Cloning? Good or Bad

[shinigami ryukie]

So, I realize the personality and such would be different, but because the body is the same. Then the potential for intelligence is the same, and if raises in the right environment, then you could make someone brilliant right?

[Mevnie-Enn]

As a person who has read a few books and watched a certain Sci-fi themed show too much lately, I think it's a bad thing.

If we clone human beings and are very successful at it, it's a good sign that we're very advanced and all... BUT.

Clones are not like android or humanoid robots. They're real flesh and blood, most likely able to feel emotions and act just like normal humans. That means they should have all the same privilege and duties like anyone else. We would just be creating more beings, even though Earth is already overpopulated.

Sure, we would learn a lot from the progress of *making life* with the aid from Science, but maybe that would just go a bit too far?...

I don't know, I've watched a lot of Sci-fi and my mind says that it wouldn't be a very good idea, atleast if the being that we're cloning is very intelligent.

Being able to make and copy edible plants & some animals could solve many problems though, most likely. (Such as the recent event of being able to grow a hamburger steak in laboratory conditions, though that probably wasn't cloning?)

[NIEM0]

It is already happening.
It is bad.
'Life' is more than just flesh and bone.
The soul is more than just a slimy brain.
We may be able to replicate the physical - but we cannot replicate the invisible qualities that powers the physical. Especially since most of these unfortunate saps don't believe in what they cannot see.

Welcome back to the 'Days of Noah', kids. Things are gonna get interesting real fast.

[Suicidesoldier#1]

shinigami ryukie

So, I realize the personality and such would be different, but because the body is the same. Then the potential for intelligence is the same, and if raises in the right environment, then you could make someone brilliant right?

Intelligence is a little more complex than that, and theoretically, practically anyone could have the same intelligence on that factor.

A lot more is based on prenatal and maternal development, or how they developed in the womb.

[Taihomi]

I'm for cloning when it comes to making replacement parts for us human beings.
I'm for cloning when it comes to using plants and other animals' cells to do good things.
I am not for cloning when it comes to trying to duplicate whole human beings.

[Pikkewyn]

I assume you are talking about cloning of animals right? I think the idea of cloning whole animals is not necessarily wrong. We already have an overpopulation of humans and adding more humans on it than we are already doing.. seems wrong to me. Cloning animals for livestock would be too expensive and not efficient. Cloning to save endangered species would not save them at all as you need a certain level of genetic variation within a species to be able to survive. Therefore, I would advise against cloning of full animals.

However, if we talk about cloning organs only, I think it becomes a different argument. Cloning organs from ones body, or from your own embryonal cord for transplants could reduce the problems with transplanting. It would be easier to get enough organs, which also will not be rejected by the host. Cloning organs or meat for consumption is also a good idea in my opinion, as it would be a lot more efficient way to get meat than regular livestock: more of the energy we put into an animal is actually put into the meat rather than everything the animal does.

And this is all assuming the techniques are already perfect, and that these options are also safe.

[7-Alice]

to me a clone is not an exact copy of a person, it is an exact copy of a persons dna, however, like twins (which also can be an exact copy of each other) this doesn't mean that their personality is also the exact same, since there is more to the development of personality than dna itself, it also depends on how you grow up etc.

however the most practical thing about cloning right now would be to artificially create body parts as needed, perhaps we'll have a 3D printer fot that soon.

[Mochi Pink]

Cloning specific organs is a medical necessity in my opinion. As for cloning a person as a whole, I'd like to see it but there are too many complications that needs to be address,

[kinetic-weapons]

My first thought came to endangered animals, and how it could help out a lot for animals like elephants who have one offspring per birth and have a long mating cycle. I retracted this thought after some thinking and reading the comments because, yes, it would weaken the gene pool. But would losing a species be more tragic than cloning? That said with the elephant example unless there is artificial wombs made they would have to have a female elephant go thorough the process anyway. At least that is to my understanding. Then that sparks the other debate that species die out and we should just let it be.

[souffl3]

I think it will depend on the situation. As many have already stated, if we can clone organs perfectly, then definitely a good thing. Especially with the high demands of kidneys these days, a lot of lives can be saved.

But cloning animals and humans? I think that just ruins the process of natural selection. I'm not too fond of the fact that genetically modifying livestock is quite common these days.

[you killed who]

feasible

i personally think its good to mass produce meat products

How wonderfully morbid, and completely effecient smile

[you killed who]

ifcruel72

to me a clone is not an exact copy of a person, it is an exact copy of a persons dna, however, like twins (which also can be an exact copy of each other) this doesn't mean that their personality is also the exact same, since there is more to the development of personality than dna itself, it also depends on how you grow up etc.

however the most practical thing about cloning right now would be to artificially create body parts as needed, perhaps we'll have a 3D printer fot that soon.

Actually they have already cloned the human ear...on the outside at least. It has already been used as a visual prosthetic for veterans.

[7-Alice]

that_happens

ifcruel72

to me a clone is not an exact copy of a person, it is an exact copy of a persons dna, however, like twins (which also can be an exact copy of each other) this doesn't mean that their personality is also the exact same, since there is more to the development of personality than dna itself, it also depends on how you grow up etc.

however the most practical thing about cloning right now would be to artificially create body parts as needed, perhaps we'll have a 3D printer fot that soon.

Actually they have already cloned the human ear...on the outside at least. It has already been used as a visual prosthetic for veterans.

They recently also 3D printed a human kidney:

http://gizmodo.com/scientists-can-now-3d-print-transplantable-living-kidn-1120783047