Reproductive Cloning and Potential Threats to Society

It is argued by many that reproductive cloning (RC) would pull sharply at several threads of our social fabric. reproductive cloning is construed as a threat to family values, RC might enable de facto or full-on eugenics programs, and RC entails many concerns for the safety of mothers and children.

Reproductive cloning would make it possible for any sort of family configuration to have children. And much more than in vitro fertilization procedures, RC eliminates entirely the need for sexual reproduction. Single men who are infertile would be enabled to have children who are their genetic clones. A single woman could serve as her own DNA source for RC, an example of a woman having a child in the absence of spermatic services. All these possibilities, it is said by many, will destroy the traditional family along with its values that are the bedrock of our civilization.

Reproductive cloning raises the specter of eugenics, thoroughly discredited public policy attempts to "improve" the quality of the human race. RC would allow prospective parent(s) to select eggs from women who exemplify highly desired traits and qualities. For example, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, but prized physiologic markers frequently include blonde hair, blue or green eyes, and athletic frames. Desired behaviors include above-average intelligence, artistic and/or aesthetic pursuits, and demonstrable achievements. A typical list, recently posted on a surrogacy services website, requests an egg donor who is "talented, intelligent, high achieving, humble, kind, organized, clean, healthy, attractive".

The above list was compiled for a one-off surrogacy procedure. But such requests, when aggregated and multiplied, represent a de facto eugenics program. Reproductive cloning would streamline and simplify the processes used in IVF. For example, in RC no donor eggs are needed. A skin cell from the donor of choice will suffice. Highly attractive donors could sell ten skin cells a day or more, depending on the technology, indefinitely. The Alphas and Betas of Brave New World would soon become a reality. Unplanned (by the state, that is) eugenics would silently slip into the mainstream. Instead of being the world's melting pot, it is said that RC would cause America to become a land populated by homogeneous Barbies and Kens.

The safety of RC is another important policy issue. At present most RC procedures in animals have a very low yield. Even if, for example, a live birth was possible for every ten procedures, a human mother-to-be would need to undergo ten implantations and early pregnancies before a living baby was born. Such repeated hormonal stress has unknown consequences, including maternal mortality due to such entities as eclampsia.

The child-who-is-a-clone would also be subject to a range of unknown health risks. RC attempts to replace physiologic processes that have developed over millions of years. Epigenetic reprogramming of gametes is an example of such a process that occurs over a long period of time. A second round of reprogramming on the sperm is performed by unknown factors in the egg cytoplasm after fertilization. Donor DNA obtained from an adult somatic cell is diploid, not haploid. It has not undergone primary spermatogenesis-related reprogramming, and egg-based reprogramming is significantly different than that occurring during sexual reproduction.

The above factors are representative of a much more detailed list of unknown variables that would have unforeseen consequences for the health of the clone. The long-term health of a clone is very much a roll of the dice at present. These issues will only begin to become apparent during the lives of the first few generations of human clones. What unfolds could possibly represent human experimentation at its worst.

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 Executive Producer, SCIENCE AND SOCIETY, http://scienceandsociety.net
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Human Cloning and Single Parenting

Making the decision to have a child is a very big step in a person's life. Traditionally this choice is made by two people - a man and a woman, comprising a traditional couple. But, although the large majority of couples continue to be composed of two individuals of the opposite sex, the numbers of same-sex couples are increasing. Regardless, when two women or two men make the choice to have a child, utilizing sexual reproduction with a volunteer partner or using assisted reproductive techniques with donated sperm or a donated egg, the circumstances involve the traditional number of two people.

Human cloning (HC), in marked contrast, would represent a radical departure from family dynamics that have been in place for many thousands of years. HC technology would permit individuals to have children, an option that need to be carefully considered by society before we permit such methods to become available.

An individual might want to have a child via HC for altruistic or selfish reasons. She may not wish to engage in the perceived entanglements of a long-term or lifelong adult relationship, and yet very much wishes to raise a child. He may already have children with an ex-wife, for example, and now believes he can raise a child more effectively on his own. There are many variations of these themes.

In contrast, a person may think highly of himself and desire to bring another person exactly like himself into the world. He may believe the clone will be a perfect business partner, perfect traveling companion, or perfect intellectual sounding board. The person believes that the clone, being a genetic replica, will also develop many or most of the personal characteristics and qualities the person finds so attractive and appealing in herself. Of course, identical genomes do not imply identical personalities, but the availability of HC methods may entice people to have a child and take their chances.

Also, people may want to clone themselves in attempts to fulfill ambitions and other cherished goals. A woman may have been a local figure skating champion but failed on a larger stage. She had a serious injury, didn't have sufficient financial resources to follow her dream, or believed she was slighted by the judges. Now, later in life, she has the opportunity and the means to clone herself. She believes she will "raise my child right" and make sure her daughter reaches the very pinnacle of international figure skating.

Selfish motives and motives for personal gain may figure in many cases of human cloning. But traditional parents commonly impose their selfish desires on their children. Frustrated football players, singer, entrepreneurs, and many others all desperately try to force their children to succeed in areas in which the parents failed. Thus, less-than-altruistic personal motivation is not unique to those who wish to have a child who is a clone. Human cloning cannot be banned on this basis.

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
Executive Producer, SCIENCE AND SOCIETY, http://scienceandsociety.net v Twitter - http://twitter.com/david_lemberg
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Human Cloning - The Child's View

A child who is a clone may be a very different child from all her peers. She looks like a normal child, having been born with the standard set of components - two eyes, two ears, ten fingers, ten toes, all standard issue from top to bottom. But in one crucial characteristic she is radically distinct from all other children. She is the product of one parent's entire genome, rather than being the product of the combination of randomly assorted genes from two parents.

When she becomes sufficiently self-aware she notices she is a nearly identical copy of her genetic mother, if she in fact lives with that person. Same hair color and consistency, same eye color, same skin tones, same overall features. The remarkable resemblance may be commented upon frequently by strangers. Or, if her parents purchased her genetic material from a service, she may encounter a photo of her genetic mother by accident in a magazine or on television.

For example, with commercialization of human cloning technology, celebrity genomes will be much sought after. Parents may want to have a child with the genetic attributes of their favorite professional athlete, music icon, or film star. Any celebrity on the downside of his career, who previously enjoyed a sufficiently high Q rating, could generate a substantial, never-ending income stream by selling access to his genome.

Many untoward scenarios will unfold. In one possible sequence years after a cloning event, the cloned child is sitting in a barbershop, waiting his turn, flipping through sports magazines. He turns a page which reveals an action close-up of a famous NFL quarterback. Unbeknownst to the child, this particular football player's genome is a popular cloning source. The shock of recognition is paralyzing, not electrifying. The boy has the very possibly unwelcome experience of seeing a picture of himself as someone else. His sense of himself as a unique individual is immediately and profoundly disrupted.

Depending on the quality of his upbringing and the degree of his experience of unconditional love, the child who is a clone may successfully move past this deep challenge to his sense of self. In contrasting circumstances, the ramifications of this discovery may affect his welfare and well-being throughout his lifetime. In either situation, many questions will arise that may ongoingly impact his sense of being-in-the-world.

He may question his value as a human being. "Why am I a clone?" he may wonder. "Would I not have been good enough if my birth hadn't been planned in this way?" "Do my parents expect me to behave in a certain way?" "Do they expect me to turn out exactly like the person from whom I was cloned?" "Do I have any choice in the matter of who I become?"

In different circumstances these existential questions may be relevant to all of us. They have immediate and critical impact on the day-to-day living of the cloned child.

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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Human Cloning - Distortions in Parent - Child Relationships?

Human cloning (HC) will make it possible for parents to have exactly the kind of child they want - at least from the point of view of genetics. Throughout history parents have conceived children and hoped for the best. All parents could be certain of is that some combination of their two sets of genes would produce a new human being - their child. But the number of possible combinations is very large, and often a child has very few of the physical and personal qualities the parents were hoping for. It is thought that HC would eliminate much of this uncertainty, at least regarding physical characteristics.

Creating a child who is a clone strips all of randomness from the process of reproduction. Literally, with cloning, what you see is what you get with respect to surface qualities. If a father of a male clone is six feet tall, the cloned child will likely grow to a similar height. If a mother of a female clone has superior athletic ability, the cloned child will likely develop such skills. If the parent has blue eyes, the clone's eyes will be blue. A very smart parent of a clone will likely have a very smart child.

Arbitrariness in reproduction is eliminated. An athletic father no longer needs to fear that his son will only be interested in chess and massively multiplayer online role-playing games. A mother who is a physics professor can conceive a cloned child secure in the knowledge that her daughter will have interests that include such things as thermodynamics and number theory.

In other words, HC provides a mechanism by which parents can exert significant control over their children's processes of development, interests, and activities. To the extent that genetics determines such types of human outcomes, HC enables parents to manipulate the choices their children make.

In a certain sense, not much would be changed by HC. Parents have always had hopes and dreams for their children. Most parents attempt to manipulate their offspring, benignly or otherwise, toward choices the parents think will be beneficial. But creating a clone is radically more proactive than merely making suggestions and offering encouragement, however strenuously these are put forward. When a parent creates a clone she is saying, in effect, "I want this child to be exactly like me". Or "I want this child to have exactly the characteristics and qualities of the person from whom he will be cloned."

And, significant stresses may be put in place in the life of the cloned child to ensure that these characteristics and qualities will manifest. In this way, HC opens the door for significant distortions in the parent-child relationship. The child's experience may certainly be that of limited self-expression and limited choice.

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. Executive Producer, SCIENCE AND SOCIETY, http://scienceandsociety.net
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Beneficence - The Bioethics of Human Cloning

Human cloning (HC) could provide great benefit to families and individuals who have lost the hope of ever having children to whom they have a genetic bond. HC could also substantially benefit those who have lost loved ones through disease or accident. Also, HC could provide cures for those suffering an incurable disease. Thus, there is considerable ethical justification for going forward with research in this contentious field.

HC could make it possible for infertile couples to have genetically related children in a wide set of circumstances. Many solutions already exist for couples who are able to provide neither viable sperm nor viable eggs. These couples may choose from a range of assisted reproductive technologies and sperm/egg donor options. But the children who are born via current methods of have no genetic connection to either parent.

With human cloning, sperm are not necessary and eggs do not need to be capable of fertilization by a sperm. Adult somatic cells (usually skin cells) serve as sperm substitutes. The nucleus is removed from the adult somatic cell and injected into an enucleated egg. The egg is manipulated by physical or chemical means to launch its fertilization program. Embryo creation occurs in the laboratory, bypassing defective physiologic systems of the mother, father, or both which have caused fertilization and development to fail in the past.

HC can result in the birth of a child who is genetically related to the mother and/or the father for couples who are both infertile. If both members of a male same-sex couple are infertile, HC would enable the birth of a child who is genetically related to one father. If both members of a female same-sex couple are infertile, HC would make it possible for them to have a child who is genetically related to both parents. HC significantly expands the capability of assisted reproductive techniques.

Additionally with the availability of HC, tragic circumstances can be mitigated to a certain extent. If a child is fatally killed in a car crash or dies after sustaining a head injury in football or ice hockey, parents would be able to clone the child using DNA from a somatic cell. The new child would not necessarily be identical to the deceased child in terms of personality, interests, and abilities, but he would be a genetic copy and that fact might ameliorate a great deal of the parents' pain and suffering.

A third scenario involves cloning a child with a potentially fatal disease. The clone would be a histocompatible match and be able to provide replacement tissue for her older sibling.

In these diverse situations HC would confer substantial, lifelong benefits to all parties involved in the rearing of a child who is a clone. The parents, the child herself, extended family, friends, and the community all would all benefit from this breakthrough technology.

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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Human Cloning - Nature Or Nurture?

Human cloning (HC) may become a valuable tool in the arsenal of assisted reproductive techniques (ART). At present ART includes in vitro fertilization and preimplantation genetic diagnosis, methods which enable infertile couples to have children and facilitate the birth of children who are freed from the possibility of developing specific genetic diseases.

HC will enhance this repertoire of assisted reproduction, making it possible for couples, both of whom are infertile, to have children genetically related to one of the parents. HC will make possible the birth of a child who is a close histocompatible match for a sibling or parent who is dying of a terminal, but treatable illness. And, HC will make possible the birth of a child who is genetically identical to a parent or sibling killed in an accident. These are all compelling justifications for permitting HC research.

HC will also facilitate births that are prompted by motives somewhat less altruistic than those mentioned above. Certain parents may strongly desire to have a child with very specific physical characteristics, skill sets, and abilities. A parent might wish to clone herself because she believes her precise instantiation of the human genome is a superior combination. Or parents might wish to clone a known genome in the expectation of having a child with a similar future. Such parents would clone a professional basketball star or a beautiful and graceful film actress hoping to raise a child with similar prospects in life.

But these latter reasons for cloning are fatally flawed. The clone is a nearly identical genetic copy of the individual from whom he is cloned. This fact does not imply, however, that the expression of those genes will turn out to be the same. Genetic expression, i.e., which genes are turned on and which are turned off at specific times and for specific durations, is highly variable and depends on many factors both known and unknown. All the elements of an individual's environment, including nutrition, physical activity, interpersonal relations, stresses, and rest, contribute to moment-by-moment gene expression. We can understand this clearly when we consider identical twins. These siblings are unique individuals with unique interests and abilities, and children who are clones will assuredly develop into persons demonstrably distinct from their genetic twins.

One's genetic inheritance is merely the starting point in human development and experience. Nature (genetic inheritance) most strongly relates to a person's physical characteristics - for example, height, weight, hair and eye color, and tendencies to acquire or develop diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and certain cancers. Who a person becomes - her interests, abilities, and qualities - are much better understood as the result of nurture. And nurture is best understood as the mechanism by which genes are expressed. The person that the child who is a clone becomes is the product of both genetic inheritance and gene expression - nature and nurture. And in this, he is exactly the same as any child created via the standard method of sexual reproduction.

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
Executive Producer, SCIENCE AND SOCIETY, http://scienceandsociety.net
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