The question of cloning shakes us all to our very souls. For humans to consider the cloning of one another forces us all to question the very concepts of right and wrong that makes us all human. The cloning of any species, whether they are human or non-human, is ethically and morally wrong. Scientists and ethicists alike have debated the implications of human and non-human cloning extensively since 1997 when scientists at the Roslin Institute in Scotland produced Dolly. No direct conclusions have been drawn, but compelling arguments state that cloning of both human and non-human species results in harmful physical and psychological effects on both groups. The following issues dealing with cloning and its ethical and moral implications will be addressed: cloning of human beings would result in severe psychological effects in the cloned child, and that the cloning of non-human species subjects them to unethical or moral treatment for human needs.

The possible physical damage that could be done if human cloning became a reality is obvious when one looks at the sheer loss of life that occurred before the birth of Dolly. Less than ten percent of the initial transfers survive to be healthy crea

The psychological effects of cloning are less obvious, but nonetheless, very plausible. In addition to physical harms, there are worries about the psychological harms on cloned human children. One of those harms is the loss of identity, or sense of uniqueness and individuality. Many argue that cloning crates serious issues of identity and individuality that forces humans to consider the definition of self. Gilbert Meilaender commented on the importance of genetic uniqueness not only to the child but to the parent as well when he appeared before the National Bioethics Advisory Commission on March 13, 1997. He states "children begin with a kind of genetic independence of [the parent]. They replicate neither their father nor their mother. That is a reminder of the independence that [the parent] must eventually grant them...To lose even in principle this sense of the child as a gift will not be good for the children" (Expert Opinion).

v "Before There was Dolly, There Were Disasters: Scientists failed to disclose abnormalities." The Washington Times. March 11, 1997.

v "The Cloning Controversy." [Online] Available http://www.sican.com/explorations. September 23, 2001.

v Kluger, Jeffery. "Will we Follow the Sheep?" Time Magazine. March 10, 1997 Vol. 149 No.10

Some topics in this essay:
Institute Scotland, Opinion Price, Hans Jonas, Expert Opinion, Morally Wrong, Commission March, Logic Kluger, Potential Risks, Online Available, Gilbert Meilaender, human cloning, non-human species, psychological effects, cloning human, expert opinion, human non-human, online available, non-human species subjects, ethical moral, independence parent, non-human cloning, cloning non-human species, species subjects unethical, september 24 2001, bioethics advisory commission,