Cloning is a controversial new technology that shows the promise of curing deadly diseases. Brought to the forefront by the Raelian group, the innovation also creates questions and doubts, such as when life begins and how clones relate to their donor organism.
Meanwhile, some scientists are uninterested. And science fiction fans contend that cloning is nothing new and has been going on for years - in books.
An Ethical Dilemma
Sitting at her desk high atop the Physical Sciences A building, professor Joan McGregor spent one afternoon poring over a book written by the head of President George W. Bush's commission on human cloning.
She was preparing for a class discussion on cloning in the ASU course she teaches, PHI 294: Bioethics. The official thought cloning was always wrong, McGregor said.
"He makes some points that are okay, but a lot I don't agree with," McGregor said.
Since the Raelian organization announced the birth of what they claimed was a cloned human child, cloning has reached the nation's collective consciousness. And McGregor, like many others, found the development "seriously objectionable."
"They're interested in being first and getting publicity," McGregor said. "It just shows if there's no regulations, people can do some really crazy stuff."
The actual cloning of a human being has still n
ot been officially confirmed. And according to biology professor Robert W. McGaughey, ASU has not participated in any cloning experiments of any kind. Professors simply have been pursuing other topics.
"It's outside people's interest," McGaughey said.
According to McGregor, the topic has become a moral and philosophical issue because legislators have been talking about regulations on cloning that currently do not exist, as well as the possible benefits and risks involved. Current discussions are also
focusing on whether or not a clone can be produced without a donor's consent, McGregor said.
"[One reason people clone] is to replicate someone or reproduce a person with the technique of cloning," McGregor said. "The other reason people clone is for therapeutic purposes."
Stem cell research to find cures for diseases has been a hot topic, according to McGregor. Human cloning technology could potentially be used to create new
cells for research.
"It seems to me those are different sorts of reasons to want to [clone] someone," McGregor said.
And yet fears over the risks of cloning have stopped cloning in its tracks. The health condition of Dolly, the cloned sheep, is still unknown and an example of what human beings have to fear from cloning, McGregor said.
"There's still risk of genetic disorders rising," McGregor said.
She distinguishes therapeutic cloning into a different category, where scientists clone human cells "just to get cells."
"That seems to me a different kind of case," McGregor said. "You have no intention to create a human being...I don't see that with due regulations [cloning is] immoral."
Brave New Worlds
The Raelians raised eyebrows when they first claimed that they have the first cloned child in their possession. According to their official web site, http://www.raelian.org, the group defines itself as "the world's largest UFO related, non-profit organization...working toward the first embassy to welcome people from space."
Cloning is one facet of their belief system. ASU english professor Dr. Paul Cook sees the activity, and the group's story of aliens populating the earth, as a form of cult behavior.
"Since the 1950's there have been people in cults surrounding UFO lore," Cood said.
The Raelian story circles around a plot that seems to have been lifted from the pages of a science fiction book. If he had to pick the most relevant book to the back story, Cook said that book would have to be Brave New World.
"Cloning tends to be done as part of a sci-fi universe but Brave New World is the one book that explores the engineering of cloning," Cook said.
The issue of creating superhumans through cloning and genetic manipulation is central to the book, according to Cook. People are cloned to fill their roles in society in the best possible way: some are designed to do heavy labor, while others are made more intelligent and do less hard labor. Like the Raelians, people in the book try to improve upon the human race.
"They want to clone a race of super humans... who would be ultimately [given] to the space people the Raelians think are out there," said Cook. "Setting aside all that, humans are at heart engineers and explorers so cloning was inevitable."
Cook said that the Raelians are not the first "UFO cult" to exist, but are certainly one of the most prominent groups. He added that he thinks that while the Raelians likely did not clone a human being, other countries may have done so as soon as the first announcement of the cloned sheep Dolly was made.
According to Cook, there are many possible health research benefits to cloning, but the very thought is frightening to the general public - although the average science fiction fan is not likely to be impressed.
"I think most people haven't really thought much about it and to them it's a mystery, and because it's a mystery, it seems to be frightening when to the sci-fi reader it's old," Cook said. "The concept of creating people goes all the way back to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein."
People are afraid of the "dark side" of cloning that science fiction brings to mind, according to cook. He provides the example of a book called The Boys From Brazil, in which a group clones Hitler using a captured piece of genetic data. Their goal is to experiment with different families to create the perfect evil person.
Undiscerning experimentation on people is what society has to fear when cloning hits the news, according to Cook.
"That's the dark side of cloning," Cook said. "So when the Raelians clone somebody, the public reaction is one of fear. And we don't know who they've [created]."
Nicole Saidi is the Content Editor of the Web Devil. Reach her at nicole.saidi@asu.edu
