Kevin Francke
Dr. Gentry
Society and the New Genetics
9 November 2009
Remaking Eden
Summary
The reading from Remaking Eden was separated into three chapters. The first, “From Science Fiction to Reality”, focused on how the prospect of cloning went from only a possibility in the future to something that could be done in the present. The second, “Human Cuttings”, talked about the actually process of how a cloning occurs. Lastly, “ Where Will Cloning Lead Us”, discussed how cloning will affect the future of humans and how humans could use cloning in different ways.
“From Science Fiction to Reality” begins talking about the story of Dolly, the first cloned mammal to use adult tissue from an adult donor. The Dolly experiment got a huge reaction from people all around the world. The people who were the most astonished were the people who worked in the mammal genetics field since they did not see anything like this being possible. Most people reacted to this due to the fact that people believed now that there was the possibility that humans could now be cloned as well. This, in effect, brought up huge protests against human cloning due to the ethics behind it as well as people’s morals being affected by it. Many people also revealed that they animal cloning should be outlawed as well. Many scientists see human cloning as being possible, but one of the big issues is whether it would be used safely or not. This issue has caused a huge debate in the scientific world over this issue.
“Human Cuttings” talks about the actual process of creating a clone. Most mammal embryos undergo early development in a very similar way. There has even been a primate that has been cloned which leads many scientists to believe that human cloning can be accomplished. However, for human beings, it is not just a question of whether it could work but it is also a question of whether it could work safely. One principle of medical ethics is that doctors should not perform a...