Background ¦ Your reaction

The Background:

Dolly became the most famous sheep in history when in 1996 it was announced that she had been created by cloning. The news also ignited a debate about the brave new world of biotechnology and what it means to be human.

Three years on, and many clones later, scientific research has marched ahead but the opposition has not died down. Cloned human embryos have already been created in the US.

But a decision on whether the cloning of human embryos in the UK should be allowed in limited circumstances has been postponed by the government.

Scientists argue that a medical revolution could result from the research, with a wide range of untreatable diseases finding cures. If successful, the technology will found a massive international business.

Opponents say the use of cloned human embryos to provide transplant tissue is tantamount to cannibalism. Even if creating living human copies is specifically outlawed do you think there is still too great a danger of illegal clones being created.

Is every embryo, however it is created, a human being? Or are these tiny bundles of cells, artificially made, a remarkable and vital tool in the fight against disease?

If you were ill, would you accept a transplant of perfectly-matched cells created using cloned human embryos or is this a step too far? Do you think that there should be a limit to how far scientists should probe the secrets of life in the quest to alleviate human disease?

Do you think that allowing the cloning of human embryos will save lives?

Background ¦ Your reaction

Your Reaction:

If we make two identical people do we also make two identical souls?
David, Slovenia

Science and "morals" have never seen eye to eye. History has been witness to umpteen hurdles in the path of scientific advancement. I do not negate the fact that not all scientific researches have helped in the development of mankind. But surely approaching each new development with a sense of fear too is not going to help us.
The debate over cloning should concentrate on how well mankind can benefit from it. Each embryo should be treated like a separate individual and should enjoy the same rights and dignity of life as it parent individual. This concept has largely been confused with the idea of "spare parts". The idea is preposterous, and cannot and should not receive the support of mankind. Creation of a better world is within our hands. This is where it all exists -- heaven and hell... fortunately we have the power to choose what we want to make it.
Anitha GS, India

Death is inevitable, why not face up to it people????????
Craig, Australia

We Buddhist strongly support human cloning. That will prove there is no God and no more creation slogan. Buddhist International already supporting Human cloning in Japan.
Deshappriya Jayasuriya, USA

I think that the cloning of WHOLE HUMANS would be morally wrong and would also have some major legal implications but unless I'm mistaken the object here is to clone organs not a human in it's entirety. Surely the ability to replace an organ that is damaged due to an accident or disease isn't wrong? If they cloned another 'me' and kept her somewhere until I needed a part I'd be truly repulsed, but I'd have no problem in accepting an organ that had been grown from "whole cloth" without resorting to cloning a full human. The most important thing though is that this technology will happen whether we like it or not. Do we really want to ban it so the technology goes 'underground' with absolutely no way to regulate it?
Jennifer, UK

I don't know if cloning so-called spare parts would save lives as we don't know how the cloned areas would behave once attached to a living human body. And what about when they start to clone whole humans? Imagine all those teeny-bopper groups being cloned - they could be playing all over the country at once!
Vince Agyner, UK

Yes human cloning will save lives, but at what cost? I could easily live in this world without ever receiving cloned parts.
Dom, UK

I think it will be misused far more and will cause more suffering in the long run.
Sandhya Rao, USA

People said heart transplants were immoral!
Iamer, UK

It sounds like many people believe the bad science fiction television shows that show a clone springing up as an adult with full memories of its source. Or others believe that cloning will lead to human ranches where we raise clones to harvest their organs to replace our own.
On the other hand, wouldn't it be nice to have a doctor grow a new liver cultured from your own cells to replace one that disease or fast living had destroyed. Or maybe if I put it another way. What would you do to replace your mother's heart if she needed it? Would you hope that a suitable donor died, so that she might live? Or would you prefer that she get a new one made from her own tissue that would last much longer, and have no chance of rejection, and not have to take immuno-supressive drugs for the rest of her life?
You make the call, I've already made mine.
Mark Holdgrafer, USA

If cloned human embryos are treated as distinct human beings, then cloning is just another way to have children. A cloned human being will not be an exact copy of another person, any more than two twins are exactly identical. However, the creation of clones for research, or to harvest organs is not acceptable. Each embryo is a person and should be treated as a person. At some point in the future, we may be able to grow organs through recombinant DNA technology, but until then, researching on human embryos or manipulating human embryos to create a particular kind of person should be banned.
Wade M. Blanchard, USA

We cannot and should not stop the experiments in cloning, we would be fooling ourselves if we try to believe that by making it illegal to clone human cells that it would not go on. We need to be able to monitor the effects of cloning to see what the repercussions of the cloning are, we should not merely dismiss the technology as "immoral", what would doctors in the middle ages have said about heart transplants and blood donations?????
Carl, England

I think it is more of a moral issue. Ultimately the scientific advancement like this is going to affect our lives for worst in one way or the other. I am not pessimistic but it is against the law of universe. We can track down the worst effects of similar advancement from history. Supporters should direct their attention towards more productive research. I think the cure for AIDS would be a big productive achievement.
Nasir, Pakistan

Yes human cloning will save lives but will also take another, unless it is only that component that you are creating. I personally feel that human cloning should not be allowed as that power could be abused for illegal reasons.
Jason R J Pratt, UK

What are all these people talking about? Spare bodies walking about the place waiting for you to fall ill? Surely they have completely misunderstood what cloning is all about. It is all about creating replacement body parts from an embryo - not chopping an arm off your spare body if you have an accident. There will be no cloned people walking about the place, but when you are ill and need an organ replacement, one can be grown for you.
There will NEVER be an entire human being cloned in order to treat your illness, so there is no moral issue in the first place about human rights. I think the potential benefits in this area of medical research are incredible and should not be ignored.
Nigel, UK

Cloning is in the same field as eugenics, or even atomic energy. There's so many ways in which it can be used. Moral outlook only affects the ultimate purposes of the research. If, as it is, it positively affects the well-being of the human race in general, then why stand in the way? Religious atrophy has held dominion over science for far too long.
Anne-Lise Pasch, UK

If one looks at the current situation with regard to GM crops, the possible long and short term health and ecological hazards far outweigh any benefits. Until companies and scientists show that they can behave in a more responsible manner with technology they should be prevented from working on genetic cloning, because if you go on their past record, you can clearly see that they can't be trusted with this technology. I would point out that I am an agnostic and therefore neutral as far as the religious arguments go.
D A Ryan, Ireland

If we are going to clone human beings then they should be entitled to full human rights that the rest of us are entitled to. To have a walking, talking human being that you can dismember whenever you need an organ or a limb sounds like something that Mengele would have thought of.
Susannah, Australia

Cloning of human ORGANS should be allowed, indeed it should be made a high priority.
Dave Felt, USA

This is a "Moral Issue" and, like all their kind (eg capital and corporal punishment), decisions on the principles should be based on society's values as reflected by periodic referenda, say, by adding "For" and "Against" options on the 10 year census. Leaving such decisions to (albeit, well intentioned) politicians expose the subjects to the moral values of a few hundred representatives in Parliament (or Congress); however noble these people may be, the fact of the matter is that society's moral standards constantly change, as they should, and the temperature should be checked every now and again. The Law Lords (and the Supreme Court) should be the judges as to what is appropriate to add or delete from the list of questions to ask. Parliament/Congress would only take care of the legislative details.
Mark M Newdick, USA

As a rational person I do not believe that we should stagnate our scientific research for fear of a change in the status quo. Fear of the unknown has kept us from addressing many scientific issues for centuries (evolution, earth is round etc). However it must be remembered that just because we can do something, it doesn't mean that we should do it. I think the whole issue of cloning needs to be addressed from a social as well as scientific point of view. People have different opinions and everyone needs to be listened to.
Connor Dooley, UK

Does anyone question the potential of human cloning? The problem that the survey question poses only exists on a moral level. The moral dimension seems to centre around the sanctity of human life. I believe those that have religious reservations should not have to worry about their foetuses being compromised and leave the rest of us alone. I for one have no such scruples and look forward to this revolutionary new frontier of medical research.
Vinton E Heuck, USA

Like it or not, cloning is here and brings with it vast potential for good or ill. We must not let fear of the bad things prevent us from exploiting that potential - it would be a crime against the future generations who will benefit from, and build on, the work that is done now. I get tired of hearing people demanding that the world be run according to their belief that some all-powerful entity has decreed that certain things are not for us to meddle with. Humanity belongs wherever humanity wants to go.
Kit, UK

Everyone is made uniquely and in the image and likeness of God. We do not have to kill to heal. Two wrongs don't make a right. We have turned into worse fiends than those at Nuremberg... and imagine you have to poll to find out if cloning is good???? Using another person to help someone else without their consent is terrible. God help the world!!
Mary Cuddy, USA

If I'm allowed to have a spare type in my car incase of a puncture, why can't I have a spare body in case I'm injured or ill?
Paul T Horgan, UK

This morning I did a home pregnancy test that was positive. I already consider that I am carrying a baby inside me even though it is just 2 weeks since I must have conceived. If the embryo I am carrying was in a laboratory, scientists would now be flushing it away. Makes you think, doesn't it?
Susan Lappa, UK

It sounds like many people believe the bad science fiction television shows that show a clone springing up as an adult with full memories of its source. Or others believe that cloning will lead to human ranchs where we raise clones to harvest their organs to replace our own. On the other hand, wouldn't it be nice to have a doctor grow a new liver cultured from your own cells to replace one that disease or fast living had destroyed. Or maybe if I put it another way. What would you do to replace your mother's heart if she needed it? Would you hope that a suitable donor died, so that she might live? Or would you prefer that she get a new one made from her own tissue that would last much longer, and have no chance of rejection, and not have to take immuno-supressive drugs for the rest of her life? You make the call, I've already made mine.
Mark Holdgrafer, USA

I think cloning should be carefully regulated. I truly believe that it will save lives by being able to "grow" new parts such as hearts and livers. But could you imagine what would have happened if Adolf Hitler had the use of cloning technology?
Andy Thomas, UK

If cloning to create 'spare parts' and new medicines (rather than for human reproduction) is "like cannibalism" surely today's transplant surgery is even more so isn't it ? Let the research for the purpose of saving and improving lives continue.
Shaun, UK

Who benefits from this new science? Do we, the general public. Like Viagra, will it be available on the NHS, or will we have to wait, like most patients do, or will the multi-nationals benefit. Are we to enter a new era, an era where limbs are thrown away, like packaging. Is this a new chapter, our society is entering. What of those who supply the actual components of this new industry, the donors of the stem cells. Will they be getting a cut out of the profits, or will they be affected by the inevitable extended patents.
Brian, England

This is being done to help "reduce" human suffering? I heard today that the little boy we sponsored in Chad died of measles. It is an absolute disgrace that so much money is being spent on researching ways of curing rich people's diseases. And here we have so many children dying of easily treatable diseases. I am in no way belittling the problems of those in the West who could benefit from this but at the end of the day it comes down to money and profit. All of you who think human cloning is so marvellous - why not put good intentions into practice and do something for the poor children of this world who have few to care for them!
Janice, Australia

I believe the Cloning is against religion, and the ultimate losers in human cloning will be the clones and humanity itself. Doctors are interested in cloning as developing an alternative method for obtaining alternative spare body parts. This is morally irresponsible of doctors regardless of the lack of donor parts.
Peter Sanders, Greece

How telling that the vast majority of opponents of cloning invoke the 'god' argument to justify their irrational stance. Thus, on the basis of some hypothetical entity some delude themselves into believing, the entire human race must be hindered by a restricted state of knowledge. Then we have that other bete noir, the humaniform clone. Due to the utter inability to point out any actual harm induced by experimentation upon a 14 day old foetus, opponents of cloning deliberately obscure the issue by alluding to some 14 'year' old foetus, as though that was even remotely the intention of the research proposals.
I personally would not wish to live my life within the state of knowledge that existed even a few decades ago. I therefore think it irresponsible and callous to irrationally impose the current or unduly hindered state of knowledge upon future generations.
Dr. M. Moran, UK

Christians say No, Pro-Technologists say Yes. Speaking as a Pagan, I believe in reverencing ALL life, not just Human life. If cloning of animals is allowed, why should cloning of humans be any different? The final fact remains, though, that you cannot "un-invent" a technology. Cloning will be developed, whatever governments may wish for, so we might as well make the most of it. If we don't, others will.
Jack Howard, England

In response to the multitude of anti-cloning arguments based upon religion, God wouldn't have given us intelligence and foresight if he didn't want us to use it.
E Haggett, UK

The advancement of science has put us where we are today. You cannot stop technology pushing forward to either the detriment or benefit of mankind. Science is our only hope for the future.
Bob Allen, Oman

New lives will be sacrificed to prop-up old (wealthy) ones. The greatest beneficiaries will be the pharmaceutical industry giants. Genetic engineering, cloning, electronic manipulation of brain functions are all put forward as scientific miracles of the future that will benefit humanity. It does not need a cynic to ask why each step in the quest for the greater good is patented with such verve and licensed with such greed.
David Coward, England

As a Christian, I think the idea of mistreating humans made in the image of God, and flushing them down the toilet is degrading! Of course by using the word 'toilet' I am being emotive, but in essence that is what would happen! But we are dealing with human life here, human DNA, not cell bundles nor a few misshapen individuals! Lord, save us from people who want perfect humans only and see nothing wrong with experimenting with misshapen individuals!
Jon Gardner, England

Cloning will allow us to pinpoint diseases and ailments closer than studies on rats, dogs and other animals. I think it would be more human to test foetuses 14 days and younger than full grown mammals.
Helen Glover, USA

Cloning could result in saving some lives. It could also result in the loss of many, many more if scientists forge ahead with such experiments as the one reported last week where a human embryo was started by placing a human cell inside a cow's egg. Our society is still coping with the disasters resulting from the great experiments in nuclear energy. Are we ready to start a new journey in human cloning. The UK government is acting wisely in retaining the ban on human cloning.
Rob, USA

The governments stance, is indeed a triumph of stupidity over common sense!
Colin Mclaren, UK

It seems that the concept of human cloning is raising the usual emotive response of the unknown. When heart transplant were proposed there was an uproar. Does anybody remember what it was all about? Personally I am in favour of the experiments not only on parts but also on whole humans. The comparison with GM food is totally misplaced because while the effects of GM crops can rapidly multiply on endless life forms, reproduction cycles in humans, average 25 years and several hundred years are necessary before any impact can be made on the genetic pool. The moral issue is again misconceived as it boils down to sheer prejudice on the form of "sex" necessary to conceive a fertilised egg. This is my personal opinion for what it counts.
A. Prioglio, UK

'Cloning' is inevitable.
Dave Adams, USA

I think cloning is terrible I think it will make people feel like freaks. How can it possibly do any good. Would you like to be cloned?
Bob, UK

As with all issues which are mysterious, the backward thinking superstitious element to our society will always attempt to quash any research, totally regardless of any benefit the technology may bring. This is especially true in this case. The potential benefits of cloning technology are extreme, and without obvious problems, so we should not allow a combination of zombified zealots and knee-jerk reactionaries to dampen the quest to end the suffering of humanity ! We will get there some day, maybe sooner than we all think.....
Rob Harris, England

Not everything possible should be carried out. This is playing God with a capital G. I say no to all forms of cloning.
M Greene, England

Heart and other organ transplants now give years of healthy life to the dying. Modern treatments allow otherwise infertile couples to have much loved children. All these techniques were claimed at the time to be "against the will of God", and have now brought new life and joy to the world. The cloning of cells happens in nature already; why should we not be allowed to investigate and harness this process for the good of everyone?
Bob Grahame, UK

If someone is born with a medical problem due to a genetic fault, then simply cloning a replacement part would not in itself solve the problem. There would have to be genetically modified "cloning" in order to repair nature's damage. We all know what hysteria there has been over GM food, imagine the hysteria over GM clones. If there is no genetic modification then only those people who require replacement parts through accident or injury (or abuse, such as alcoholics) would benefit from straight cloning. Those with genetic disorders would get no benefit.
Graeme, England

Yes, of course cloning will undoubtedly save some lives, just as splitting the atom has had some benefits. But there is a dark side to all this fiddling with the fundamental materials of life that we are profoundly ignorant of. We are venturing into areas where we have no business going.
R. McNaughton Phillips, USA

I don't think we know enough about the effects of cloning to even start thinking of experimenting on humans.
Helen Richards, UK

Research will be forever pushing forward the boundaries. To let it be restricted by emotional arguments is to give in to the flat earth society.
Dougie Duguid, Scotland

Whilst cloning has the potential for great medical research it will however like most scientific endeavours be purely based upon economic return. Therefore the net result will be a reduction in the genetic gene pool if cloning is allowed to go to its full potential. Resulting in genetic haves and have nots. Those people with money will make sure that their offspring will have all the best possible genes. Whereas the poor will be a genetic underclass.
M Murcott, UK

Much of the public concern with cloning seems to stem from the conception that it would be possible to produce an exact copy of another human individual. This simply can not happen. Although genetically the same the individual would have to undergo all the life experiences in exactly the same way. Although each clone would have the same number of neurones the connections made from birth onwards could never all connect up in the same way!
Chris Starr, UK

I heard a comment on Radio 1 Newsbeat hinting that embryos to be aborted would be used as fodder for cloning. Those defending abortion do so by denying the humanity of unborn children yet their use in cloning acknowledges their complete human genetic make-up. There is enough sci-fi about to warn us this path is WRONG (Brave New World; The Matrix...), let alone Scripture. Cloning steps will make future generations prisoners of whatever power selects those to be individuals and those to be exploited. The only diseases needing cure from this discussion are those causing the sickness and irresponsibility of human scientific ambition.
Ruth Beresford, UK

Final Votes:

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