Cloning embryos containing the DNA of a person in order to create stem cells, that can be used to help grow replacement body parts, is a brilliant idea. Using cloning techniques to help, say, a man who can't produce sperm or a lesbian couple to conceive a child which is genetically their own is also a brilliant idea. But as for designer babies, that's where this whole issue really does start to scare me.

Why? Because these technologies are not going to be universally available to anyone who wants them. They're going to come at a cost, and be available only to those who can pay for them, which in my view can only serve to further the inequalities and disadvantages in the world. As for the idea that a couple would 'create a child like no other', I think that's perhaps a little naive. Just look at cosmetic surgery: the majority of people having it all seem to want to look exactly the same.

It was cold, dark, and late. I was sitting on a bench waiting for a bus, and it was taking a very, very long time. Finally the bus could be seen a good distance away, and I had a gigantic urge to start cheering out of joy, and for all the others who were waiting to cheer with me. Of course, I didn't, because I knew no one would have cheered with me, and it wouldn't have been any fun. So I was thinking that all of us missed out on a chance to feel really cool and cheer for the bus (it would have been cool) because some people there were the type of people who didn't really want to cheer.

And I thought fuck that, if we were all clones of each other, we could cheer in public, and know everyone would cheer with us. We would all play the same games, like the same books, do the same things. That may sound depressing, but sitting on the bench and not doing what I felt like doing at the time because I knew others were different to me was depressing, and if we were all the same, we'd all get along and feel comfortable with everyone and wars wouldn't be around anymore because we'd all be cheering for the same goddamn buses at the same goddamn time and we'd all have a really, really good life.

Of course, I know there's a large error in that line of thinking, because we would still develop in different ways mentally, and we would rarely be in the same moods anyway due to other factors like weather and being fired and whatnot. But in the heat of the moment I started to support the whole cloning shebam, and the other day I thought of yet another good reason for cloning.

If we all had the same physical structure, we could standardize medication and foods. We could find the perfect diet for everyone, because we would all have the same body. Results wouldn't vary, we wouldn't have adds with miracle-dieters and the small print saying "results not typical". You could find the perfect diet to choose your prefered weight, to the ounce.
Alcohol would no longer be dangerous. We would be able to know exactly how much it would be safe to drink in respect to your build and how your body could handle it. Ditto for surgery, and medication. There wouldn't be any unexpected results in the procedures because our bodies wouldn't vary, we would know what to expect and when. Doctors wouldn't study human bodies in general, they'd study the human body. All because we had the same one.

Again, this thinking is wrong because it would depend what kinds of things we do with our body, such as what we eat, the amount of exercise we do and what kind. But this is just an attempt at making the cloning debate a more balanced one.

Recently, the British government passed legislation clearing the way for developments in the cloning of human tissue for medical research. Pro-life groups around the world have denounced the bill, calling it "sacrilegious" and "a blatant disregard for the sanctity of human life."

This small beginning could lead to bigger things in the future," said one pro-life activist protesting in London. Little does he know just how right he is.

Those pathetic little philanthropist sheep will soon stop their bleating when my army of cloned super soldiers crushes their puny homes.

Brewed in vats hidden in secret locations spread throughout Europe and North America, my warriors will sweep across the land, crushing all opposition, taking from behind those pathetic fools who are "guarding" our borders.

The best part of it all is, not only are my troops genetically engineered to be physically and mentally superior to any other fighting force in the world, but they're as expendable as well. If a few die, I can just cook up some more!

Of course, once I've crushed the military forces, I'll have to take steps to quash any person or groups of people who might be a threat to my new regime. But really, in the end, the death of a few hundred million people is a small price to pay for my benevolent leadership.

By God it'll be glorious! I can almost hear the screaming now...


First published (by me) in the GaG, the University of Calgary's engineering student's newspaper.

Since the announcement of the Raelians/Clonaid clones, there has been much public debate on the subject of human cloning. As far as I can tell it falls into the following catagories:

1) Cloning of humans is unethical, people have an intrinsic right to be unique, this is a sick and twisted abuse of knowledge, from scientists who play god.

2) Cloning of humans in unethical, there hasnt been enough research yet. Think of the poor child. I have to qualms with creating clones to be killed and raided for spare parts when we can be sure that none will die before being born.

Of course, I have paraphrased slightly, but unfortunately not by much. The people involved here are either saying that cloning is evil, and that is the end of it, or cloning is evil when perfectly good spare parts are being wasted.

The world seems to be full of misconceptions about cloning, for example the idea of a clone being an exact physical double of the origional, at the same physical age (I am aware there are sometimes complications regarding genetic age, I am not talking about that), with all their memories and personality. This is total nonsense.

People have told me many times about how cloning could have created vast armys of Adolf Hitlers, or some other infamous person from history.

Cloning seems like a perfectly sensible idea to me if done well, I'm sorry to all of you who disagree, and I dont suggest mass cloning, it is irresponsible at this point in time, but I believe each clone should have their own rights, and they are a different person.

Identical twins are classed as different people, so should clones. In some cases clones may even have a stronger relationship with their DNA donor than children do to their parents. I'm sure that cloning will cause many problems, but these will all be to do with people's fears and misconceptions, as things seem to be in this world.

You may remember the first IVF child, Louisa Brown, I believe. Many people thought that concept was disgusting, and im sure many thought it could lead to cloning so were doubly disgusted.

As it seems it may have, people are now thinking of designer babies. Although I do not like the idea, can somebody explain the ethical difference between designer babies and using clones for spare parts for the origional owner of the DNA?

"Is this a potential life, or a life with potential" - I cannot find the author of this quote, but I think it sums up the problem I have with the cloning/spare parts hypocrisy.

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