Human Cloning: Science or Madness? Essay -- Argumentative Persuasive T

Human Cloning: Science or Madness?      Ã‚  Ã‚   Despite evidence that nearly all cloned animals are plagued by significant genetic abnormalities, two scientist groups have announced their plans to impregnate women with cloned embryos, each proposing to create the world's first cloned human being.    Clones are created by injecting genetic material from a single cell of one person is into an egg cell that has had its genes removed. The cell is then stimulated to act like a fertilized egg and divide, becoming an embryo. Once the embryo reaches an appropriate stage it is then implanted into a woman's womb, and the resulting baby would be like an identical twin to the donor.    Since the cloning of the sheep named Dolly in 1997, scientists have been working hard to create cloned human embryos for research and reproduction. During a hearing on human cloning, Panayiotis Zavos, a Kentucky based reproductive expert, told scientists, "The research must go on." Zavos is working with Italian fertility specialist Severino Antinori, who gained headline news in 1994 when he enabled a 62-year old woman to have a baby. Along with the Zavos and Antinori team are the scientists with Clonaid, an extraterrestrial Raelian movement based in Canada who claims cloning our bodies is the next step towards everlasting life.       Dr. Bridgette Boisselier is a Raelian Bishop and director of the human cloning project at Clonaid. The Raelian movement claims humanity was created by "space scientists," and "once we can clone exact replicas of ourselves, the next step will be to transfer our memory and personality into our newly cloned brains, which will allow us to truly live forever. Since we will be able to remember all our past, we wil... ...t proponents of human cloning claim this technology will help couples with infertility problems. Bragdon v. Abbot, 118 S.Ct. 2196 (1998), is cited as evidence that infertility is a disability and reproduction is a major life activity that is a fundamental human right. Human cloning advocates argue the development of a technology that can give an infertile and childless couple the right to reproduce, have a healthy biological child of their own, completing their biological "life cycle," is a constitutional right that should not be outlawed.    Works Cited: National Institutes of Health, NIH Update on Existing Human Embryonic Stem Cells, August 2001 The Associated Press, Votes Kill Efforts to Use Embryos for Research, August 2001 The White House: Office of the the Press Secretary, White House Fact Sheet Embryonic Stem Cell Research, August 2001