against human cloning essay

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• Human Cloning Essay

IELTS Human Cloning Essay

This is a model answer for a  human cloning  essay.

If you look at the task, the wording is slightly different from the common  'do you agree or disagree'  essay.

However, it is essentially asking the same thing.

As people live longer and longer, the idea of cloning human beings in order to provide spare parts is becoming a reality. The idea horrifies most people, yet it is no longer mere science fiction.

To what extent do you agree with such a procedure?

Have you any reservations?

Understanding the Question and Task

You are asked if you agree with human cloning to use their body parts (in other words, what are the benefits), and what reservations (concerns) you have (in other words, what are the disadvantages).

So the best way to answer this human cloning essay is probably to look at both sides of the issue as has been done in the model answer.

As always, you must read the question carefully to make sure you answer it fully and do not go off topic.

You are specifically being asked to discuss the issue of creating human clones to then use their body parts. If you write about other issues to do with human cloning, you may go off topic.

Model Human Cloning Essay

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Write about the following topic:

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own experience or knowledge.

Write at least 250 words.

Model Answer for Human Cloning Essay

The cloning of animals has been occurring for a number of years now, and this has now opened up the possibility of cloning humans too. Although there are clear benefits to humankind of cloning to provide spare body parts, I believe it raises a number of worrying ethical issues.

Due to breakthroughs in medical science and improved diets, people are living much longer than in the past. This, though, has brought with it problems. As people age, their organs can fail so they need replacing. If humans were cloned, their organs could then be used to replace those of sick people. It is currently the case that there are often not enough organ donors around to fulfil this need, so cloning humans would overcome the issue as there would then be a ready supply.

However, for good reasons, many people view this as a worrying development. Firstly, there are religious arguments against it. It would involve creating other human beings and then eventually killing them in order to use their organs, which it could be argued is murder. This is obviously a sin according to religious texts. Also, dilemmas would arise over what rights these people have, as surely they would be humans just like the rest of us. Furthermore, if we have the ability to clone humans, it has to be questioned where this cloning will end. Is it then acceptable for people to start cloning relatives or family members who have died?

To conclude, I do not agree with this procedure due to the ethical issues and dilemmas it would create. Cloning animals has been a positive development, but this is where it should end.

(276 words)

The essay is well-organized, with a clear introducion which introduces the topic:

• The cloning of animals has been occurring for a number of years now, and this has now opened up the possibility of cloning humans too.

And it has a thesis statement that makes it clear exactly how the human cloning essay will be structured and what the candidate's opinion is:

• Although there are clear benefits to humankind of cloning to provide spare body parts, I believe it raises a number of worrying ethical issues.

The first body paragraph discusses the advantages of cloning humans, and then the second body paragraph looks at the problems associated with this. The change of direction to look at the other side is clearly marked with a transition word ("however") and a topic sentence:

• However, for good reasons, many people view this as a worrying development.

Other transition words are used effectively to guide the reader through the ideas in the human cloning essay: Firstly,.. Also,... Furthermore,...

The candidate demonstrates that they can use a mix of complex structures. For example:

• Due to breakthroughs in medical science and improved diets, people are living much longer than in the past.
• It would involve creating another human and then eventually killing it in order to use its organs, which it could be argued is murder.
• ...if we have the ability to clone humans, it has to be questioned where this cloning will end.

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The Pros & Cons of Cloning

Advantages & Disadvantages of Cloning

As far as anyone really knows, scientists have yet to clone a human being, and there are no federal laws against it in the United State. However, seven states prohibit it altogether, and 10 states only allow it for biomedical research. While more than 30 countries formally ban cloning for reproductive purposes, China, England, Israel, Singapore and Sweden do allow cloning for research, but disallow reproductive cloning.

Cloning Definition

The definition of a clone as explained by Encyclopaedia Britannica is a cell or living thing, an organism, that is "genetically identical to the original cell or organism" from which it comes. The word itself comes from the ancient Greek word "klon," which means twig. Single-cell organisms like some yeasts and bacteria naturally reproduce clones of parent cells via budding or binary fission. Individual body cells within plants and animals are clones that occur during a cell-reproduction process called mitosis.

Cloned Animals

In 2017, scientists in Shanghai succeeded in cloning two genetically identical long-tailed macaques, small brown and black monkeys with body lengths of 16 to 28 inches. The last successful cloning of a primate was in 1998, but scientists have also cloned about 20 different types of animals including dogs, pigs, frogs, mice, cows and rabbits since the first cloned animal in 1996.

The First Cloned Animal: Dolly the Sheep

The first successful animal cloning occurred over 22 years ago, after a Scottish Blackface sheep surrogate mother gave birth to Dolly on July 5, 1996, at the Roslin Institute, part of the University of Edinburgh. Cloned from a six-year-old Dorset sheep, scientists analyzed her DNA at her first birthday and discovered that the telomeres at the end of her DNA strands (think eraser on a pencil head) were shorter that they should be for her age. As animals and humans age, these telomeres become shorter. The average age for sheep runs between six to 12 years. Dolly died when she was six, and though she had shortened telomeres, she lived an average life and produced multiple offspring through natural methods, but she also developed diseases in her later years.

Human Cloning Pros and Cons

The pros or advantages of human cloning include:

• ​ Infertility: ​ Infertile people or same-sex couples could have children made from cloned cells.
• ​ Organ replacement: ​ A clone, like in the movie, "The Island," could be a source for transplant organs or tissue. (There are ethical issues that arise from this, however.)
• ​ Genetic research: ​ Cell cloning could assist scientists in gene editing and research.
• ​ Selective human traits: ​ After editing or removing bad genes, cloning could lead engineered humans for specific traits.
• ​ Human development: ​ Cloning could enhance and advance human development.

The cons or disadvantages of human cloning raise moral, ethical and safety issues:

• ​ Reproductive cloning: ​ The negatives of human cloning including the making of designer babies.
• ​ Human cloning: ​ Could be a violation of the clone's individual human rights.
• ​ Embryonic cloning: ​ Cellular degradation occurs when too many clones are made from embryos.
• ​ Unique identities: ​ Cloning raises the question of a moral or human right to an exclusive identity.
• ​ Societal impacts: ​ Human cloning could produce psychological distress for the clone and society.

Effects of Cloning

While the purpose of cloning is to create an exact replica – if scientists cloned a human that appears identical to the original – it raises the questions as to whether the cloned human is an individual separate from the original and is due the same rights as any other human. Human cloning research and techniques could subject the clone to unacceptable risks such as a shortened life, bad health or other unknown problems. In the end, legalizing cloning on a wide-scale basis could lead to a disrespect for human life and the individual worth of a person, which might ultimately diminish all humans in the end.

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• CNN: Monkey See, Monkey 2: Scientists Clone Monkeys Using Technique That Created Dolly the Sheep
• Encyclopaedia Britannica: Macaque
• The University of Edinburgh: The Life of Dolly
• North Carolina State Extension: Sheep Facts
• Georgetown University: Cloning Human Beings
• Johns Hopkins University: Ask an Expert: How Close Are We to Cloning Humans?
• The New Atlantis: Appendix: State Laws on Human Cloning
• Encyclopaedia Britannica: Clone

About the Author

As a journalist and editor for several years, Laurie Brenner has covered many topics in her writings, but science is one of her first loves. Her stint as Manager of the California State Mining and Mineral Museum in California's gold country served to deepen her interest in science which she now fulfills by writing for online science websites. Brenner is also a published sci-fi author. She graduated from San Diego's Coleman College in 1972.

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The Cloning Controversy Argumentative Essay

Introduction, argument against cloning, argument for cloning, works cited.

Despite the promising future that cloning purports to forecast for the human race, the research projects have been met with fierce opposition from lawmakers to clergy men. Most of the opposition is on ethical grounds and while there is nothing unethical about using technology to save lives, opposition groups are far from being appeased.

Considering the fact that most of the controversy about cloning arises from misinformation or ignorance about the matter, this study shall set out to conclusively research on cloning and its merits so as to attest whether the lack of unanimous support for therapeutic cloning and explicit ban of human cloning is justifiable.

Cloning is described as the creation of genetically identical organisms by use of artificial means (Kfoury 112). Cloning is deemed as a form of asexual reproduction whereby a gene from one animal/human is transferred to another organism. The process by which this is carried out is often complicated and requires cutting edge technology.

The two major forms of cloning are the Reproductive and therapeutic cloning. Reproductive cloning involves the generation of animals that have identical DNA with previously existing animals (Mollard 1). Cloning of human beings would fall under this category. This procedure is carried out by copying the DNA information from the donor’s nucleus into a cell with the nucleus previously removed (Mollard 2). The cell grows into a replica of the animal which provided the gene once it is fully developed.

Therapeutic cloning follows the same steps as reproductive cloning only that the embryos development is not let to run to completion. Therapeutic cloning is mainly used to extract stem cells from embryos. After the successful retrieval of the cells, the embryos are inevitably destroyed (Kfoury 112). Research on stem cells has it that these unspecialized cells have the ability to transform themselves into any type of cell found in the body.

There has been agreement by consensus that human cloning should be banned though the prospects of the same are at best distant. The major arguments in support of this assertion is the concern that cloning could lead to physically deformed children and furthermore pose a danger to the women who act as surrogate mothers to the clones (Pearson 658). It is noteworthy to point out that these fears are not unfounded since cloning of animals has resulted to some undesirable characteristics being exhibited in the clone.

Research shows that cloned animals that survive end up being bigger at birth than natural animals. This condition is not only hazardous to the mother but also can lead to breathing problems and a myriad of other complications (Pearson 658). The mortality rate of cloned animals is also observed to be very high with most of them hardly lasting through a few months (Mollard 2).

New cloning techniques open up the possibility of reproductive cloning hereby human beings could be created! Kfoury paints quite a bleak image on the outcome of cloning by alluding to a possibility that people could have clones and then use these clones to “harvest” organs needed to be transplanted into them when their own organs have failed or are sickly (113).

This scary possibility is further made real by the critical shortage of organs for such surgeries and the very questionable moral ethics of some governments which could assent with such outrageous practices.

Cloning technology as it presently stands is haunted by huge failure rates (Mollard 2). This is one of the facts that detractors to cloning are quick to point out in their arguments against the justification of cloning. In the first successful cloning of the sheep, it is recorded that 277 enucleated eggs were obtained and received nuclei from an adult mammary gland cell.

Of these, only 29 cells made it to the next blastocyst stage. The new cells were placed in the uteruses of 13 ewes but only one sheep was eventually born. This success rate of a mere 0.36% is seen as unjustifiable considering the efforts that go into the cloning process.

Another venue from which opposition to the cloning process is brought into light is by a woman’s study by Mollard (2). He asserts that while the debate rages on about reproductive cloning and step cell research efforts, women who supply the eggs for the cloning efforts are given no merit or credit at that.

The health risks associated with the egg extraction process are seen to be great and in light of the high rate of failure currently associated with the cloning process, Mollard contests that serious ethical implications are raised regarding the process (2).

From a medical point of view, cloning also presents a new way in which research into diseases can be undertaken. It is articulated that animals that carry genetic defect that mimic human diseases can be generated through cloning (North Carolina Association for Biomedical Research 2). These “sickly” animals could then be used for the study of the diseases and the findings obtained from this would be of immense value in finding of effective therapies for treating the disease in humans (Wolfe 3).

Sadly, majority of the people awaiting organs for transplant will end up not receiving the much needed organs. Therapeutic cloning presents a long term solution to this problem which is only set to escalate.

Cloning of individual human organs e.g. the kidney, heart, etc. presents a novel way of coming up with organs for transplant as patients will no longer have to rely on the altruist tendencies of fellow men, which cannot always be guaranteed (Lanza 283). In addition, this cloning will ensure that organ rejection is a thing of the past (Kfoury 113).

In addition to these prospects of creating high quality breeds in industrial scale numbers, there is also the possibility of modifying the DNA of the clones such that they posses some key proteins that are not normally present in the animal but are of huge benefit to human beings (Lanza 283). This can lead to the increasing in the nutritional worth of the animals and the presentation of healthier food products for people since the nutritional composition of the product can be “tweaked” to best suit the consumer. This will lead to a healthier nation.

While antagonism over the safety of cloned animal products has incessantly been questioned, majority of the people have began viewing cloning as one of the feasible ways of creating means of feeding a world whose population is constantly on the rise (North Carolina Association for Biomedical Research 2).

Cloning presents a way of ensuring that the precise quality of food can be harvested over and over. In light of the recent financial crises and the increased food insecurity issues especially in developing counties, such moves that promise adequate food supplies are welcome.

This study set out on a quest to state if the banning of cloning research efforts was justifiable. Considering the numerous benefits that further research would have presented, I would view this ban as grossly unjustifiable. Should the ban on funding of cloning projects not have been made, one can only guess at the numerous groundbreaking achievements that could have been made by now.

The novel ideal of individual organ cloning would have alleviated the present problem that is so prevalent in the health care system. In addition, the global food crisis would be significantly averted among other benefits.

Kfoury, Charlotte. “Therapeutic cloning: promises and issues.” MJM , 10.2 2007:112-120. Print.

Lanza, Robert. “After Dolly: the use and misuse of human cloning (BOOK REVIEW).” The journal of clinical investigation, 117.2 2007: 283. Print.

Mollard, Richard. Reproductive cloning . 2005. Web.

North Carolina Association for Biomedical Research. Cloning . 2006. Web.

Pearson, Yvette. “Never Let Me Clone? Countering an Ethical Argument against the Reproductive Cloning of Humans.” European Molecular Biology Organization , 7.7 2006: 657-59. Print.

Wolfe, John. “Gene Therapy in Large Animal Models of Human Genetic Diseases.” ILAR J , 50.2 2009: 107-111. Print.

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