Cloning: Therapeutic Cloning
The term cloning refers to the creation of genetically exact copies of molecules, cells, plants, animals, or humans. Thus, cloning occurs when, naturally or artificially, a genetic replica of a cell or an organism is obtained.
What are the three types of cloning?
- Genetic cloning
- Reproductive cloning
- Therapeutic cloning
With cloning, they would be alleviating the infertility of some people, avoiding the transmission of hereditary diseases, obtaining necessary organs and tissues, alleviating the suffering of the death of a significant being, increasing scientific knowledge, and more. When the process of obtaining the clone is produced artificially and intentionally by the human being, then dilemmas and problems appear. Among the imagined damages would be violating the right to a unique identity, ending ignorance about the future, causing psychological damage to the clone, involving activities with unacceptable risks for the clone, reducing the value of individuals, diminishing respect for human life, and persecuting purposes only commercial or inherently immoral.
Therapeutic cloning:
Therapeutic cloning consists of creating a cloned embryo for the sole purpose of producing embryonic stem cells with the same DNA as the donor cell. Stem cells can be used in experiments to understand diseases and develop new treatments to cure diseases. There is currently no evidence that human embryos have been produced for therapeutic cloning.
The result of therapeutic cloning is an embryo, that is, “an organism in its germinal state, the activity of which is that of a developing self-integrated whole.” Although it is the result of artifice and is exclusively formed by the genetic endowment of another cell, the embryonic character of that entity is unquestionable, which lies in its power to develop itself as a member of the human species. For Biology, an embryo represents the initial stage of the life of a living being. Therefore, if we speak of human embryos, we refer to human lives in their early stages of development. According to these practices it will be destroyed to serve as a source of biological material. As the embryo is a person, the penalties of the Civil Code could be applied to those who attempt against it.
Therapeutic cloning is, in fact, about producing clinical human beings who, in addition, will not be allowed to be born, but will be killed by using them as scientific test material in the search for possible future therapies. Out of common sense and out of respect for human embryos, therapeutic cloning should be abandoned.
Therapeutic cloning is rejected because it does not respect human beings:
- It creates human embryos destined to be sacrificed for the benefit of others
- Convert human beings into means that serve the ends of others
- Breaks the rules of biomedical experimentation: It does not seek the most respectful alternatives for the dignity of the research subjects
- Present risks for egg donors: The Oregon Health and Science University confirmed that the primary way in which these eggs are obtained is ovarian hyperstimulation, which is associated with serious health risks both in the short and long term.
Does it seem fair, ethical, or moral to you to put the life of a woman at risk for research purposes?
You will never know all the possible damage that can be consciously or inadvertently caused by this type of experimentation. The possibility of damage to third parties determines that this type of experimentation violates the ethics of human experimentation. In addition, it often takes many attempts to create a viable egg. The stability of the egg with the infused somatic nucleus is poor and may require hundreds of attempts before being successful, increasing the risk of possible damage that can lead to death.
In the ethics of cloning, the precautionary principle implies that given the uncertainty that exists around the possible consequences that an alteration in the therapeutic/embryonic cloning process may cause, they should be prudent and it should not be allowed that a person performs an action so risky.
Bibliography:
- https://www.genome.gov/about-genomics/fact-sheets/Cloning-Fact-Sheet#:~:text=Therapeutic%20cloning%20involves%20creating%20a,developing%20new%20treatments%20for%20disease.
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2323472/
- https://www.nationalacademies.org/hmd/Reports/2016/Mitochondrial-Replacement-Techniques.aspx
- http://www.explorestemcells.co.uk/TherapeuticCloning.html
- http://aebioetica.org/revistas/2002/47-48-49/75.pdf