Playing God´s game or Giving chances?
Have you ever wished you could be in two different places at the same time?, or could have a twin who answers your exams instead of you while you are on a love date?
In the Universe there are a lot of different livings, each one has its own strengths and weaknesses, abilities and characteristics. There is no possibility of having two equal. This balance, where ones have and the others do not, is presicely what has drawn the attention of the scientists. How can we provide benefits to the weakest?, how can we create an equality between individuals?
Cloning means to create two identical bodies with all their unique characteristics and genetic dotation. There are two types of Cloning: the "natural" process in which identic twins are created when, at thebeginning of the embryonic process, the zygote gives rise to two identic embryos, also called twins; and the other process in which, from the somatic cells of an adult, an exact copy of the individual is obtained. This process is more difficult than it looks, but imagine that scientists could clone almost anything: animals, plants, organs and even human beings. Would this be beneficial?, or it could bring alarming disadvantages?
The suffering of a child with a burnt face, the endless waiting for an organ transplant and the pain of losing one member of the body can be simply eradicated with a DNA sample in order to create a new organ or tissue that subsequently will replace the damaged one. The famous actor Christopher Reeve, who died on October 10th, 2004, suffered of a spinal cord injury because of a horse accident that left him totally immobile. After years of teatment and recovery, the actor created the "Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation", in which scientists do researches about stem cells as a solution for the affected patients. Reeve died waiting to walk again, but he left behind, as a legacy, a solution that is hosted on cloning human cells. But, in the other hand, how fast in the Earth is human population growing? Some experts expect that, by the end of this 2009, the world population will be of 6.795 billion (USA Census Bureau). Imagine how many people that means!! Death is part of the natural Cycle of Life, but some people do not accept it and try to pospone that moment. Terminal illnesses are probably a mesure to control overpopulation, but people still clinging to live forever and this is exactly what cloning offers to them, it contributes to increase the overpopulation on Earth.
According to the World Wildlife Found there are around 200 Siberian Tigers in our planet, as it ranks first on the list of endangered animals. As tigers, Gigant Pandas and Gorillas are examples of animals that we are losing! but, could Cloning be able to return them to us? Some people think that Cloning can bring to life those extinct animals in order to preserve Nature! In November 2000, a baby gaur bull was born and was called Noah (ACT, October 2000). The gaur is a large wild ox with a hump on its back and white or yellow kind of stockings on the legs. These animals are on the list of the endangered species because they are hunted as a sport in Asia.
Although animal cloning can restore those losts or contribute to the preservation of the few that remain, the real problem is not the extinction of animals, but people´s education. Those who are against cloning believe that the root of the problem is the lack of care and respect for other living being by humans. "Instead to try cloning animals, she should try to change our thinking and really care about our environment" (Greenpeace, 2008). People who are in favor of cloning, as a tool of animals´preservation, will be the first to think that there is no reason to worry if the elephants are being killed for their tusks and tigers for their skin, after all science can create more.
Although animal cloning can restore those losts or contribute to the preservation of the few that remain, the real problem is not the extinction of animals, but people´s education. Those who are against cloning believe that the root of the problem is the lack of care and respect for other living being by humans. "Instead to try cloning animals, she should try to change our thinking and really care about our environment" (Greenpeace, 2008). People who are in favor of cloning, as a tool of animals´preservation, will be the first to think that there is no reason to worry if the elephants are being killed for their tusks and tigers for their skin, after all science can create more.
At last, but not least, we have the most controversial part of the Cloning issue.
If we could genetically manipulate the embryos it would help to equip them with skills and abilities that will improve their adaptation to the environment and provide them a better future, what kind of parents would not like that for their children?. From the beginning the gender of the human could be chosen by the parents; if the baby, because of his genetics, is prone to diabetes, myopia, heart problems, etc, all this can be avoided!! In 1997 a movie called Gattaca , produced by Andrew Niccol, demonstrated us exactly these advantages. Besides of doting humans with more skills, Cloning can provide a solution for infertility couples and people who have lost loved people."When all moral criteria are removed, scientific research involving th sources of life becomes a denial of the being and the dignity of the person" (Pope John Paul II, 2003). Would laboratory humans have soul such as natual ones?. According to the Bible God is who gives spirit to the man, "...the Lord God formed man out of the clay of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of the life, and so man became a living being." From this point of veiw, people against Cloning say that clones would not have that divine touch like "natural" does.
It seems that Cloning can provide us a lot of advantages and give chances to the humanity, heal illnesses, avoid genetic problems, return being from death or extinction, but will we be capable to handle the comsecuences of these "benefits"?, are we willing to be governed by a superior human race?, but are we really sure about defying God and take his place as the creator of life?... because I do not.
