Letter to the Editor: Cloning
Nicole Christensen
Kaplan University
Cloning could be a cure for many diseases and ailments, but should not be used to clone humans. The two types of cloning are labeled either therapeutic or reproductive. “Therapeutic cloning is the most popular term used to describe the cloning of human embryos with a view to harvesting their stem cells” (O’Mathuna, 2003, p. 21). Therapeutic cloning would be beneficial to cure many diseases and possibly cancer. Reproductive cloning is the term that describes cloning to reproduce a second human being. Therapeutic cloning could cure hundreds of diseases. It continues to be controversial because human embryos are used in the process of harvesting stem cells. The cloned embryo does not get implanted into a uterus, instead the stem cells are removed from the embryo and the embryo dies (O’Mathuna, 2003, p. 21). A person could possibly have their own stem cells harvested and then used to create a new organ for themselves. The stem cells could regenerate spinal cord tissue and nervous diseases. I believe that huge advances in medicine would evolve if therapeutic cloning was possible. Many medications would be eliminated and the immune system would accept the cloned organs or tissue because the DNA would be the same. Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that can be defined as the greatest good for the greatest amount of people. Utilitarianism supports therapeutic cloning because of the large number of people that could be cured of their ailments. “The right action is the one that, on balance, promotes the most happiness, or the greatest amount of pleasure over pain” (Steinbock, London, & Arras, 2013, p. 10). Utilitarianism would promote therapeutic cloning because people would be cured even if embryos were being killed. Therapeutic cloning could very well be opposed because the cloned embryos could be implanted in a uterus and possibly live if the stem cells were not retrieved. Cloning of humans or other animals has not proven successful. So even if the embryos were implanted into a uterus, the embryos would most likely not survive. Cloning animals has many risks to the mother and child such as large offspring syndrome, placental malfunction, stillbirth, and miscarriage.
