Have you ever wondered when the scientists of our day will start cloning humans? You might be asking yourself what exactly is cloning. It is a method that involves the production of a group of identical cells or organisms that all derive from a single individual (Grolier 220). Basically, cloning is the copy of the same individuals DNA to another individual. There is no doubt that if humans are cloned many problems involving the technological and ethical sides of this issue will arise and will be virtually impossible to avoid. Another large aspect to consider is how much money the area of genetics uses every year.
When cloning comes about, taxes will increase, and people will be willing to pay anything to create clones of themselves. It is such a costly form of technology. Society will do all kinds of things for money. A type of black market for embryos could easily develop. Parents already spend a great deal of money on in vitro fertilization, and who knows how much they would be willing to pay for cloning their children? Scientists today have already started cloning animals. Dr. Ian Wilmut started by cloning a lamb. They named the clone Dolly, after Dolly Parton.
After this, they cloned five more sheep. All of them had the same genetic makeup or DNA. According to Daniel Kevles in Study Cloning, Dont Ban It, Doctor Wilmut states that cloning would be ethically unacceptable. President Clinton asked for a quick study of cloning mammals. The president of the Biotechnology Industry Organization begged for the cloning of humans to be banned. The reason for this thinking is because animals do not have consciences and people do. Ellen Goodman at the end of her essay called Hello Dolly best argues this point. It states, We are the shepherds, not the sheep.
In other words, humans are the shepherds, which are the leader such the scientist, and we are not the sheep, which is the experiment. The whole idea of cloning humans is one that we could possibly grow to accept as a reality for the future. With todays technology we have surrogate mothers, and the process of artificial insemination. These techniques have become widespread throughout our country. Say a woman wanted to have a baby but could not, she would then have more options on how to go about having a baby. Just because we copy someone elses DNA does not mean that that individual will be just like its parent.
As Ellen Goodman says, Same DNA, different people. Just because you have the same genetics as someone else, does not exactly mean that you will make all the same decisions in life. In conclusion, people are not only the product of their genes but also of their environment. The question as to what cloning would do to society from both the moral and economic standpoints comes to the conclusion that for the most part cloning is very expensive and could be very dangerous, but at the same time could be a miracle waiting to happen.