Cloning and Technology

Introduction

Manufacturing a heart, trachea, earlobe, or a nose has become as easy as creating engines and propellers in the factories. This argument contrasts the fact that a human being's body systems and organs are significantly complex than any manufacturing factory on earth and the attempt to mirror their physiology in the labs is nothing but brilliant. However, the art of cloning, stem cell research as well as genetic engineering is a fundamental moral issue that has been often overlooked (Nabavizadeh, & Manafi, 2016). It is a reality that not only affects individual human beings but the future moral quandaries across the globe. This issue affects the moral culture of individual as it reflects how people choose to resolve crucial moral issues including how today's generation understands about life and their sense of justice, goodness and morally right.

The arguments that support stem cell research, cloning, and genetic engineering invariably uses utilitarian sentiments. According to the utilitarian theory, an action is morally right if it maximizes happiness or utility for the greatest number of individuals. As such, this theory asserts that the end justifies the means. Utilitarian theorists therefore argue that the end result of sacrificing an embryo so as to harvest its stem cells is overwhelmingly positive to millions of individuals who suffer every day from diseases such as Alzheimer, Parkinson and diabetes among others. More so, without the use of embryonic stem cells it would be impossible for critical research to move forward as the destruction of human embryos is crucial in procuring stem cells. The utilitarian theorists also argue that manufacturing of human organs such as the kidneys, eyes, bladders, hearts, and urethras in the lab will help millions of people who wait endlessly in the wait list.

Virtue Ethics

A second theory that is in support of stem cell research, cloning, and genetic engineering is the virtue ethics theory. This theory focuses more on the internal character and moral dispositions rather than the moral action itself (Naseri, Abbasi, & Hashemi, 2018). According to this theory to subjugate compassion to any other moral claim shows lack of empathy and sensitivity towards other individuals. Virtue theorist argue that although the theory recognizes the legitimate ethical issues that are raised by stem research, cloning and genetic engineering, it would be tragic to waste the opportunities that these technologies offer as they could potentially alleviate human suffering. An effort to end human suffering is in chord with many cultures across the world as every compassionate person intends to wipe away pain and discomfort.

Natural law

Natural law profoundly rejects genetic engineering, cloning and stem cell research. According to natural law, these actions are unnatural and violate the natural law of nature. For instance, human beings should reproduce sexually and if scientists were to succeed in cloning a human being it would cease being comprehensively true that human beings reproduce sexually. Most of the human organs that are grown in lab including kidneys, eyes and bladders are grown inside or outside other animals including rats, sheep, and pigs (Abate, Adelson, Weinberg, & Watson, 2017). The natural theorists argue that growing human organs on such animals blurs the line between species. More so, the consequences and implications of introducing the human DNA and cells on other animals are almost impossible to predict. These theorists also argue that these technologies are not safe for humans and may cause more harm in the future.

Relativism

Ethical relativism is the argument that whether an action is right or wrong depends of the culture of a particular society. Most theorists who support ethical relativism argue that cloning, genetic engineering and stem cell research could open doors for a new form of societal imbalance (Abate, Adelson, Weinberg, & Watson, 2017). Therefore, embracing such technologies is alarming because it may create discrimination against people who are considered unmodified from various cultures. This fear among ethical relativists is justified people have witnesses the genocidal consequences of eugenics (genetic modification) in countries such as Nazi Germany, Sweden and Japan. More so, in the 1920s through the 1930s, the eugenic campaigns supported the elimination of traits that were considered negative in the United States of America. These negative genes were categorized on the basis of criminality, race, promiscuity and disability among others. Ethical relativists argue that when the DNA of some individuals can be genetically modifies, these people may consider themselves more valuable than others.

Postmodernism

Postmodernism denotes an intellectual movement that holds that there is no such thing as objective truth especially in the European literary and academic circles. Postmodernism largely support and celebrate fragmentation, incoherence and meaninglessness. These theorists believe that there are two ways of creating a mammalian life and include sexual through fertilization and asexual through cloning or what they call somatic cell nuclear transfer (Nabavizadeh, & Manafi, 2016). Postmodernists believe that whether created asexually or sexually, new human life states as one-celled embryo. From the moment it starts existing, it becomes a unique and distinct individual organism with a specific sex and genetic makeup. Regardless of the method of creation, each embryo has the potential of developing through all the states and grows into a healthy newborn infant.

African Ethics

African culture and the belief about human life are entirely against human cloning, stem cell research as well as genetic engineering. Africans believe that it is immoral to create human life asexually whether for research purposes or reproduction. African ethics are also against stem cell research because is approves deadly harm to members of the human species for the purpose of potential benefits to others. Africans argue that life starts at conception. More so, a stem cell embryo is destroyed at the same age of development as embryo growing inside a woman's womb (Naseri, Abbasi, & Hashemi, 2018). They hold that an embryo should be accorded the respect and dignity it deserves and researcher who destroy human life for research should be punished. More so, according to African ethics, clinicians can achieve the same results and conduct research using other methods that do not involve destroying life. The intrinsic wrong of destroying human life can never be outweighed by any material advantage whatsoever.

Summarily, theories such as the utilitarian theory, postmodernism theory and virtue ethics support technologies such as genetic engineering, cloning and stem cell research. The virtue ethics theory for instance asserts that subjugating compassion to any other moral claim depicts a lack of empathy and sensitivity towards other human beings. On the other hand, theories such as natural law, African ethics and relativism law are against the use of such technologies as it is against human nature. The relativism law for instance holds that genetic engineering will make some individuals think that they are better than others while some cultures may decide to eliminate weak traits entirely.

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