Cloning for Medical Purposes

Cloning for Medical Purposes

Nilsa Llanos

Eastwick College

Abstract

The most publicly justifiable application of human cloning, if there is one at all, is to provide self-compatible cells or tissues for medical use, especially transplantation. Some have argued that this raises no new ethical issues above those raised by any form of embryo experimentation. I argue that this research is less morally problematic than other embryo research. Indeed, it is not merely morally permissible but morally required that we employ cloning to produce embryos or fetuses for the sake of providing cells, tissues or even organs for therapy, followed by abortion of the embryo or fetus. (Journal of Medical Ethics 1999; 25:87-95)

Keywords: Cloning; transplantation; autonomy; embryonic stem cells; fetal tissue; embryo experimentation; abortion; potential

Cloning for Medical Purposes

Cloning for survival? It all started back in the fifties when James Watson and Francis Crick discovered the structure of DNA (D’Souza NA). Ever since, there has been talk of human and animal cloning. It all seemed out of reach and basically impossible, but in 1997 that all changed when a sheep, named Dolly, was the first ever mammal to be cloned. She was cloned for the purpose of curing disease and research on animal organs for human transplantation (Gilbert S, Tyler A, Zackin E). Now that scientists know that it is possible to clone literally anything with DNA, the world has become a rather scary place.

Today they are trying to apply the technique of cloning to different aspects of science and medical problems. Cloning could mean hope for so many different diseases. The advancement of cloning in a medical laboratory should be encouraged, it could save transplant candidates. According to Larry Reibstein and Gregory Beals, companies such as Alexion Pharmaceutical are already beginning to experiment with ways to grow hearts and kidneys in pigs that will not be rejected in transplants (58). Perhaps another reason to encourage cloning is for the treatment of spinal cord injuries. Cloning could give hope to couples unable to have children of their own. By advocating cloning, doctors may find a way to cure or even prevent genetic diseases. Perhaps, though, the most important reason to advance cloning in the laboratory is to treat leukemia’s and cancers. Very possibly, through cloning and genetic engineering, the growth of poorly formed cells could be stopped immediately.

One reason