We all remember in the late nineties, 1997 to be exact, when Scottish scientists proclaimed they had successfully cloned a sheep. They named her Dolly. At the time I was 14, and I began to think of the ethical repercussions of where this may take us. I was a strange kid I guess, but I began to look a little closer at what may be next.
Long before this scientists have been interested in cloning and have successfully cloned various things. Most commonly they have cloned only the actual DNA of an organism, but not the organism itself. Before Dolly was born scientists were able to successful clone embryos, but not bring those embryos to term.
In just the last few years we have expanded beyond research cloning and stepped into a new era, commercial cloning. Recently, dog owners have been known to pay approximately $150,000 to clone their favorite dog. The south Florida couple who paid this amount were very excited, and when asked why they would choose to clone their pet stated, “He was a human dog.”
This lends to the question, are humans next? If nostalgia and sentimentality will spur pet owners to spend this kind of money on a fallen dog, why not a child who died “too soon.”
On Newsweek.com yesterday, February 03, 2009, was a post about research showing that there may be no obstacales in the way of reproductive cloning of humans.
For more this mostly begs the question, “Are we ready?” I am really unclear as to my answer on this. I am curious what other people think.
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