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Human Cloning: Sooner than you think?
UK Telegraph ^ | June 5, 2006 | UK Telegraph

Posted on 06/05/2006 3:54:23 PM PDT by ritewingwarrior

Is the cloning of human babies' tissue an insult to god? Posted at: 22:01

A proposal to create babies that are both cloned and genetically altered to prevent serious hereditary disease has been outlined by the leader of the team that created Dolly the sheep, re-igniting the debate on the moral implications of cloning human beings.

Ever since news that Dolly had been cloned from an adult cell made headlines around the world, Prof Ian Wilmut has repeatedly said he is "implacably opposed" to cloning a human being.

But in his forthcoming book After Dolly, serialised in The Daily Telegraph, he argues that, when the techniques are shown to be safe, society should consider cloning with genetic modification to prevent the birth of babies with serious diseases.

But when Prof Wilmut aired an early version of his proposal two years ago he was criticised for being naive and irresponsible, given the universal opposition to cloning babies.

Do you think the cloning of human babies' tissue violates God's will or the natural scheme of things? Or do you think it is in an individual's constitutional rights to conduct this process?

In what, if any, circumstances do you think the cloning of human beings could be permissible?

(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: clone; cloning; genetherapy; geneticengineering; genetics; science; stemcell
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Anyone remember the movie Gattaca? That time is soon approaching whether we want it to or not. The world of science will not be stimied. While Prof Wilmut, like his colleagues in this field, may state that they do not support human cloning, there is nothing that they would like more than to be able to 'grow' the perfect baby. They will use the guise of 'prevention' to justify genetic engineering. Like everything else in our world, the godless masses will have no moral dilemma with this, and this will be allowed to proceed. While America will probably not lead the way, it won't be long before some celebrity goes off to Namibia to have some rogue scientist take away all genetic flaws from her egg, so she can have a super baby. If we wanted to be honest, countries like North Korea or China have probably already experimented in this area.
1 posted on 06/05/2006 3:54:25 PM PDT by ritewingwarrior
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To: ritewingwarrior

I think the UK Telegraph failed to capitalize a proper noun in their introductory sentence.


2 posted on 06/05/2006 3:55:17 PM PDT by xrp (Fox News Channel: MISSING WHITE GIRL NETWORK)
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To: ritewingwarrior

I agree with you...you can't stop science and man's progression...maybe you can slow it down, but it's all gonna end the same way.


3 posted on 06/05/2006 3:57:31 PM PDT by Hildy ("Whenever someone smiles at me all I see is a chimpanzee begging for its life." - Dwight Schrute)
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To: ritewingwarrior

But, but don't you remember there has already been a cloned human birth.

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn3217


4 posted on 06/05/2006 3:58:30 PM PDT by mtbopfuyn (I think the border is kind of an artificial barrier - San Antonio councilwoman Patti Radle)
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To: ritewingwarrior

It's the same bunch of Progressives who favor abortion and who gave the idea of the Master Race to the Nazis. There is no good reason for even thinking of producing human clones unless one is also thinking of a perfect society and a perfect army to enforce that perfection--or unless we are running short of people [6.5 billion headed to 10 billion].


5 posted on 06/05/2006 3:59:32 PM PDT by RightWhale (Off touch and out of base)
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To: ritewingwarrior

I'm willing to bet that this is being attempted even now.
Failures are discarded, and there's reason to believe that there are many failures. There are probably a few that make it "full term" and then die. There are probably a few that make it to "live birth" and then die.
All this so that some insignificant scientist can announce that he/she has cloned a human and gain fame and probably a Nobel prize.


6 posted on 06/05/2006 4:05:37 PM PDT by BooksForTheRight.com (what have you done today to fight terrorism/leftism (same thing!))
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To: Hildy

You might be able to legislate here, but around the world, forget about it. It's going to happen, and we can't stop it.


7 posted on 06/05/2006 4:06:06 PM PDT by Indy Pendance
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To: RightWhale

That's the silliest thing I've ever read.


8 posted on 06/05/2006 4:09:23 PM PDT by Hildy ("Whenever someone smiles at me all I see is a chimpanzee begging for its life." - Dwight Schrute)
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To: RightWhale

I'd be willing to test-drive the Salma Hayek clones...


9 posted on 06/05/2006 4:15:00 PM PDT by isom35
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To: isom35

Did you ever see the movie Cherry 2000?


10 posted on 06/05/2006 4:21:48 PM PDT by RightWhale (Off touch and out of base)
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To: ritewingwarrior
Is the cloning of human babies' tissue an insult to god?

Good one. Nice literary stunt.

No one is suggesting any such thing. However, the whole-scale implementation of medical human cloning does result in the DEATHS of embryos. As I recall, God said something to the effect of Thou Shalt Not Kill. So yes, He'd probably be insulted by behavior that runs contrary to His rules.

11 posted on 06/05/2006 4:23:15 PM PDT by ElkGroveDan (California bashers will be called out)
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To: Hildy
Adolf Hitler-Feuher of Germany - "The demand that defective people be prevented from propagating equally defective offspring. . . represents the most humane act of mankind." Mein Kampf, vol. 1, ch. 10

Margaret Sanger - Founder of Planned Parenthood ". . .we prefer the policy of immediate sterilizarion, of making sure that parenthood is ' absolutely prohibed ' to the feeble-minded." The Pivot of Civilization, p102

Eugenics never really went away.
12 posted on 06/05/2006 4:26:10 PM PDT by seowulf
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To: seowulf

Here we go again...


13 posted on 06/05/2006 4:27:29 PM PDT by Hildy ("Whenever someone smiles at me all I see is a chimpanzee begging for its life." - Dwight Schrute)
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To: Hildy

Not much of a rebuttal.


14 posted on 06/05/2006 4:34:58 PM PDT by seowulf
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To: Hildy

Harvard research is already implanting human embryos into extra-coporeal uterine tissue and watching it grow, for a time, then be terminated. The key to what limits scientists will impose upon their research is at what age they believe a human being is present in the gestational process. I might ask you that also: at what age do you consider there to be a human being existing, using the scale of conception until age one after birth as a reference to choose from?


15 posted on 06/05/2006 4:36:11 PM PDT by MHGinTN (If you can read this, you've had life support from someone. Promote life support for others.)
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To: ritewingwarrior

I would suspect this has already been done actually. I am so against it. I can't think of any justification for it.


16 posted on 06/05/2006 4:40:15 PM PDT by ladyinred
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To: ladyinred

You know, when organ transplants were first done, there was a huge outcry like this. The point is, YOU CAN'T STOP PROGESS.


17 posted on 06/05/2006 6:58:11 PM PDT by Hildy ("Whenever someone smiles at me all I see is a chimpanzee begging for its life." - Dwight Schrute)
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To: RightWhale; ritewingwarrior

I had myself cloned before I died, and had all the memories transferred to the new brain.

It's not all a bed of roses, though. I won't be able to drive for years.


18 posted on 06/05/2006 7:11:45 PM PDT by NicknamedBob (I grew up so long ago that being grown-up was more fun than being a kid!)
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To: ritewingwarrior

Well, the present state of knowledge is rather insufficient. With experimentation, and deeper understanding of whats and hows. a "perfect baby" [in terms of dialing up the genius of Michelangelo and the physique of an Olympic decathlete] could become possible in maybe something like 100-200 years. And the life would become pretty interesting. Imagine everybody around being a high order genius and yourself not even able to sneeze without hitting a masterpiece or two. Sort of Vatican museum, but 24/7/365, admission free, and expanded to the whole planet.


19 posted on 06/05/2006 7:53:02 PM PDT by GSlob
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To: ritewingwarrior
I still think it's funny the first thing the Scottish cloned was a sheep.

Talk about reinforcing racial stereotypes.

20 posted on 06/05/2006 7:57:22 PM PDT by norraad ("What light!">Blues Brothers)
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