Human Cloning: Yay or Nay?

So lets say, you want to be in two places at the same time, but you obviously can't shuffle between both like in the movies ( those plans never work out anyway ), since their both far away from each other. Of course, you're not going try to be in both places, since its too much work, energy and money to do that. But...Now that you think of it, a clone at this point would be absolutely perfect!

Now, before we get too ahead of ourselves, lets examine this delicate idea. Cloning, in the most simple of words, is the reproduction of human cells or tissue. This idea has been branched into three different types that have been commonly discussed in terms of ethics. The first, Therapeutic Cloning, is the cloning of cells, for medical purposes (ie. To experiment a vaccine, or effects a certain disease has, on certain types of people). The second, Reproductive Cloning, is the cloning actual humans, and third, Replacement Cloning, is the replacement of extensively damaged failed, or failing body through cloning, followed by a whole or partial brain transplant.

Of course, cloning is a dream of many scientists, and not to mention, the people who actually want to say "I'm beside myself on this one… literally".But you have to admit, cloning would open up many doors for the human population. The most obvious, and arguably the most important advantage, would be the accessibility to bodies use during experimentation through therapeutic cloning. Instead of having to go through a tedious procedure of getting each person to agree to be put on an experiment, or have to lie to patients in experiments, clones, in fact, would be used for experimental purposes. These clones would most likely have the exact same traits, defects and health problems as the original person, thus making him/her/it a positive candidate for a specific experiment, without having to potentially harm anyone. Reproductive Cloning would open the possibilities of a human clone, who would be able to take our part in different places, (i.e. sending clones up in space to explore, and possibly experiment living on the moon or on mars).Lastly, Replacement Cloning, would open up many medical doors to improvements in the human body. Whether it is cancer, a skin defect, kidney failure, infertility, or just a blemish on our skin, this type of cloning would allow us to alter cells in our body to benefit us in many different ways.

However, everything has two sides to it. One of the reasons why cloning has been such a hotly debated topics in ethics, and is extremely controversial, is the number of problems and disadvantages we bump into while on our way towards this new age in Science. Experimenting with human cloning would be extremely dangerous, since it would first be hard to get people to volunteer for such a dangerous and risky experiment, and not only that, experiments could also potentially go wrong and create bad copies (or, as some might say 'evil' clones), which could potentially affect the original person and his/her life, or maybe even the world (in some cases). A sudden influx of clones would affect the world population, which would also lead to us having that ever-frustrating idea of figuring out which one was the actual person. Also, getting rid of clones might be difficult, due the clone's will to live, that has been copied from the original human.

Bringing clones into the world, is basically bringing a new race of intelligent life onto Earth… It changes everything. Questions like: "Are clones considered humans?" "How are clones treated, would they be treated the same as humans, or be treated more like animals or pets?" or "How would we differentiate between clones and humans?" would arise. This calls for a completely new set of rules and regulations pertaining to clones, which would take many years to get established. Because of that, the years between the invention and having a reasonable set of laws in this certain situation, would definitely be a rocky road, and could, potentially change some important things in the world.

Nevertheless, as humans, we always work things out, and I believe that one day, if done with a tremendous amount of meticulous planning and care, the human race will be able to welcome clones to our world, in a way that is safe and effective. But until then, this is what I leave you with, and hopefully, this may have gotten you inspired to start taking action in the study of human cloning!

Rex