considering the human desire for power and wealth? The answer is no. History has shown that, no matter what, all humans have a compelling urge to pursue knowledge and push the boundaries or even break them. It is safe to assume that cloning cannot be averted, so the only sensible solution is a worldwide governmental agency that can formulate and impose ethical codes.

REFERENCES:

1) CNN news
2) Time Magazine