Cloning – English Composition Informal Essay
What is cloning? Originally it meant “asexual reproduction.” You can copy an organism, even a new life by developing the cells from the cell donor. Generally speaking, there are two types of cloning: therapeutic cloning and reproductive cloning. Therapeutic cloning can create specialized cells and organs in order to fight diseases while reproductive cloning can even give birth to a new human being.
Dolly the sheep, the first cloned mammal from an adult, was announced in 1997 and it caused an international sensation. Since Dolly debut, scientists have created cloned animals such as mice, pigs, and monkeys, etc. Technologies of cloning were renewed. However, unfortunately, Dolly has been euthanized in 2003 for her premature aging and some kind of lung disease. Although Dolly has died, yet the achievement of her creation was still a milestone in cloning science. On one side, it showed that human cloning would be possible in the future; on the other side, it also raised questions about practicality of cloning life.
But what most of the people care are ethical questions. In a CNN poll, over two-thirds of the respondents think that cloning is immoral in any way. In 1997 when Dolly was announced, ex-President Clinton banned the use of federal money for human cloning projects. A few states have even passed laws banning human cloning though it was temporary. Now, the House has passed a law supported by President Bush, which would ban all human cloning including researches. It shows that most people oppose human cloning, so do I.
I don’t object cloning, exclusive of reproductive human cloning. I think that therapeutic cloning is proper and necessary because it can be used to fight diseases and create organs artificially. Nowadays, many people around the world wait for an organ transplantation, but it is difficult to get suitable organs for themselves. What’s more, some people would buy organs in the third world or even extract them without donors’ permission. If organs can be created artificially, all problems will be solved. People who suffer from diseases can also be cured. Therefore, I support therapeutic cloning.
Then why am I opposed to human cloning? People who support human cloning would say that it can help people who lost their beloved to clone a new one or people who want their own children but they can’t have such as infertile couples and homosexuals to have a child of their own. I have to say that even people can clone a person, but they just copy his body, not his mind. No matter in the past or future, people could never copy one’s mind from anyone. So, when you copy a person, he has the same image with the original one, but they have different souls. How he would be treated? He would be treated as a person who has existed. Since the person has existed, then who is he? As a result, he would suffer psychological damage by being deprived of an individual identity. It’s not fair to the cloned people.
I think no matter how the techniques develop, people at most can only copy a human body. And what is the use of a hollowed body? Therefore, I hope people can make their efforts to doing other meaningful things such as protecting the earth, maintaining the balance between human beings and nature instead of doing such ridiculous things against nature.