| Human cloning has
now become a “hot” topic on cocktail party
circuits, and many people find the possibility of making
carbon copies of themselves amusing. However, the issue
also makes many people very uncomfortable, and the ethics
of cloning has generated considerable controversy in
many circles.
The knee jerk reaction from many people is that it’s
wrong, because scientists are now trying to play God.
Many of these tired old arguments were presented when
IVF was first introduced too , over 20 years ago, and
we need to look at them critically. Critics believe
that reproductive biologists are “tampering with
nature” when performing cloning. Man started tampering
with nature the moment he started wearing clothes and
living in houses too ! After all, living in an airconditioned
room is completely unnatural – but this does not
make it wrong or undesirable ! Man first learnt to manipulate
physical tools such as fire , water and earth –
and he has then progressed on to manipulating biological
tools , which is why agricultural , pharmaceutical and
medical sciences have made so much progress in the last
few decades. The last frontier left to explore is Man
himself, so why are we so reluctant to do so ?
After all, why should we limit ourselves to what God
has provided ? After all, if we can improve on Him ,
then why shouldn’t we ? Let’s be imaginative
! Man has designed synthetics such as teflon and titanium
which are far superior to anything God made –
and if we can improve on human beings, then why shouldn’t
we?
Isn’t this likely to lead to mayhem, the critics
cry ? What about the risks and unforeseen complications
this may lead to ? Every action has risks – but
not exploring it responsibly may have even greater risks
! We cannot afford to shy away from this field , and
banning research is never an effective solution . Not
only does this prevent the best brains from exploring
this topic, it also drives a lot of potentially valuable
research underground.
We should take pride in human curiosity and intelligence.
Every teacher hopes that his students will excel , and
good teachers take special pride in students who have
surpassed their own teachers. Just like we design computers
so that they can develop programs which our brains cannot
develop on their own, God himself would be proud of
Man if we could make a better Man than God has made.
I am sure God would not want us to be limited by self-imposed
constraints – any good teacher gives his students
freedom to explore and experiment !
Is there any reason to fear that we will not be able
to use this knowledge intelligently ? Not at all. Secrets
exist , so they can be deciphered - and there is no
reason to treat any field as being “out of bounds”.
Let’s not insult the human capacity to understand
and make good use of scientific exploration.
We need to remember that scientists are not irresponsible
Dr Frankensteins. They are highly educated, responsible
citizens with years of training. What about the need
to “ protect the human embryo” ? Let’s
not forget that we legally allow women to abort a 12
week fetus , because we respect the woman’s right
over her own body. If you trust illiterate women to
make sensible decisions regarding their fetuses, then
why not trust educated scientists to make responsible
decisions about how they will respect human embryos
?
The next exciting scientific frontier is the field
of reprogenetics . Just like man needs to explore outer
Space, he needs to explore himself as well. Will we
make mistakes ? Perhaps. But not allowing scientists
to make these mistakes would perhaps be the greatest
mistake of all ! The thalidomide tragedy crippled thousands
of babies – but also taught us a lot about how
birth defects are caused, and this knowledge has now
been put to good use to prevent millions of birth defects.
"Fear of the unknown is the worst of all the fears;
it kills the creative powers that come from Curiosity."
Rather than be scared of cloning, let us explore this
exciting new field and trust that God will guide us
, when we explore His ultimate creation – Man
himself !
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