Drafting Activity: Starting Your Argument Map by Hao-yun Ku

Central Claim: Should we do cloning?

hk995_ — 2023-11-13 21:25:16 UTC

Cloning is a technology that allows humans to create organisms with the desired DNA. The combination of DNA decides the physical attributes of people; if the technology is more advanced or scientists discover the component that determines people's intelligence, it is possible to "create" theoretically smarter organisms.

However, the usage of this technology is controversial because of its nature of "creating" organisms and the potential danger of the wrong usage.

I am interested in the different points of view and if it is possible to find policies or rules that can still implement this technology without causing too much disagreement.

Benefits/Goals of Cloning

hk995_ — 2023-11-13 21:36:33 UTC

What make people think cloning is possible

hk995_ — 2023-11-13 21:59:17 UTC

In 1996, Ian Wilmut and his colleagues at the Roslin Institute successfully cloned a sheep called Dolly from an ewe. At that time, people discovered that cloning was possible, not a theoretical method to produce organisms.

People started to discuss the possibility of cloning animals and humans. Cloning animals will give labs a deeper understanding of DNA formation and create unlimited test subjects for different tests that can improve society. However, there are more controversial and multiple perspectives on cloning humans. This technology has changed what people think about reproduction and touches controversial areas with no correct answer.

Background information

hk995_ — 2023-11-13 21:59:46 UTC

Cure diseases

hk995_ — 2023-11-13 22:01:40 UTC

"Therapeutic cloning involves creating a cloned embryo for the sole purpose of producing embryonic stem cells with the same DNA as the donor cell. These stem cells can be used in experiments aimed at understanding disease and developing new treatments for disease." ("Cloning Fact Sheet")

Stem cells are premature cells that can develop into various kinds of cells, but they usually stop producing after five years old. If cloning can produce stem cells for a particular type of DNA, patients will have unlimited cells to cure their injuries and diseases.

Reasons against cloning

hk995_ — 2023-11-13 22:07:33 UTC

Ethical issues

hk995_ — 2023-11-13 22:09:08 UTC

Create more talented people

hk995_ — 2023-11-13 22:10:02 UTC

If the technology is more advanced and scientists have discovered the DNA that corresponds to physical or intellectual attributes, it is possible to create people who are more athletic and smarter.

These people can contribute to fields with heavy workloads, making society more efficient. Smarter people may be able to solve global problems such as global warming, world peace, etc.

Protect endanger species/recreate extinct species

hk995_ — 2023-11-14 03:03:50 UTC

Protection: protect nearly extinct species

Study purposes: Many species are essential to the study of evolution but unfortunately become extinct, leaving little clue for the scientists. Cloning can bring back those animals and allow scientists to understand the mechanism of species better.

Low success rate

hk995_ — 2023-11-14 03:07:23 UTC

As the technology is not mature yet, the success rate of cloning the desired product is low. "the scientists who cloned Dolly failed 276 times," and "ninety-five to ninety-seven percent of animal cloning" fail. ("Op-ed: The dangers of cloning"). Since humans have more complex structures, the success rate will be lower.

The failed products can have more genetic mutations, which cause more diseases. The cloned people will suffer from diseases that go against the goal of cloning: to cure diseases.

Uncertainty of the product

hk995_ — 2023-11-14 03:12:03 UTC

Since scientists have not created cloned humans, it is impossible to predict their behavior. There are concerns that they might behave without ethics, emotions, or important components of born humans.

In response to creating humans specialized in a certain fields, if their behavior go out of hand, it is harder to regulate the more "advanced humans".

Product will be a baby

hk995_ — 2023-11-14 03:16:52 UTC

With the progress of our technology, the cloned product will be produced through an embryo like all babies are born. Even though they have the same DNA, people are shaped differently by their experiences growing up. Twins are an example of being a different person with identical DNA. It indicates that cloned humans may not turn out to help society as expected which gives more evidence of the uncertainty of cloning.

Is embryo considered as a living or non-living thing?

hk995_ — 2023-11-14 03:24:12 UTC

To cure diseases, scientists need to extract stem cells from the embryo. However, there is no clear definition of whether an embryo is a living thing. An embryo is a developing human body but has not become a baby.

If it is considered a living thing, it violates human rights to extract stem cells without the baby's permission. However, the embryo is not able to give consent given that it can't speak. Therefore, scientists should not use embryo has their tool for any purposes.

The nature of creating organism

hk995_ — 2023-11-14 03:41:26 UTC

In many religions, creating organisms is considered a sacred thing to do. They believe God makes all humans, and only he has the right to decide who we are. It would be disrespectful to have the same job as God, and humans have no right to "create" another human being.

Are people allowed to decide a child's fate?

hk995_ — 2023-11-14 03:43:02 UTC

Creating certain types of DNA for people and expecting them to make society more efficient is deciding their fate before birth. In modern society, everyone is expected to have free will as a basic human right. If cloning decides their fate, like physical attributes and intelligence, the product is not living by free will. Especially when the cloned product is "expected" to contribute to society as the purpose of cloning smarter people, it decides their fate and gives them limited choices as to how they want to live their lives.

Why species extinct?

hk995_ — 2023-11-14 04:38:13 UTC

Not able to adapt to the environment: if they are recreated, they still won't be able to adapt to the new environment. That will cause it to become extinct again.

Overhunt: some species become extinct by overhunting; if they are recreated, then overhunting will become more uncontrollable and not be valued.