# What's wrong with human cloning anyway? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 1, 2006, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-human-cloning-anyway/342564 "2006-02-01T20:31:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-human-cloning-anyway/342564/1 "2006-02-01T20:31:10Z")
There’s been a ban on human cloning research in the U.S. since the Clinton Administration. And Bush expressly mentioned it, stating clear opposition, in his SOTU adress last night. I’ve never understood why. What has anybody got against human cloning? I don’t think we **need** it for reproductive purposes, but I can’t see any harm in it. If I want to raise my own genetic twin as my child, why shouldn’t I? As for cloning for therapeutic purposes – how can anybody object to research that might make it possible to clone new organs for people who need them? [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human\_cloning](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_cloning) ---
**Author:** ![Rune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e68b1a/32.png) [@Rune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rune)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-human-cloning-anyway/342564/2 "2006-02-01T20:43:22Z")
Every child is unique. It shouldn’t have to start life as a mere copy of someone else already existing person. Especially since such a cloning would often be done for less than healthy reasons. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-human-cloning-anyway/342564/3 "2006-02-01T20:46:23Z")
> [@Rune](#): > > Every child is unique. It shouldn’t have to start life as a mere copy of someone else already existing person. But a clone is a **genetic** copy only; life experiences make it otherwise unique. Besides, we already have natural identical twins – there’s no reason why only one in each pair should be allowed to be born, is there? > [@Rune](#): > > Especially since such a cloning would often be done for less than healthy reasons. Such as? ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-human-cloning-anyway/342564/4 "2006-02-01T20:48:33Z")
No there’s of course nothing wrong with human cloning so long as we can assure that cloned children are physically as robust as those born via a round of hide-the-sausage. (Not that I follow the literature, but I’m reasonably sure that at this stage, this is something we cannot ensure.) The other dimension of this, however, is that one thing that’s on the drawing boards is mass-cloning embryos for the sole purpose of terminating their viability and harvesting stem cells from them. I do think that there’s a moral dimension to this question. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-human-cloning-anyway/342564/5 "2006-02-01T20:49:34Z")
> [@Rune](#): > > It shouldn’t have to start life as a mere copy of someone else already existing person. Yeah, you’re going to have to offer some rationale for that besides “I says so.” –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-human-cloning-anyway/342564/6 "2006-02-01T20:49:55Z")
The objections of rational opponents usually centers around the high rate of failures and birth defects that occur with the current technology. [Human Genome Project](http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/elsi/cloning.shtml) > [@](#): > > More than 90% of cloning attempts fail to produce viable offspring. More than 100 nuclear transfer procedures could be required to produce one viable clone. In addition to low success rates, cloned animals tend to have more compromised immune function and higher rates of infection, tumor growth, and other disorders. Japanese studies have shown that cloned mice live in poor health and die early. About a third of the cloned calves born alive have died young, and many of them were abnormally large. Many cloned animals have not lived long enough to generate good data about how clones age. Appearing healthy at a young age unfortunately is not a good indicator of long term survival. Clones have been known to die mysteriously. For example, Australia’s first cloned sheep appeared healthy and energetic on the day she died, and the results from her autopsy failed to determine a cause of death. There are also no shortage of objections based on the supernatural. ---
**Author:** ![Rune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e68b1a/32.png) [@Rune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rune)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-human-cloning-anyway/342564/7 "2006-02-01T20:52:59Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > But a clone is a **genetic** copy only; life experiences make it otherwise unique. Besides, we already have natural identical twins – there’s no reason why only one in each pair should be allowed to be born, is there? Yes. But supposedly the whole reason for wanting to clone in the first place is to get a child that match some fairly precise expectations. > [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Such as? Wanting to recreate a dead loved one for instance. Which would put unreasonable expectations on the child to be be someone else. Wanting to have a child with those specific genetic for the purpose of harvesting organs or other body material for use in an already living, but ill, person. What good reasons are there to clone a human? - This is not something I feel strongly about. But something that I am very suspicious of. ---
**Author:** ![Malodorous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47774/32.png) [@Malodorous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malodorous)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-human-cloning-anyway/342564/8 "2006-02-01T21:21:46Z")
> [@Rune](#): > > Yes. But supposedly the whole reason for wanting to clone in the first place is to get a child that match some fairly precise expectations. That’s why a lot of people have normal children in the first place, though. I don’t know that it’s terribly healthy to have regular children in the first place that you wish to raise to some specific expectations, but it happens all the time and most people still turn out OK.