Health of the Mother in Reproductive Cloning - Are the Risks Too Great?

Medical research performed on human subjects requires both trust and a leap of faith. Many formal controls and guidelines are in place that attempt to limit negative effects on human study participants. The horrors perpetrated by the Nazis on Jewish, Romany, and political prisoners led to the Nuremberg Trials and the formulation of the Nuremberg Code.

The ten clauses of the Nuremberg Code are designed to prevent abuses and harms to subjects of medical research. Of particular relevance to reproductive cloning (RC) is the requirement that research be designed and based on the results of animal experimentation. Many aspects of RC will make it difficult to adhere to this principle. For example, at present cloning of primates has not been attempted. The creation of cloned rhesus monkey blastocysts, announced in November 2007, was a huge breakthrough with respect to proof of concept. But in terms of the ultimate goal of the live birth of a cloned primate, blastocysts represent a very small step forward.

The field of stem cell research is progressing rapidly and it's possible that RC might achieve comparable advances within the next decade or so. The successful birth of a primate clone would necessarily be based on solutions to the innumerable challenges posed by embryology and development. Knowledge gained might lead to the existence of healthy rhesus monkey clones. But early attempts to transfer these experimental protocols to human subjects would be akin to opening an extraterrestrial capsule, which has landed in the Mojave Desert, without proper protective gear. The unknown awaits and its coming could be disastrous.

As human reproductive cloning is uncharted territory, the first women subjects would be literally risking their lives. The circumstances are much more dire than those involved in Phase I clinical trials for a new drug. Although the new drug has not been tested in humans as yet, at least several years of animal testing has typically been done. If primate clones have been born, at least some form of animal testing has been performed. But the stakes are much higher and the circumstances are not parallel.

A developing embryo is effectively a parasite. Scientists would be loathe to introduce a new parasitic species into a human host. We simply don't know whether inserting a cloned embryo is any different. And although humans and rhesus monkeys share DNA inheritances that have 93% commonality, monkeys and humans are not the same. Even though in many cases this may not be readily apparent.

Given the potential risks as a society we need to consider whether we wish to go down this road. Is RC necessary? Who will benefit? Are there work-arounds? Are there some things we simply should not do? These questions require serious evaluation.

David Lemberg, M.S. in Bioethics, Albany Medical College, May 2010
Consultant, Author, Speaker. Research interests - health care and health care policy, reproductive technologies, genetics and genomics, K-12 science education.
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