Sh.K. Òuleubayeva, S.M.Togaibekova
Buketov
Karaganda State University, Karaganda
Every
day our world is improving. There are more developments in new fields of
science, and as a result of this there is a significant amount of controversy
and discussions on the topics discussed. One of the most striking examples we
can think of recent achievements in the field of cloning, has generated a lot
of questions. On the one hand, such discoveries are a huge step forward for
fundamental science. On the other hand, there are moral problems associated
with the ethics of human cloning.
The
possibility of using this biotechnology to man became real only after the first
positive results in animal cloning. One of the latest achievements of the
method of cloning is creating a genetically identical objects obtained using
the method of “replacement of the cell nucleus”. The essence of the method lies
in the fact that from the cell nucleus, equipped with paired chromosomes, is
transferred into an unfertilized egg, from which was removed before the parent
kernel. The resulting embryo “ripen” for several days, after which normal
developing embryos implanted to surrogate mothers. “Using this technology was
obtained in 1996 the world-famous Dolly the sheep”[1]. Dolly, the famous sheep
clone lived for 6 years and gave birth to 5 healthy lambs, but died of lung
cancer that is quite common among sheep. It is believed that a possible cause
of premature death was that her genetic age was only 6 years old.
Currently
there are two types of cloning: reproductive and therapeutic. “As a result of
reproductive cloning produces a new holistic organism that is a genetic copy of
another organism is the clone”[2].
Actually the clone is just an identical twin of another person, delayed in
time. However, sci-Fi novels and movies have created people the impression that
human clones would be mindless zombies, monsters like Frankenstein or the
twins. And all of this is complete nonsense.
Clones
of humans are normal human beings, just like you or I, not zombies. They will
bear an ordinary woman for 9 months, they will be born and will grow up in a
family like any other child. They will need 18 years to reach adulthood, just
like all other human beings. Consequently, a clone-twin will be decades younger
than her original, so there is no danger that people will confuse the
clone-twin with the original. Just like identical twins,
the clone and DNA donor would have different fingerprints. The clone will not
inherit anything from memoirs of the original individual. Due to all these
differences, a clone is not a copy or counterpart of a person, but merely a
younger identical twin. Human clones will have the same legal rights and
responsibilities as any other person. Clones will be human beings in the
fullest sense. You will not have the right to keep a clone as a slave. Slavery
people been banned in the U.S. in 1865. Many people ask: "why clone
humans?" There are at least two reasons: to provide an opportunity for
families to conceive children-the twins of prominent personalities and to allow
childless couples to have children. Living in free society, we must also ask
the question: "whether the negative consequences are so inevitable that we
should deny adults, acting voluntarily?" We will see that, in General,
negative effects are not so insurmountable. And human cloning is a predictable
methodology, consisting in the creation of the embryo and subsequent growth of
the embryo of people with the genotype of an individual, now existing or
previously existing. We learned that reproductive cloning can be called a
process of cell reproduction, which does not stop at maximum 14-day period. The
embryo moves into the woman's uterus, where it continues its development into a
fetus and then a child. Therapeutic cloning is “cloning technology for the
purpose of obtaining embryonic stem cells for scientific research”[3].
Supporters of human cloning believe that the development of this area will
enable infertile people to have children of their own. We believe that this argument has special significance in many aspects. This
conclusion is the rationale of the research results Kazakh doctors that “woman
is the cause of infertility in marriage in 40-45% of cases. Male is 40%, both
husband and wife are at 20-30% ”[4]. In addition to
infertile couples, thanks to cloning technology, would also get the chance to
have biologically related children couple non-standard orientations, which are
not able to have children through sexual intercourse. Another very important
positive factor in cloning is “the ability to grow parts of the human body,
using the DNA of the host”[5]. If the man lost a child, close person or a loved
pet, he can recreate it in the form of a clone. There is also the prospect of
cloning outstanding people of the past: scientists, political leaders,
athletes, movie stars. Another positive aspect of cloning is the ability to
carry out the correction of injustice [6].
Obviously
the cloning of humans has tremendous potential, but forget about the presence
of negative consequences should not be. Development of culture and scientific
progress, the clones would take a serious leap.
The
United Nations called upon member Nations to enact laws banning all forms of
cloning. In Kazakhstan, the country where we live, any form of cloning is
prohibited by law. However, Belgium, Britain, Japan, South Korea, Russia and
several other countries left the issue of therapeutic cloning to the discretion
of individual States. We believe that the adoption of such a solution is
justified by the fact that obtaining stem cells is of great importance in
medicine for the treatment of various diseases.
In September 2008
the Australian government issued the
license allowing scientists to create cloned human embryos to obtain embryonic
stem cells. Contrary to popular belief, the clone usually is not a complete
copy of the original, because when you clone you copy only the genotype, but
the phenotype is not copied. Moreover, even if development under the same
conditions, cloned organisms are not identical, because there are random
deviations in the development. This proves the example of the natural human
clones – identical twins, which usually develop in very similar conditions.
Parents and friends can distinguish them by the location of moles, small
differences in facial features, voice and other characteristics. They do not
have identical branching blood vessels, is also not completely identical to
their papillary lines. It is obvious that human cloning has enormous potential
benefits and few possible negative effects. As with many scientific
achievements of the past, such as airplanes and computers, the only threat is
the threat to our own narrow mental complacency. Clones man can make a great
contribution in the field of scientific progress, and cultural development. In
certain cases, where are anticipated to possible abuse, they can be prevented
by narrowly specialized legislation. With a drop of common sense and reasonable
regulation, human cloning is not something to be afraid of. We should expect it
with exciting anticipation, and support research that will accelerate the
implementation of cloning. Exceptional people are among the greatest treasures
of the world. Human cloning will allow us to maintain, and eventually even
recover these treasures.
Literature:
1. Êëîíèðîâàíèå.
http://www.alienguest.ru/enc/nepoznannoe/klonirovanie/. 2011.
2. Êëîíèðîâàíèå – ðåïðîäóêòèâíàÿ òåõíîëîãèÿ.
http://www.relga.ru/Environ/WebObjects/tgu-www.woa/wa/Main?textid=2695&level1=main&level2=articles.
2004.
3. Áåñïëîäèå
– äèàãíîç, à íå ïðèãîâîð.
http://www.ya-mama.kz/articles/Besplodie/Besplodie__diagnoz_a_ne_prigovor.
21.7.2011.
4. Êëîíèðîâàíèå. http://www.alienguest.ru/enc/nepoznannoe/klonirovanie/.
2011.
5. Èñöåëÿþùåå ñðåäñòâî. http://www.infoniac.ru/news/Klonirovanie-cheloveka-za-i-protiv.html. 2012.
6.
Êëîíèðîâàíèå. http://www.dolli-kids.ru/vozrazhenie8.php.
2010.