Dr. Wilmut and his colleagues at Roslin have made it quite clear that they think that to clone humans would be unethical. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority agrees with the general public impression that to clone human beings would be ethically unacceptable as a matter of principle.
Most people in the Church of Scotland would certainly agree that to replicate any human technologically is something which goes against the basic dignity of the uniqueness of each human being in God’s sight. Christians would see this as a violation of the uniqueness of a human life, which God has given to each of us and to no one else. In what sense do we mean this?
Some say that the existence of “identical” twins means that we should have no ethical difficulty over cloning, or that to object to cloning implies that twins are abnormal. This argument does not hold. Biologically, identical human twins are not the norm, but the unusual manner of their creation does not make them any less human. We recognise that each is a uniquely valuable individual. There are two fundamental differences between cloning and twinning, however. Twinning is a random, unpredictable event, involving the duplicating of a genetic composition which has never existed before and which at that point is unknown. Cloning would choose the genetic composition of some existing person and make another individual with the same genes. It is an intentional, controlled action to produce a specific known end. In terms of ethics, choosing to clone from a known individual, and the unpredictable creation in the womb of twins of unknown genetic nature belong to categories as different as accidental death is to murder. The mere existence of ‘identical’ twins cannot be cited to justify the practice of cloning.
ANSWERS
1.The first paragraph discusses
A. the reason why human cloning is morally wrong.
B. the need for a worldwide ban on cloning human beings.
C. the legal aspects of human cloning.
D. the biological and social risks of human cloning.
2. For Christians, human cloning
A. questions the very concepts of right and wrong.
B. is a flagrant violation of human rights.
C. undermines the sense of human individuality.
D. distinct individuals created in an unusual way.
3. According to the text, identical human twins are
A. clones of one another.
B. genetically engineered organisms.
C. not normal because they have a kind of genetic damage
D. distinct individuals created in an unusual way.
4. The author leaves the reader with the impression that
A. unlike cloning, twinning is a deliberate event.
B. clones would not be as similar as identical twins.
C. clones should not be compared to twins as they belong to different categories.
D. human cloning is justified in preventing genetic disease.
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