Human cloning

Although the possibility of cloning humans had been the subject of speculation for much of the 20th century, scientists and policymakers began to take the prospect seriously in 1969. J. B. S. Haldane was the first to introduce the idea of human cloning, for which he used the terms "clone" and "cloning",{{cite book|title=Should scientists pursue cloning?|last=Thomas|first=Isabel|publisher=Raintree|date=2013|isbn=978-1-4062-3391-9|location=London|page=5}} which had been used in agriculture since the early 20th century. In his speech on "Biological Possibilities for the Human Species of the Next Ten Thousand Years" at the Ciba Foundation Symposium on Man and his Future in 1963, he said:{{cite book|title=Man and his future|author=Haldane, J.B.S.|publisher=J. & A. Churchill|year=1963|isbn=978-0-470-71479-9|editor=Wolstenholme, Gordon|series=Novartis Foundation Symposia|location=London|pages=337–361|chapter=Biological Possibilities for the Human Species in the Next Ten Thousand Years|doi=10.1002/9780470715291.ch22}}

{{Blockquote|It is extremely hopeful that some human cell lines can be grown on a medium of precisely known chemical composition. Perhaps the first step will be the production of a clone from a single fertilized egg, as in Brave New World...

Assuming that cloning is possible, I expect that most clones would be made from people aged at least fifty, except for athletes and dancers, who would be cloned younger. They would be made from people who were held to have excelled in a socially acceptable accomplishment...}}

Nobel Prize-winning geneticist Joshua Lederberg advocated cloning and genetic engineering in an article in The American Naturalist in 1966 and again, the following year, in The Washington Post.{{cite journal |last=Lederberg |first=Joshua |date=1966 |title=Experimental Genetics and Human Evolution |journal=The American Naturalist |volume=100 |issue=915 |pages=519–531 |doi=10.1086/282446 |bibcode=1966BuAtS..22h...4L |s2cid=222323744 }} He sparked a debate with conservative bioethicist Leon Kass, who wrote at the time that "the programmed reproduction of man will, in fact, dehumanize him." Another Nobel Laureate, James D. Watson, publicized the potential and the perils of cloning in his Atlantic Monthly essay, "Moving Toward the Clonal Man", in 1971.{{Cite web|last=Watson|first=James D.|date=1 May 1971|title=Moving Toward the Clonal Man|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1971/05/moving-toward-the-clonal-man/305435/|access-date=29 March 2023|website=The Atlantic|language=en|archive-date=28 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230328082449/https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1971/05/moving-toward-the-clonal-man/305435/|url-status=live}}

With the cloning of a sheep known as Dolly in 1996 by somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), the idea of human cloning became a hot debate topic.{{cite news|title=Researchers Clone Cells From Two Adult Men|first=Alice|last=Park|date=17 April 2014|magazine=Time|url=https://time.com/65610/cloning-cells-from-two-adult-men/|access-date=18 April 2014|archive-date=24 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190124141322/http://time.com/65610/cloning-cells-from-two-adult-men/|url-status=live}} Many nations outlawed it, while a few scientists promised to make a clone within the next few years. The first hybrid human clone was created in November 1998, by Advanced Cell Technology. It was created using SCNT; a nucleus was taken from a man's leg cell and inserted into a cow's egg from which the nucleus had been removed, and the hybrid cell was cultured and developed into an embryo. The embryo was destroyed after 12 days.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/371378.stm |work=BBC News |title=Details of hybrid clone revealed |date=18 June 1999 |access-date=30 April 2010 |archive-date=14 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101114064034/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/371378.stm |url-status=live }}

In 2004 and 2005, Hwang Woo-suk, a professor at Seoul National University, published two separate articles in the journal Science claiming to have successfully harvested pluripotent, embryonic stem cells from a cloned human blastocyst using SCNT techniques. Hwang claimed to have created eleven different patient-specific stem cell lines. This would have been the first major breakthrough in human cloning.Fischbak, Ruth L., John D. Loike, Janet Mindes, and Columbia Center for New Media Teaching & Learning. [http://stemcellbioethics.wikischolars.columbia.edu/The+Cloning+Scandal+of+Hwang+Woo-Suk The Cloning Scandal of Hwang Woo-Suk] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141027154510/http://stemcellbioethics.wikischolars.columbia.edu/The+Cloning+Scandal+of+Hwang+Woo-Suk |date=27 October 2014 }}, part of the online course, [http://stemcellbioethics.wikischolars.columbia.edu/ Stem Cells: Biology, Ethics, and Applications] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140827195610/http://stemcellbioethics.wikischolars.columbia.edu/ |date=27 August 2014 }} However, in 2006 Science retracted both of his articles on account of clear evidence that much of his data from the experiments was fabricated.{{cite journal|last=Kennedy |first=D. |date=2006|title=Responding to fraud|journal=Science|volume=314|issue=5804|pages=1353|doi=10.1126/science.1137840|pmid=17138870|s2cid=37403975|doi-access=free}}

In January 2008, Dr. Andrew French and Samuel Wood of the biotechnology company Stemagen announced that they successfully created the first five mature human embryos using SCNT. In this case, each embryo was created by taking a nucleus from a skin cell (donated by Wood and a colleague) and inserting it into a human egg from which the nucleus had been removed. The embryos were developed only to the blastocyst stage, at which point they were studied in processes that destroyed them. Members of the lab said that their next set of experiments would aim to generate embryonic stem cell lines; these are the "holy grail" that would be useful for therapeutic or reproductive cloning.{{Cite news|last=Weiss|first=Rick|date=18 January 2008|title=Mature Human Embryos Created From Adult Skin Cells|newspaper=The Washington Post|language=en-US|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/17/AR2008011700324.html|access-date=29 March 2023|issn=0190-8286|archive-date=12 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230712065533/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/17/AR2008011700324.html|url-status=live}}{{cite journal |last1=French |first1=Andrew J. |last2=Adams |first2=Catharine A. |last3=Anderson |first3=Linda S. |last4=Kitchen |first4=John R. |last5=Hughes |first5=Marcus R. |last6=Wood |first6=Samuel H. |title=Development of Human Cloned Blastocysts Following Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer with Adult Fibroblasts |journal=Stem Cells |date=February 2008 |volume=26 |issue=2 |pages=485–493 |doi=10.1634/stemcells.2007-0252 |pmid=18202077 |s2cid=21251761 |doi-access=free }}

In 2011, scientists at the New York Stem Cell Foundation announced that they had succeeded in generating embryonic stem cell lines, but their process involved leaving the oocyte's nucleus in place, resulting in triploid cells, which would not be useful for cloning.{{cite journal |vauthors=Noggle S, Fung HL, Gore A, Martinez H, Satriani KC, Prosser R, Oum K, Paull D, Druckenmiller S, Freeby M, Greenberg E, Zhang K, Goland R, Sauer MV, Leibel RL, Egli D | title = Human oocytes reprogram somatic cells to a pluripotent state | journal = Nature | volume = 478 | issue = 7367 | pages = 70–5 |date= 2011 | pmid = 21979046 | doi = 10.1038/nature10397 | bibcode = 2011Natur.478...70N | s2cid = 4370078 }}{{cite journal |vauthors=Daley GQ, Solbakk JH | title = Stem cells: Triple genomes go far | journal = Nature | volume = 478 | issue = 7367 | pages = 40–1 |date= 2011 | pmid = 21979039 | doi = 10.1038/478040a | bibcode = 2011Natur.478...40D | s2cid = 203897553 | doi-access = free }}

In 2013, a group of scientists led by Shoukhrat Mitalipov published the first report of embryonic stem cells created using SCNT.{{Cite journal |last=Tachibana |first=Masahito |last2=Amato |first2=Paula |last3=Sparman |first3=Michelle |last4=Gutierrez |first4=Nuria Marti |last5=Tippner-Hedges |first5=Rebecca |last6=Ma |first6=Hong |last7=Kang |first7=Eunju |last8=Fulati |first8=Alimujiang |last9=Lee |first9=Hyo-Sang |last10=Sritanaudomchai |first10=Hathaitip |last11=Masterson |first11=Keith |last12=Larson |first12=Janine |last13=Eaton |first13=Deborah |last14=Sadler-Fredd |first14=Karen |last15=Battaglia |first15=David |date=2013-05-15 |title=Human Embryonic Stem Cells Derived by Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0092867413005710 |journal=Cell |language=en |volume=153 |issue=6 |pages=1228–1238 |doi=10.1016/j.cell.2013.05.006 |pmc=3772789 |pmid=23683578}} In this experiment, the researchers developed a protocol for using SCNT in human cells, which differs slightly from the one used in other organisms. Four embryonic stem cell lines from human fetal somatic cells were derived from those blastocysts. All four lines were derived using oocytes from the same donor, ensuring that all mitochondrial DNA inherited was identical.{{cite journal |vauthors=Trounson A, DeWitt ND | title = Pluripotent stem cells from cloned human embryos: success at long last | journal = Cell Stem Cell | volume = 12 | issue = 6 | pages = 636–8 |date= 2013 | pmid = 23746970 | doi = 10.1016/j.stem.2013.05.022 | doi-access = free }} A year later, a team led by Robert Lanza at Advanced Cell Technology reported that they had replicated Mitalipov's results and further demonstrated the effectiveness by cloning adult cells using SCNT.{{cite journal |vauthors=Chung YG, Eum JH, Lee JE, Shim SH, Sepilian V, Hong SW, Lee Y, Treff NR, Choi YH, Kimbrel EA, Dittman RE, Lanza R, Lee DR | title = Human somatic cell nuclear transfer using adult cells | journal = Cell Stem Cell | volume = 14 | issue = 6 | pages = 777–80 |date= 2014 | pmid = 24746675 | doi = 10.1016/j.stem.2014.03.015 | doi-access = free }}

In 2018, the first successful cloning of primates using SCNT was reported with the birth of two live female clones, crab-eating macaques named Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua.{{cite journal |author=Liu, Zhen|display-authors=et al |title=Cloning of Macaque Monkeys by Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer |date=24 January 2018 |journal=Cell |volume=172 |issue=4 |pages=881–887.e7 |doi=10.1016/j.cell.2018.01.020 |pmid=29395327 |s2cid=206567964 |doi-access=free }}{{cite journal |last=Normile |first=Dennis |title=These monkey twins are the first primate clones made by the method that developed Dolly |url=https://www.science.org/content/article/these-monkey-twins-are-first-primate-clones-made-method-developed-dolly |date=24 January 2018 |journal=Science |doi=10.1126/science.aat1066 |access-date=24 January 2018 |archive-date=27 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180127202402/https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/01/these-monkey-twins-are-first-primate-clones-made-method-developed-dolly |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}

{{Main|Somatic cell nuclear transfer}}

File:Cloning diagram english.svg

In somatic cell nuclear transfer ("SCNT"), the nucleus of a somatic cell is taken from a donor and transplanted into a host egg cell, which had its own genetic material removed previously, making it an enucleated egg. After the donor somatic cell genetic material is transferred into the host oocyte with a micropipette, the somatic cell genetic material is fused with the egg using an electric current. Once the two cells have fused, the new cell can be permitted to grow in a surrogate or artificially.{{cite book |last= Gilbert |first= Scott F. |date=30 June 2013 |title= Developmental Biology| edition= 10th |publisher=Sinauer Associates, Inc. |pages=32–33 |isbn=9780878939787 }} This is the process that was used to successfully clone Dolly the sheep (see {{section link|#History}}). The technique, now refined, has indicated that it was possible to replicate cells and reestablish pluripotency, or "the potential of an embryonic cell to grow into any one of the numerous different types of mature body cells that make up a complete organism".{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/science/cloning|title=cloning {{!}} Definition, Process, & Types|website=Encyclopædia Britannica|language=en|access-date=16 December 2019|archive-date=26 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200426233507/https://www.britannica.com/science/cloning|url-status=live}}

{{Main|Induced pluripotent stem cell}}

File:Overview of iPS cells.png

Creating induced pluripotent stem cells ("iPSCs") is a long and inefficient process. Pluripotency refers to a stem cell that has the potential to differentiate into any of the three germ layers: endoderm (interior stomach lining, gastrointestinal tract, the lungs), mesoderm (muscle, bone, blood, urogenital), or ectoderm (epidermal tissues and nervous tissue).{{cite book|editor-last1= Binder| editor-first1= Marc D.|title=Encyclopedia of Neuroscience|year=2009|publisher=Springer|location=Berlin|isbn=978-3540237358|edition=online|editor-last2=Hirokawa| editor-first2= Nobutaka| editor-first3= Uwe |editor-last3= Windhorst}} A specific set of genes, often called "reprogramming factors", are introduced into a specific adult cell type. These factors send signals in the mature cell that cause the cell to become a pluripotent stem cell. This process is highly studied and new techniques are being discovered frequently on how to improve this induction process.

Depending on the method used, reprogramming of adult cells into iPSCs for implantation could have severe limitations in humans. If a virus is used as a reprogramming factor for the cell, cancer-causing genes called oncogenes may be activated. These cells would appear as rapidly dividing cancer cells that do not respond to the body's natural cell signaling process. However, in 2008 scientists discovered a technique that could remove the presence of these oncogenes after pluripotency induction, thereby increasing the potential use of iPSC in humans.{{cite news |url=http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-sci-stemcell6-2009mar06,0,63456.story |title=Cancer threat removed from stem cells, scientists say |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |first=Karen |last=Kaplan |date=6 March 2009 |access-date=15 April 2014 |archive-date=10 March 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090310085937/http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-sci-stemcell6-2009mar06,0,63456.story |url-status=live }}

Both the processes of SCNT and iPSCs have benefits and deficiencies. Historically, reprogramming methods were better studied than SCNT derived embryonic stem cells (ESCs). However, more recent studies have put more emphasis on developing new procedures for SCNT-ESCs. The major advantage of SCNT over iPSCs at this time is the speed with which cells can be produced. iPSCs derivation takes several months while SCNT would take a much shorter time, which could be important for medical applications. New studies are working to improve the process of iPSC in terms of both speed and efficiency with the discovery of new reprogramming factors in oocytes.{{citation needed|date=May 2014}} Another advantage SCNT could have over iPSCs is its potential to treat mitochondrial disease, as it uses a donor oocyte. No other advantages are known at this time in using stem cells derived from one method over stem cells derived from the other.{{cite journal |vauthors= Langerova A, Fulka H, Fulka J | title = Somatic cell nuclear transfer-derived embryonic stem cell lines in humans: pros and cons | journal = Cellular Reprogramming | volume = 15 | issue = 6 | pages = 481–3 |date= 2013 | pmid = 24180743 | doi = 10.1089/cell.2013.0054 }}

{{clear}}

File:Stem cell treatments.png

Work on cloning techniques has advanced understanding of developmental biology in humans. Observing human pluripotent stem cells grown in culture provides great insight into human embryo development, which otherwise cannot be seen. Scientists are now able to better define steps of early human development. Studying signal transduction along with genetic manipulation within the early human embryo has the potential to provide answers to many developmental diseases and defects. Many human-specific signaling pathways have been discovered by studying human embryonic stem cells. Studying developmental pathways in humans has given developmental biologists more evidence toward the hypothesis that developmental pathways are conserved throughout species.{{cite journal |vauthors=Zhu Z, Huangfu D | title = Human pluripotent stem cells: an emerging model in developmental biology | journal = Development | volume = 140 | issue = 4 | pages = 705–17 |date= 2013 | pmid = 23362344 | pmc = 3557771 | doi = 10.1242/dev.086165 }}

iPSCs and cells created by SCNT are useful for research into the causes of disease, and as model systems used in drug discovery.{{cite journal |vauthors=Subba Rao M, Sasikala M, Nageshwar Reddy D | title = Thinking outside the liver: induced pluripotent stem cells for hepatic applications | journal = World J. Gastroenterol. | volume = 19 | issue = 22 | pages = 3385–96 |date= 2013 | pmid = 23801830 | pmc = 3683676 | doi = 10.3748/wjg.v19.i22.3385 | doi-access = free }}{{cite journal |vauthors=Tobe BT, Brandel MG, Nye JS, Snyder EY | title = Implications and limitations of cellular reprogramming for psychiatric drug development | journal = Exp. Mol. Med. | volume = 45 | issue = 11 | pages = e59 |date= 2013 | pmid = 24232258 | pmc = 3849573 | doi = 10.1038/emm.2013.124 }}

Cells produced with SCNT, or iPSCs could eventually be used in stem cell therapy,{{cite journal |last1=Singec |first1=Ilyas |last2=Jandial |first2=Rahul |last3=Crain |first3=Andrew |last4=Nikkhah |first4=Guido |last5=Snyder |first5=Evan Y. |title=The Leading Edge of Stem Cell Therapeutics |journal=Annual Review of Medicine |date=February 2007 |volume=58 |issue=1 |pages=313–328 |doi=10.1146/annurev.med.58.070605.115252 |pmid=17100553 |s2cid=18623750 }} or to create organs to be used in transplantation, known as regenerative medicine. Stem cell therapy is the use of stem cells to treat or prevent a disease or condition. Bone marrow transplantation is a widely used form of stem cell therapy.{{Cite web|date=9 September 2005|title=Blood-Forming Stem Cell Transplants - NCI|url=https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/types/stem-cell-transplant/stem-cell-fact-sheet|access-date=29 March 2023|website=cancer.gov|language=en|archive-date=13 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150313043919/http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Therapy/bone-marrow-transplant|url-status=live}} No other forms of stem cell therapy are in clinical use at this time. Research is underway to potentially use stem cell therapy to treat heart disease, diabetes, and spinal cord injuries.[http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/basics/pages/basics6.aspx Cell Basics: What are the potential uses of human stem cells and the obstacles that must be overcome before these potential uses will be realized?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170224060453/https://stemcells.nih.gov/info/basics/pages/basics6.aspx |date=24 February 2017 }}. In Stem Cell Information World Wide Web site. Bethesda, MD: National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2009. cited Sunday, 26 April 2009{{cite journal |vauthors=Cummings BJ, Uchida N, Tamaki SJ, Salazar DL, Hooshmand M, Summers R, Gage FH, Anderson AJ | title = Human neural stem cells differentiate and promote locomotor recovery in spinal cord-injured mice | journal = Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. | volume = 102 | issue = 39 | pages = 14069–74 | date = September 2005 | pmid = 16172374 | pmc = 1216836 | doi = 10.1073/pnas.0507063102 | bibcode = 2005PNAS..10214069C | doi-access = free }} Regenerative medicine is not in clinical practice, but is heavily researched for its potential uses. This type of medicine would allow for autologous transplantation, thus removing the risk of organ transplant rejection by the recipient.{{cite journal |last=Svendsen |first=C.N. | title = Back to the future: how human induced pluripotent stem cells will transform regenerative medicine | journal = Hum. Mol. Genet. | volume = 22 | issue = R1 | pages = R32–8 |date= 2013 | pmid = 23945396 | pmc = 3782070 | doi = 10.1093/hmg/ddt379 }} For instance, a person with liver disease could potentially have a new liver grown using their same genetic material and transplanted to remove the damaged liver.{{cite journal |vauthors=Booth C, Soker T, Baptista P, Ross CL, Soker S, Farooq U, Stratta RJ, Orlando G | title = Liver bioengineering: current status and future perspectives | journal = World J. Gastroenterol. | volume = 18 | issue = 47 | pages = 6926–34 |date= 2012 | pmid = 23322990 | pmc = 3531676 | doi = 10.3748/wjg.v18.i47.6926 | doi-access = free }} In current research, human pluripotent stem cells have been promised as a reliable source for generating human neurons, showing the potential for regenerative medicine in brain and neural injuries.{{cite journal |vauthors=Jongkamonwiwat N, Noisa P | title = Biomedical and clinical promises of human pluripotent stem cells for neurological disorders | journal = Biomed Res Int | volume = 2013 |date= 2013 | page = 656531 | pmid = 24171168 | pmc = 3793324 | doi = 10.1155/2013/656531 | doi-access = free }}

{{Main|Ethics of cloning}}

In bioethics, the ethics of cloning refers to a variety of ethical positions regarding the practice and possibilities of cloning, especially human cloning. While many of these views are religious in origin, for instance relating to Christian views of procreation and personhood,{{Cite journal|last=Häyry|first=Matti|year=2018|title=Ethics and cloning|journal=British Medical Bulletin|volume=128|issue=1|pages=15–21|doi=10.1093/bmb/ldy031|pmid=30203088|doi-access=free}} the questions raised by cloning engage secular perspectives as well, particularly the concept of identity.{{Cite journal|last=Magney|first=Alix|year=2003|title=Cloning Me, Cloning You: Reflections on the Ethics of Cloning for Individuals, Families and Society|journal=Social Alternatives|volume=22|issue=4|pages=19–27|url=https://search.informit.org/doi/abs/10.3316/ielapa.200305128|access-date=21 November 2022|archive-date=24 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230924122357/https://search.informit.org/doi/abs/10.3316/ielapa.200305128|url-status=live}}

Advocates support development of therapeutic cloning in order to generate tissues and whole organs to treat patients who otherwise cannot obtain transplants,{{cite web |url=http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/elsi/cloning.shtml#organsQ |title=Cloning Fact Sheet |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130502125744/http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/elsi/cloning.shtml |publisher=U.S. Department of Energy Genome Program |date=11 May 2009 |archive-date=2 May 2013}} to avoid the need for immunosuppressive drugs,{{cite journal | author = Kfoury C | title = Therapeutic cloning: Promises and issues | journal = McGill Journal of Medicine | volume = 10 | issue = 2 | pages = 112–20 |date= 2007 | pmid = 18523539 | pmc = 2323472 }} and to stave off the effects of aging.{{cite book |last1=de Grey |first1=Aubrey |last2=Rae |first2=Michael |date=2007 |title=Ending Aging: The Rejuvenation Breakthroughs that Could Reverse Human Aging in Our Lifetime |location=New York, NY |publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn=978-0-312-36706-0 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/endingagingrejuv00degr }} Advocates for reproductive cloning believe that parents who cannot otherwise procreate should have access to the technology.{{cite news| work= Times Higher Education| date= 10 August 2001| url= http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/164313.article| title= In the news: Antinori and Zavos| access-date= 15 December 2013| archive-date= 12 February 2015| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150212200758/http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/164313.article| url-status= live}}

Opposition to therapeutic cloning mainly centers around the status of embryonic stem cells, which has connections with the abortion debate.{{cite journal |last=Kfoury |first=C. |date= 2007 | title = Therapeutic cloning: promises and issues | journal = Mcgill J Med. | volume = 10 | issue = 2| pages = 112–20 | pmid = 18523539 | pmc=2323472}} The moral argument put forward is based on the notion that embryos deserve protection from the moment of their conception because it is at this precise moment that a new human entity emerges, already a unique individual.{{Cite journal |last1=George |first1=Robert P |last2=Lee |first2=Patrick |date=April 2009 |title=Embryonic human persons. Talking Point on morality and human embryo research |journal=EMBO Reports |volume=10 |issue=4 |pages=301–306 |doi=10.1038/embor.2009.42 |issn=1469-221X |pmc=2672893 |pmid=19337298}} Since it is deemed unacceptable to sacrifice human lives for any purpose, the argument asserts that the destruction of embryos for research purposes is no longer justifiable.{{Cite web |last=l'Organisation des Nations Unies pour l'éducation, la science et la culture |title=Le Clonage humain: questions éthiques |url=https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000135928_fre |website=la Bibliothèque Numérique de l’UNESCO}}

Some opponents of reproductive cloning have concerns that technology is not yet developed enough to be safe – for example, the position of the American Association for the Advancement of Science {{As of|2014|lc=y|post=,}}{{cite web| url = http://www.aaas.org/page/american-association-advancement-science-statement-human-cloning| title = AAAS Statement on Human Cloning| access-date = 21 April 2014| archive-date = 9 March 2016| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160309225244/http://www.aaas.org/page/american-association-advancement-science-statement-human-cloning| url-status = live}} while others emphasize that reproductive cloning could be prone to abuse (leading to the generation of humans whose organs and tissues would be harvested),{{cite web |last=McGee |first=G. |title=Primer on Ethics and Human Cloning |date=October 2011 |publisher=American Institute of Biological Sciences |url=http://www.actionbioscience.org/biotech/mcgee.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130223142719/http://www.actionbioscience.org/biotech/mcgee.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=23 February 2013 |access-date=15 December 2013 }}{{cite web |publisher=UNESCO |date=11 November 1997 |url=http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID%3D13177%26URL_DO%3DDO_TOPIC%26URL_SECTION%3D201.html |title=Universal Declaration on the Human Genome and Human Rights |access-date=27 February 2008 |archive-date=9 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190909061222/http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID%3D13177%26URL_DO%3DDO_TOPIC%26URL_SECTION%3D201.html |url-status=live }} and have concerns about how cloned individuals could integrate with families and with society at large.{{cite book |last=McGee |first=Glenn |year=2000 |title=The Perfect Baby: Parenthood in the New World of Cloning and Genetics |location=Lanham |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |edition=2nd |isbn=978-0-8476-9758-8 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/perfectbabyparen0000mcge }}{{cite journal |last1=Havstad |first1=Joyce C. |title=Human Reproductive Cloning: A Conflict of Liberties |journal=Bioethics |date=February 2010 |volume=24 |issue=2 |pages=71–77 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-8519.2008.00692.x |pmid=19076121 |s2cid=40051820 |url=https://philarchive.org/rec/HAVHRC }}

Members of religious groups are divided. Some Christian theologians perceive the technology as usurping God's role in creation and, to the extent embryos are used, destroying a human life; others see no inconsistency between Christian tenets and cloning's positive and potentially life-saving benefits.{{cite web| first= Bob| last= Sullivan| publisher= MSNBC| date= 26 November 2003| url= http://www.nbcnews.com/id/3076930/| title= Religions reveal little consensus on cloning| access-date= 15 September 2016| archive-date= 4 March 2016| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160304041349/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/3076930/| url-status= dead}}{{cite journal|last=Sims Bainbridge|first=William|date=October 2003|title=Religious Opposition to Cloning|url=http://jetpress.org/volume13/bainbridge.html|journal=Journal of Evolution and Technology|volume=13|access-date=21 November 2019|archive-date=1 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190801205816/https://www.jetpress.org/volume13/bainbridge.html|url-status=live}}

[[File:World map of human cloning laws.svg|thumb|center|upright=2|Human cloning laws

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{{legend|#ffffbf|Some forms legal}}

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File:US therapeutic cloning.svg

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{{Expand section|date=April 2024}}

{{Further|Cloning#In popular culture}}

Science fiction has used cloning, most commonly and specifically human cloning, due to the fact that it brings up controversial questions of identity.{{cite journal|last=Hopkins|first=Patrick|title=How Popular media represent cloning as an ethical problem|journal=The Hastings Center Report|jstor=3527566|publisher=The Hastings Center|volume=28|issue=2|pages=6–13|date=1998|doi=10.2307/3527566|pmid=9589288}}{{cite web |url=http://www.csustan.edu/honors/documents/journals/thresholds/Delacruz.pdf |first=Yvonne A. |last=De La Cruz |title=Science Fiction Storytelling and Identity: Seeing the Human Through Android Eyes |website=CSUStan.edu |publisher=California State University, Stanislaus |access-date=19 August 2012 |archive-date=28 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928163727/http://www.csustan.edu/honors/documents/journals/thresholds/Delacruz.pdf |url-status=live }} Humorous fiction, such as Multiplicity (1996){{cite web| first= Roger| last= Ebert| url= http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/multiplicity-1996| website= RogerEbert.com| title= Multiplicity| access-date= 15 September 2016| archive-date= 22 January 2017| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170122153343/http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/multiplicity-1996| url-status= live}} and the Maxwell Smart feature The Nude Bomb (1980), have featured human cloning.{{cite web| title= The Nude Bomb| website= DVDTalk.com| url= http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/33911/nude-bomb-the/| first= Todd Jr.| last= Douglass| date= 12 July 2008| access-date= 15 September 2016| archive-date= 29 October 2016| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20161029114651/http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/33911/nude-bomb-the/| url-status= live}} A recurring sub-theme of cloning fiction is the use of clones as a supply of organs for transplantation. Robin Cook's 1997 novel Chromosome 6, Michael Bay's The Island, and Nancy Farmer's 2002 novel House of the Scorpion{{Citation |last=Farmer |first=Nancy |title=The house of the scorpion |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/869241449 |isbn=978-1-4676-6586-5 |oclc=869241449 |access-date=7 May 2022}} are examples of this; Chromosome 6 also features genetic manipulation and xenotransplantation.{{cite web| url= http://www.mouthshut.com/review/Chromosome-6-Robin-Cook-review-qpuotlmpt| title= A Chiller Thriller| author= tech-writer| date= 30 September 2005| access-date= 15 September 2016| archive-date= 16 September 2016| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160916041728/http://www.mouthshut.com/review/Chromosome-6-Robin-Cook-review-qpuotlmpt| url-status= live}} The Star Wars saga makes use of millions of human clones to form the Grand Army of the Republic that participated in the Clone Wars. The series Orphan Black follows human clones' stories and experiences as they deal with issues and react to being the property of a chain of scientific institutions.{{cite news | url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2014/04/18/orphan-black-everything-you-forgot-from-season-1-that-you-need-to-remember/?noredirect=on | title= 'Orphan Black': Everything you forgot from Season 1 that you need to remember | author= Emily Yahr | newspaper= The Washington Post | date= 18 April 2014 | access-date= 11 July 2019 | archive-date= 27 January 2021 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210127202223/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2014/04/18/orphan-black-everything-you-forgot-from-season-1-that-you-need-to-remember/?noredirect=on | url-status= live }} In the 2019 horror film Us, the entirety of the United States' population is secretly cloned. Years later, these clones (known as The Tethered) reveal themselves to the world by successfully pulling off a mass genocide of their counterparts.{{cite web| url= https://www.denofgeek.com/us/movies/us/280039/us-the-tethered-explained| title= Us: Who Are the Tethered?| author= Daniel Kurland| date= 23 May 2019| access-date= 11 July 2019| archive-date= 1 July 2019| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190701160201/https://www.denofgeek.com/us/movies/us/280039/us-the-tethered-explained| url-status= live}}{{cite web| url = https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/us-ending-explained-could-be-a-sequel-1196643| title = 'Us' Ending Explained: Could There Be A Sequel?| author = Jason Spiegel| website = The Hollywood Reporter| date = 23 March 2019| access-date = 11 July 2019| archive-date = 11 July 2019| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190711060622/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/us-ending-explained-could-be-a-sequel-1196643| url-status = live}}

In the 2005 novel Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro crafts a subtle exploration into the ethical complications of cloning humans for medical advancement and longevity.

• Homunculus
• Hwang affair

{{notelist}}

{{reflist|group=upper-alpha}}

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{{reflist}}

• Araujo, Robert John, "The UN Declaration on Human Cloning: a survey and assessment of the debate," 7 The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly 129 – 149 (2007).
• Oregon Health & Science University. "Human skin cells converted into embryonic stem cells: First time human stem cells have been produced via nuclear transfer." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 15 May 2013. [https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130515125030.htm Human skin cells converted into embryonic stem cells: First time human stem cells have been produced via nuclear transfer].
• Seyyed Hassan Eslami Ardakani, Human Cloning in Catholic and Islamic Perspectives, University of Religions and Denominations, 2007

{{Wikibooks|Genes, Technology and Policy}}

• [http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6939/5/9 "Variations and voids: the regulation of human cloning around the world"] academic article by S. Pattinson & T. Caulfield
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20130502125744/http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/elsi/cloning.shtml Cloning Fact Sheet]
• [https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2005/ga10333.doc.htm General Assembly Adopts United Nations Declaration on Human Cloning By Vote of 84-34-37]
• [http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/genetic/human-cloning1.htm How Human Cloning Will Work]
• [https://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/flashbks/cloning/watson.htm Moving Toward the Clonal Man]
• [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jacob-m-appel/should-we-really-fear-rep_b_183308.html Should We Really Fear Reproductive Human Cloning]
• [http://www.jura.uni-augsburg.de/forschung/medizinrecht/medienverzeichnis/pdf_datein_fuer_downloads/uno_klonkonvention.pdf United Nation declares law against cloning.]{{dead link|date=November 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Human Cloning}}

Category:Biotechnology

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