cloning (idea)

Tuesday, December 11, 2001, “Stem cells used to heal monkey spines”, so reads a headline in the Japan Times Online, this is just one headline. The debate over the ethical and moral implications of human cloning and stem cell research has raged for years, but one must admit, a headline of that magnitude is hard to ignore. The article goes on to say, “Doctors at Keio University in Tokyo have succeeded in restoring mobility to monkeys crippled with spinal cord injuries, by transplanting neural stem cells obtained from the spinal cords of (dead) fetuses…. the results of the group's experiments may have opened the door to curing injuries of this kind in humans.” Clearly, the issue, once relegated to speculative fiction, indeed in a somewhat ghoulish vein has now become a not-so-horrific reality and as such necessitates observation from a more rational and less emotional perspective.

To examine the subject of cloning objectively, one must first understand some of the science behind it. First, what are stem cells? Stem cells are cells, which can divide for an indefinite amount of time in a laboratory and yield specialized cells. Shortly after an egg is fertilized a single cell capable of producing a complete organism is created, and is called totipotent i.e. it’s potential is total. In just a few hours this cell divides into two identical totipotent cells, both with the potential to develop into a fetus. About four days into the cycle, after several more divisions the cells begin to specialize and form the blastocyst. Inside the blastocyst is a cluster of cells called the inner cell mass. The inner cell mass although capable of forming nearly every type of cell in the human body, cannot form the entire organism without the outer cells which form the placenta and other tissues needed to support the fetus in the womb. These more specialized cells are called pluripotent and are the primary cells that the stem cell lines for research are derived from. It should be noted that since these cell’s potential is not total, they are not totipotent and are therefore not embryos, even if they were to be placed into a woman’s uterus they would not develop into a fetus. ( National Institutes of Health, 2000)

After bearing further specialization these pluripotent cells develop into multipotent cells, cells with specific functions, such as white and red blood cells and various types of skin cells. Multipotent cells are found in children and adults, the most widely understood of which are the blood stem cells that dwell in the bone marrow. Although the results of research in this area are promising the evidence suggests that these cells are found in adults in very small quantities and their amounts may decrease with age. It is for this reason that the bulk of the research now being conducted is with the pluripotent cells.( National Institutes of Health, 2000)

Because these pluripotent cells are central to the genetic decision-making process their research potential is enormous. Medical conditions, such as cancer and birth defects, are caused by abnormal cell division and specialization. A deeper insight into normal cell function could be the key to understanding their root causes and thus the key to the cure. Embryonic stem cells could also be extracted at the blastocyst stage, and with proper stimulation in vitro, coerced to differentiate into different cell lines as a source of potential cell regeneration. Using these embryonic stem cells, scientists could also gain insight into other illnesses such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s, and Leukemia, in fact the list of potential benefits is extensive and also includes; treatments for spinal cord injuries, stroke, burns, heart disease, diabetes, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.( National Institutes of Health, 2000; John Robertson, 1998)

It is in the creation of human embryos, however, and the subsequent extraction of stem cells thereby destroying the embryo that the current controversy lies. It is for the same reasons that the research has become inextricably linked with the abortion debate. Advocacy groups, governments, and religious groups around the world have reacted to the cloning of the first human embryo in a largely emotional fashion, and are demanding that all stem cell research be stopped.

In August 2001, President George W. Bush agreed to allow limited government funding of stem cell research on 60 cell lines already in existence “where,” he said, “a life-and-death decision has already been made.” In other words, these existing stem cell lines were derived from embryos left over from fertility treatments or abortions and would be discarded as medical waste. A group of scientists in Virginia complicated matters further by announcing that they had created human embryos for the specific purpose of extracting stem cells. In December 2001, Mr. Bush declared the creation of human embryos by cloning “morally wrong” and said, “We should not as a society grow life to destroy it, and that's exactly what's taking place.” Michael West, President and CEO of Advanced Cell Technology Inc. (ACT), the company in Massachusetts responsible for the cloning of the first human embryo disagreed with the predication that the technology amounted essentially, to the creation of a human being. “We're talking about making human cellular life, not a human life”, he insisted that the research was not meant for human reproduction, and expressed disdain at the idea of it moving toward that end.

Nonetheless the emotionality of the issue can be gauged by the alacrity with which the government, Vatican and pro-life organizations reacted to what many in the scientific community see as “very preliminary and unconvincing evidence.” An article in the Washington Post is quoted, as saying that stopping the research at this point would not be justified, as it was too early in the research process to judge it’s potential. Yet immediately following the publication of ACT’s scientific paper the Vatican made the statement, "Notwithstanding the humanistic intents...this calls for a calm but resolute appraisal which shows the moral gravity of this project and calls for unequivocal condemnation." The statement emphasized the Catholic Churches belief that life begins at conception, thus it believes cloning to be a violation of life. If the reaction from political and religious leaders is such now, before the technology is technically viable, it may be just the tip of the iceberg for what happens when a human being is cloned, and it will happen, it’s only a matter of time.

Due to the governments stance on the matter, as discussed previously, stem cell research is, for the most part privately funded, federal grants amount to a very small part of it. It is this fact that will keep the research going regardless of societal pressures, it’s just too important. The unfortunate fallout from the degradation of public opinion will be the eventual moving ‘underground’ of the research thereby causing a ‘black market’ of cloning if you will, which treads the same ground as the secret abortion clinics of old. It is an attribution of human nature, if there exists a treatment for a particular disease or a unique medical problem that only cloning can solve, people will have it whatever the cost, and wherever they have to go, and whomever they have to deal with to get it. Banning the science completely would create only laws against the practice, not laws to monitor it, in a field that has as much potential for abuse as it does potential benefits this stance is patently dangerous.

Despite the fact that the potential for abuse exists, to a large degree much of the negativity surrounding the issue of human cloning is based on media hysteria, misinformation and science fiction. Huxley’s Brave New World for instance, conveniently neglects the reality that cloning requires a gestating womb and a commitment to rear the child. Although, since the book was written nearly seventy years ago, he can probably be forgiven. That does not however, negate the possibility of total laboratory gestation in the future, but at present most scientists are averse to the idea, and that sentiment seems unlikely to change. Current research shows that it will likely be a very long time before any of the worst of society’s fears are realized, if they are realized at all.Other scenarios talk of slavery and ‘lesser classes’ of people, all of these instances fail to take into account the fact that although a clone would be an exact duplicate genetically, mentally and emotionally it would still be his/her own person. We are all the sum of our experiences and a cloned human would be no different.

The issue of a cloned child being singled out and looked at as less than it’s peers in much the same way as people thought the first IVF or ‘test tube’ baby would be is equally ludicrous. There was a stir initially but eventually the practice became commonplace as will cloning. Nonetheless, with the potential benefits stated above, and others too numerous to mention, human cloning and stem cell research remains one of the greatest hopes of humanity, it would be a crime to see it stopped before those benefits were allowed to come to fruition.

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