Cloning of a Human

{Note: This post is #8 in a series of 12 where I review what Scientific American magazine has called the “12 Events That Will Change Everything”. See previous posts “Machine Intelligence”, “Superconductors”, “Creation of Life”, “Nuclear Exchange”, “Extra Terrestrial Intelligence”, “Extra Dimensions”, “Polar Meltdown” and “False Dichotomy” for more information.}

The Event: Scientists will successfully clone a human. To date, they have only been successful at cloning animals and that has only come after numerous failures (ie defects in the embryos that resulted in death before or immediately after birth). In 1996, the world was introduced to Dolly, a cloned sheep. Since then, a relatively small group of scientists have been attempting the same thing with humans.



The Impact: Human clones occur naturally – we call them identical twins. Producing a clone in a laboratory is much more complicated and extremely difficult to get right. The announcement of the successful creation of a human clone won’t have a big impact on the world scientifically, but morally. The practical applications of cloning are essentially limited to providing an alternative to natural reproduction (some futurists have predicted the human race will eventually become sterile from various pollutants – watch/read ‘Children of Men’ – and cloning may be the only way to create offspring) . However, some fear that people may wish to create a clone so they can have access to “parts” they might need to replace their own failing organs to prolong their own life while sacrificing the clone’s life (watch the Star Trek: Enterprise episode ‘Similitude’ to see how the crew grapples with this moral dilemma). While the media tends to focus on efforts to clone entire humans, many scientists are working on developing processes that would allow them to clone specific cells so replacement tissue could be made that is compatible with the patient. Imagine being able to grow a new kidney to replace one that has failed or been injured and not have to worry about finding a compatible donor since the cloned kidney would be an identical match. This is process is referred to as therapeutic cloning and is the more likely event to have an impact on medicine in the future.



The Science: Identical twins occur when the fertilized egg splits and forms two embryos, each with identical genetics. This is a completely random event and science is not clear on why this occurs. To create a clone in the lab, the nucleus of an egg cell is replaced with the nucleus of a donor cell. This egg cell then has the identical genetics as the donor cell. As long as the egg cell proceeds through its normal development, the new organism will be an exact genetic match to the donor. However, in most cases the modified egg cell does not follow normal development – with Dolly the famous cloned sheep, it took over 200 attempts before it finally worked.



Jac’s Analysis: Cloning as a method of reproduction is common with plants – I’m sure many of us have cloned houseplants by taking a cutting from an existing plant and stimulating roots to grow so a new plant is created. Identical twins are naturally occurring clones in the animal world and most of us probably know some identical twins (my Dad and uncle Stu are identical twins). So what science is trying to do is duplicate what happens naturally in plants and randomly with animals. I would agree with Scientific American Magazine that human cloning is inevitable and will likely occur in this century. I expect therapeutic cloning will come first, with the development of the methods needed to clone organs and tissues needed to replace damaged or failing ones. Once these processes are perfected, creating complete human clones won’t be far behind.



Our Reaction? I don’t think we need to over-react to cloning and demand that all cloning research be stopped. Many of us have seen movies where cloning has advanced to the point where science can not only clone people but can accelerated the aging process so the clone is the same age as the donor (watch 'Multiplicity', ‘Star Trek: Nemesis’ or ‘The Sixth Day’). The ability to do this leaves us wondering if the clones have souls and questioning our own identity. I think we can safely leave these thoughts in the science fiction section where they belong. Cloning organs and tissues for therapeutic purposes should be welcomed and encouraged as this could alleviate much pain, suffering, and premature death as people wait for compatible donors of livers, hearts, lungs, etc. However, the research methodologies used to advance this science is where the ethical questions arise. The only human cells that actively “clone” themselves are embryos – fertilized eggs – and this is where science would like to focus their studies so they can understand how the embryo “knows” it should duplicate itself and then be able to artificially stimulate other cells so they would duplicate themselves on demand. But those fertilized eggs – are they “people”? Should we be conducting any experiments on embryos? When does life begin – at conception? My personal opinion (which is shared by many Christians) is that we should not be experimenting with embryos – life does begin at conception and experimenting with a fertilized egg is no different than experimenting with a newborn – we would all recoil in horror if someone suggested experimenting with newborns. So we need to find other ways of figuring out how to grow new organs. I don’t have this answer, but I hope some bright Christian young people are brave enough to venture into this area of scientific research and can find a way to do this that doesn’t involve the use of embryos.



Questions and comments?

1. Do you agree with me that we shouldn’t be using embryos to do this type of research? What if it is the only way – do the ends justify the means?
2. Would your answer be different if you were waiting for a donor heart and had only a year to live?

Next week we look at the impact of a big earthquake on the Pacific coast.

Jac