Achebe Well most test TUbe babies are created to be babies. . .Clones maybe create for spare parts. . .work in dangerous environs. . they maybe seen as tools I think BIO ETHICS is the next Psychological Field Rocket River ------------------
PSJ, It will be a looooong time, before we know how to force pluripotent stem cells down a particular developmental pathway to create a limb bud and, subsequently, an arm. You do, nevertheless, bring up a great point. A complex organ or an arm may be far off in the horizon, but cloning something like human skin could be conceivable in the future. Think of the therapeutic uses for burn victims, skin cancer victims, or anyone needing a skin graft. Achebe also makes a good point about the mouse with the human ear. What if, in the far future, we are able to clone an animal with a human kidney or lung. Is there anything morally wrong with engineering, for example, a pig that could be a source of a human kidney? This is, of course, mearly speculation, as I don't believe that we have anywhere near the technology to do this, but it does make a strong argument for continuing research. ------------------
Cloning Sheep is one thing [HEY if it feeds the world. . .I'm down with it] But humans open up pandora's box. 1. Clone's rights. Some people have a second Child in hopes that it can help save the 1st [I think of the episode of sliders] Think about children's rights. . . will it be less than that? Are they property. 2. Ridiculousness. Cloning Garnetts etc I mean honestly once started why recruit out of college when you can clone Garnet and raise him for the 2030 Timberwolves? We worry about people cloning people for stupid/trivial/dangerous reasons. 3. Cloning for research [THINK PETA!!!] experimenting on Clones. I could easily see a Clone Slave pop. [kindof like the androids in BladeRunner] Many way will Cloning is expensive . . . so were PCs less than 20 yrs ago. in time it may not be so expensive. Loosely translated we don't trust our selves with this kind of power. Hell we worry about people knowing there child will be a boy or girl [in some culture they would abort because it is a girl] Rocket River This is a question that we will SERIOUSLY have to deal with in most of our lifetime IMO ------------------
RRiver: Huh? There are test tube babies running about, but they're not treated any differently than anyone else... The other stuff gets a bit more interesting, but it has nothing to do w/ cloning (as someone else already pointed out). Changing a child's hair color/eye color, etc. is a matter for bioethics to consider. The other stuff, warding off genetic issues, etc. is no different than taking cold medicine, etc. (in moral theory). ------------------ It just goes to show how skewed our priorities are when Mo Taylor makes millions of dollars while some high school teacher, that can actually rebound, scrapes to make a living. If Mo were half the power forward that Charles Barkley was, he'd be 3'2" and still board more than he does now. [This message has been edited by Achebe (edited November 21, 2000).]
