The Idea of an Essay, Volume 3

176 The Idea of an Essay: Volume 3 large number, or higher, of mistakes in human experimentation are simply morally unacceptable (Kolehmainen). However, this viewpoint is generally combatted by scientists who claim that safety and confidence in the success of human cloning can be achieved through continued animal testing and that, one day, successful human cloning is inevitable (Staicu 153). While many believe that potential atrocities committed in testing of human cloning should prevent its study, others believe that safe cloning could eventually be achieved without loss of human life. Several other concerns of the ethics of human cloning exist, namely surrounding the psychological implications of the science. Such psychological concerns center around human identity and a clone’s relationship with a parent that, genetically speaking, would be much like the clone’s identical twin, just delayed by time. It is the assertion of some that clones may not be able to create their own identity or psychological independence from their parent (McGee). However, psychological expert Nestor Morales maintains that, “Identity is also the result of a continuous enriching process in which our entire personality acquires those individual characteristics that differentiate us from others” (24). Contending that the possibility of clones having identical personalities to their parent isn’t accepted by modern psychology, Morales continues to emphasize the importance of experience over genetics in the development of identity and that, while genetics may be copied, experiences could never be wholly copied to produce an exact replica of identity (25). This statement is similar to Staicu’s assertion that there is confusion amongst the public that a clone is a “copy” of a person rather than a “genetic copy” of a person, leading to misconceptions regarding personality and identity (150). Parties in opposition to human cloning continue to proclaim concerns over psychological ethics, while those who support human cloning continue to demean and defend against such arguments. The science of human cloning continues to be a heated debate in modern society ever since its plausibility became evident by the production of Dolly. Today, the two sides remain staunch and committed, with the pro-cloning party asserting that human cloning’s potential medical benefits make its practice an imminent fact, while others purport that a myriad of issues in ethics, religion, law, and science all support the position that human genetics should never be artificially cloned.