Introduction:


Human cloning can be defined as creating a genetically identical copy of a human or a cell or tissue. There are many types of human cloning such as therapeutic cloning, reproductive cloning and replacement cloning. Therapeutic cloning is used as medicine; here cells are cloned from an adult. Reproductive cloning involves the making cloned copy of a human being. This type of cloning is banned or illegal in many counties.

Replacement cloning would be a combination of therapeutic cloning and reproductive cloning, at present it is a theoretical possibility. Replacement cloning would be performed to replace completely of an extensively damaged tissue or failed organ or failing body via cloning followed by partial or whole brain transplant procedure.

Benefits of Human Cloning:

1. Rejuvenation:
Human cloning technology can be used to reverse heart attacks in patients. Scientists or researchers believe that this technology can be used to treat heart attack victims by cloning their healthy cells and injecting these cells into the areas of the heart that are being damaged.

Embryonic stem cells can also be used to grow organs or tissues in the laboratory and these can be used to repair or replace damaged once. For example skin for burn victims, brain cells for the brain damaged patients, or spinal cord cells, heart cells, lung cells, kidney cells can be produced in laboratory under certain conditions. Combining these two technologies can be used to produce required tissues or organs for suffering patients, and these cells and organs will be free of rejection by their respective immune system.

Conditions like Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, diabetes, heart failure, degenerative joint disease, and other diseases may become curable if human cloning technology are not banned and further research are done.

2. Human cloning technology can also be used to produce progeny for infertile couples.

3. Human cloning technology can also be used in cosmetic surgery, reconstructive surgery or also in plastic surgery

4. Human cloning techniques can also be used to treat defective genes.

5. Human cloning technology can also be used to treat liver failure, by cloning livers for liver transplant.

6. Human cloning technology can also be used to treat kidney failure, by cloning kidneys for kidney transplantation.

7. Human cloning techniques can also be used to treat leukemia patients, by cloning bone marrow cells, these bone marrow cells can be transplanted into child or adult who are suffering from leukemia or blood cancer.

8. Human cloning technology can be used to learn about cells activation and deactivation, thus it can be used to treat cancer. Scientists still do not know how cells differentiate into particular type of cells or neither tissues nor they know why cancer cells lose their cell differentiation. Cloning techniques can be used to learn all these basic science of cells.

9. Human cloning techniques may be used to cure cystic fibrosis in humans. Scientists may be able to produce effective and efficient genetic therapy to treat cystic fibrosis condition.

10. Human cloning techniques may be used to cure spinal cord injuries. Scientists may be able to grow spinal cord back again to replace injured ones using this technology. Patients suffering from spinal cord injury might be able to get out of their wheelchairs and may walk again.

11. This technology can be used to cure most of the genetic conditions in humans.

Ethical Issues regarding Human Reproductive Cloning:

1. Technical safety and medical safety

2. Undermining the concept of reproduction and family.

3. Relation of cloned child with the parent or progenitor

4. Very confusing personal identity of cloned child.

5. This technology will harm the psychological development of clones.

6. This technology will promote society towards designer babies

7. This technology will promote society towards human enhancements.

8. This technology raises the concerns about eugenics.

9. Human reproductive cloning is contrary to human dignity.

United Nations Declaration on Human Cloning:

1. All member states are called upon to take all the necessary measures to protect human life in the applications of biology or life science.

2. Member states are also called upon to prohibit all types of human cloning techniques as much as they are incompatible with human life and also the protection of human life.

3. Member states are also called upon to prohibit all the recombinant DNA technology applications that may be contrary to human dignity.

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