Human cloning? Limits to eugenics

Abstract

Mankind has not only evolved; but continues to do so. Where is human evolution going? Biological evolution is directed by natural selection, which brings about genetic changes that often appear purposeful because they are dictated by the requirements of the environment. The end result may, nevertheless, be extinction. Genetics, molecular biology and biomedicine have opened up the means to rapidly and effectively manipulate the genetic makeup of humankind. Gene therapy can be somatic or germ-line, which can correct a genetic defect, not only in the organs or tissues impacted, but also avoid transmission of the genetic impairment to the descendants. No interventions of germ-line therapy are currently being considered by scientists, physicians, or pharmaceutical companies. Human cloning may also refer to therapeutic cloning, particularly the cloning of embryonic cells to obtain organs for transplantation or for treating injured nerve cells, or for other health purposes. Some proposals have suggested the cloning of human individuals of great intellectual or artistic achievement or of great virtue. Such utopian proposals, however, are grossly misguided. It is not possible to clone a human individual, even if its genome is cloned. Identical genomes yield, in different familiar, social and cultural environments, individuals who may be quite different. Moreover, ethical, social, and religious values come into play when seeking to decide whether a person might be allowed to be cloned or not.