Re: Dr Zavos the American Cloning expert speaks in Texas tomorrow


Posted by Thermus aquaticus on Oct 14, 2003 at 13:09
(129.59.237.200)

Re: Dr Zavos the American Cloning expert speaks in Texas tomorrow (Debi)

Call me naive but I don’t understand the fuss about cloning, from what I understand of it, it’s simply the biological copy of a person. The person can only be the same if they have the exact same upbringing and experiences – it couldn’t be done.

Yes, you are naïve. :)

You’re correct about experience defining a person, but you are missing the point entirely. The issue with reproductive cloning is that it is a process that we do not understand. Cloning by nuclear transfer is a very inefficient and highly error-prone technique. Only about 1% of cloned embryos (at best) make it to term. Of the 1% of cloned embryos that make it to term and are actually born, the majority of them have significant developmental defects – severe cardiovascular, neurological and immunological defects are common. Furthermore, cloned embryos are typically abnormally large. I think this is (rather literally) referred to as “large offspring syndrome”.

So, the cloned animals such as Dolly that you see on the TV news are very much the exception. This is what makes productive cloning in humans ethically reprehensible. If this idiot actually manages to produce a cloned baby, then it is more likely than not that it will be condemned to a short life of suffering and pain. With lab animals you have euthanasia as an option when this happens. What’s going to happen with human babies?


What bothers me more are the people that don’t want to let advances in science help those with genetic abnormalities – it’s more a case of me & mine are all right and too bad if yours aren’t!

You have naively missed the point again. It is therapeutic cloning that holds tremendous scientific promise, not reproductive cloning. Preventing idiots like Zavos from cloning babies does not hinder the advancement of science one bit. Cloning embryos for the purpose of extracting and purifying embryonic stem cells is what this area of science is all about. There is not one single valid reason for cloning a new baby. That has nothing to do with science and everything to do with human ego and duping fools out of their money.
















































Therapeutic cloning vs Reproductive cloning: the crucial differences
  Nuclear transplantation Human reproductive cloning
End product Cells growing in a petri dish Human being
Purpose To treat a specific disease of tissue degeneration Replace or duplicate a human
Time frame A few weeks (growth in culture) 9 months
Surrogate mother needed No Yes
Sentient human created No Yes
Ethical implications Similar to all embryonic cell research Highly complex issues
Medical implications Similar to any cell-based therapy Safety and long-term efficacy concerns


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