Why I am against cloning and stem-cell research.
Go on, get your screams of “Luddite!” and whatever else you want out of your system now. I’ll wait.
Ok, feel better? Good.
Here’s the deal. I look at the debates over human cloning and stem-cell research, and I see a unique opportunity. This may be the first time where we have the technological ability to pursue something that has tremendous moral and ethical impact &emdash; and we know at least some of the moral and ethical issues that need resolving up front.
This was not the case at the dawn of the nuclear age. I know that nobody stopped to consider the moral implications of what they were doing. The attitude was “It’s science, it’s morally neutral”. We now know that was not the case.
So too with the concepts of cloning, and to a much lesser extent, stem-cell research. I’ll admit, I’m not up on what the state of the art is in stem-cell research. I know that there have been limited trials in animals, but if there are any major successes or breakthroughs, I’ve not heard of them.
I’d like to see, for once, science take a break from progress to really analyze the impact of what they are studying. Simply saying “well, someone else will do it if we don’t” is not sufficient to absolve the scientific community of moral and ethical responsiblity. That we can do something does not imply that we must, or even should do it.