Far from being unethical, germline genetic engineering1 will enable science to improve the poor genetic allotment that evolution gives to some individuals."" (Yount, 71). "One day, cloning technology probably will make possible changes in the genomes of embryos. Parents that risk having children with genetic diseases will be able to have the DNA of their prospective children repaired at the embryo stage, protecting them against maladies such as cystic fibrosis, PKU, and Tay-Sachs. A further benefit is that their grandchildren will never contract these diseases."" (Bailey, 3). This way, the children can live longer, and be immune to deadly diseases. Not only will parents be able to prevent disease; they can also enhance their children. .
Cloning could be the basis for a variety of life-saving medical treatments. Cloning could be used to create animals that excrete therapeutic human proteins, such as insulin or interferons, in their milk. Treatments for leukemia could also be revolutionized. " many leukemia patients die because they can't find appropriate donors. With cloning, healthy marrow cells that are perfect genetic matches for a leukemia patient could be created from the patient's own cells. Doctors could take a skin cell nucleus and implant it in an enucleated human egg2, resetting the cell's DNA. Once reset, the cell could become and embryonic stem cell3. After the ES (embryonic stem) cells began to divide, they could be treated with hormones that would cause them to develop into marrow cells, which could then be returned to the patient. "Similarly, islet cells could be created from the skin cells of a diabetic and returned to the patient's pancreas, where they would produce insulin. Eventually, ES cells could be turned into healthy heart or liver cells that could be used to repair tissue damaged by heart attacks or hepatitis."" (Bailey, 2). As the word cloning' pops into people's minds, they will most likely get the picture of seeing carbon copies of people walking around.
