Human Cloning: Biology, Ethics, and Social Implications.

Abstract: This scholarly article delves into the multifaceted domains of human cloning, encompassing its biological underpinnings, ethical dimensions, and broader societal implications. The exposition commences with a succinct historical and contextual overview of human cloning, segueing into an in-depth exploration of its biological intri-cacies. Central to this biological scrutiny is a comprehensive analysis of somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) and its assorted iterations. The accomplishments and discoveries in cloning technology, such as successful animal cloning operations and advances in the efficiency and viability of cloned embryos, are reviewed. Future improvements, such as reprogramming procedures and gene editing technology, are also discussed. The discourse extends to ethical quandaries intrinsic to human cloning, entailing an extensive contemplation of values such as human dignity, autonomy, and safety. Furthermore, the ramifications of human cloning on a societal plane are subjected to scrutiny, with a dedicated emphasis on ramifications encompassing personal identity, kinship connections, and the fundamental notion of maternity. Culminating the analysis is a reiteration of the imperative to develop and govern human cloning technology judiciously and conscientiously. Finally, it discusses several ethical and practical issues, such as safety concerns, the possibility of exploitation, and the erosion of human dignity, and emphasizes the significance of carefully considering these issues.

Qur'anic Views on Human Cloning (I): Doctrinal and Theological Evidences.

BACKGROUND: Human cloning is a recent occurrence that is not confined to bio-issues; rather, it has provoked numerous questions worldwide and presented scientific and religious challenges. These series of articles aim to examine the proposed approaches and analyze the aspects of human cloning in terms of tenets, morals, jurisprudence, and laws. In this paper, we analyze the ideological and theological evidences, regardless of scientific, ethical and legal problems that exist in the reproduction method. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We used a descriptive-analytical method to consider the challenges of human cloning according to the "system of Divine creativity" and "the will of God", as well as the "pairing system" and "diversity in nature" with emphasis on the Holy Qur'an and Qur'anic commentaries. RESULTS: According to the Qur'an, although any type of physical changes and retouching of the human body are forbidden, the alteration of God's creation may not prove the prohibition of cloning. Cloning is not contradictory to the principle, precedent, and rule of coupling, and it may be one of the hidden precedents of creation. Therefore, not only does a clone not contradict the precedent of the variety of men, but this variety is a sign for men and not a precedent predominated over the order of nature. CONCLUSION: It is proven that cloning does not give life; instead, it utilizes the life bestowed by God. This technique does not contradict the precedents of existence. It is a way to discover some precedents of God and is under the order of cause and effect of the world. Cloning is not considered as a challenge to human beliefs, nor is it a change in Divine creation. Moreover, cloning does not contradict the theological teachings and concepts of the Holy Qur'an and Shiite Muslims.

Ethical Concerns About Human Genetic Enhancement in the Malay Science Fiction Novels.

Advancements in science and technology have not only brought hope to humankind to produce disease-free offspring, but also offer possibilities to genetically enhance the next generation's traits and capacities. Human genetic enhancement, however, raises complex ethical questions, such as to what extent should it be allowed? It has been a great challenge for humankind to develop robust ethical guidelines for human genetic enhancement that address both public concerns and needs. We believe that research about public concerns is necessary prior to developing such guidelines, yet the issues have not been thoroughly investigated in many countries, including Malaysia. Since the novel often functions as a medium for the public to express their concerns, this paper explores ethical concerns about human genetic enhancement expressed in four Malay science fiction novels namely Klon, Leksikon Ledang, Transgenesis Bisikan Rimba and Transgenik Sifar. Religion has a strong influence on the worldview of the Malays therefore some concerns such as playing God are obviously religious. Association of the negative image of scientists as well as the private research companies with the research on human genetic enhancement reflects the authors' concerns about the main motivations for conducting such research and the extent to which such research will benefit society.

Using a moot to develop students' understanding of human cloning and statutory interpretation.

This article reports and analyses the method and findings from a 3-year interdisciplinary project investigating how the medium of law can support understanding of socio-scientific issues. Law represents one of the most important means by which society decides and communicates its values. Activities mirroring legal processes therefore have significant potential to inform, inspire and involve school students in exploring the conceptual, social and ethical issues relating to developments in biomedical science. This article focusses on an intervention-style study in which UK-based 16- to 17-year-old students role played a Supreme Court moot, developed by modifying a domestic appeal case concerned with whether the contemporary legislation covered the creation of cloned human embryos. We draw attention to how the science of cloning has been slightly misunderstood by the courts and in science materials provided to UK school students. We argue that moot-centred engagement activities offer great potential for science communication among post-16 students and, despite the limitations of the judicial process for addressing complex socio-scientific issues, such role plays aid development of scientific and sociolegal understanding, as well as enhancing students' self-confidence and argumentation skills.

Some Ethical Concerns About Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells.

Human induced pluripotent stem cells can be obtained from somatic cells, and their derivation does not require destruction of embryos, thus avoiding ethical problems arising from the destruction of human embryos. This type of stem cell may provide an important tool for stem cell therapy, but it also results in some ethical concerns. It is likely that abnormal reprogramming occurs in the induction of human induced pluripotent stem cells, and that the stem cells generate tumors in the process of stem cell therapy. Human induced pluripotent stem cells should not be used to clone human beings, to produce human germ cells, nor to make human embryos. Informed consent should be obtained from patients in stem cell therapy.

Aspectos bioéticos en el ejercicio actual de la genética humana / Bioethical aspects in current human genetics

En los últimos años las ciencias de la vida y la salud han conseguido hitos importantes permitiendo el surgimiento la ingeniería genética, la genética médica y la genómica, ramas que plantean la necesidad de criterios científicos y técnicos basados en la conducta y labor de sus profesionales. Es así que consideramos importante reflexionar desde el punto de vista bioético los siguientes temas: Las pruebas de paternidad, que tienen como objeto determinar el vínculo genético ascendente en primer grado entre un individuo y su progenitor masculino. El tamiz de portadores que se utiliza para determinar si una persona es portadora de una enfermedad genética, suele aplicarse a heterocigotos para un gen recesivo, en reordenamientos cromosómicos. La eugenesia, concebida como una ideología social, como ciencia es la rama de la manipulación genética que estudia el perfeccionamiento de la especie humana. La clonación humana, ha demostrado que se puede reprogramar una célula diferenciada de un individuo adulto, convirtiendo una célula altamente especializada en un embrión y hacerla volver atrás en su programa genético, obteniendo así un ser idéntico al primero. Como profesionales de la salud preservamos la vida, sin olvidar que debemos tratar de ofrecer una adecuada calidad de la misma a nuestros pacientes y dentro de condiciones éticas.

Nowdays, the life and health sciences have achieved significant milestones allowing the emergence of new branches, such as genetic engineering, molecular genetics, medical genetics and genomics, which pose scientific and technical criteria to sort and conduct their professional work. Thus, we consider important to analyze and reflect from the bioethical standpoint advances in the field of human genetics, addressing the following topics: Paternity tests, studies that are intended to determine the genetic link up (kinship) in the first degree between an individual and his male parent. The carrier screening used to determine whether a person is a carrier of a genetic disease, usually applied to individuals heterozygous fora recessive gene, or individuals heterozygous fora dominant gene that do notexpress the disease and chromosomal rearrangements. Eugenics, conceived as a social ideology, is defined as improving a species, as a science is the branch of genetic engineering that studies the improvement of the human species. Human cloning is a topic that generates more discussion not only from an ethical view, but also philosophical and religious points of view, since it has been shown that you can reprogram a differentiated cell of an adult, becoming a highly specialized cell into an embryo and make it go back in their genetic program, thus obtaining identical to the first one. As health professionals, we try to preserve life, not forgetting that we should give adequate quality of life to our patients with ethical conditions.

Clonagem humana: um estudo sobre a gênese das representações sociais / Human cloning: a study about genesis of social representations

Compreender como o senso comum se apropria e reconstrói os saberes científicos é de interesse da Teoria das Representações Sociais. Esse estudo buscou compreender a gênese darepresentação da clonagem humana. Foram utilizadas duas fontes de dados: matérias publicadas na Folha de São Paulo e Veja nos anos de 1997 a 2007 e as cartas enviadas pelos leitores a essasfontes no mesmo período. Os descritores de busca foram: clone, clonagem, clonagem humana, clonagem terapêutica, engenharia genética e terapia celular com célula-tronco. Encontrou-se 952 matérias e 40 cartas. Os dados foram tratados pelo software Alceste. Os resultados mostram arepresentação da clonagem humana objetivada nos seguintes objetos: bebê clonado; vontade de ser Deus; fabricação de tecidos; pessoas doentes e ancorada em idéias religiosas, eugenistas e da cura pela ciência. Os achados apontam uma representação estruturada entre os leitores, com coesão e idéias partilhadas. Abre-se caminho para investigações sobre a formação de novas representações. (AU)

Knowing how social actors appropriate and (re)construction the scientific knowledge is of interest to the theory of social representations. This study aimed to understand the genesis of social representations of human cloning. It was used two sources of data for analysis: articles published in Folha de Sao Paulo and Veja during the period from 1997 to 2007 and the letterssent by readers of newspapers and magazines surveyed during the same period. The keywords used were: clone, cloning, human cloning, therapeutic cloning, genetic engineering and cell therapy with stem cell. It was found 952 articles and 40 letters. The database was analyzed by the Alceste.The results show a representation of human cloning objectified: cloned baby, man's desire to be God, the manufacture of tissues, sick people and anchored in ideas of a religious nature,eugenics experiences and healing through science. These findings point to a structured representation among readers, cohesion and sharing of ideas. This opens a path for future research emergence of new representations. (AU)

Clonagem humana: um estudo sobre a gênese das representações sociais / Human cloning: a study about genesis of social representations

Compreender como o senso comum se apropria e reconstrói os saberes científicos é de interesse da Teoria das Representações Sociais. Esse estudo buscou compreender a gênese darepresentação da clonagem humana. Foram utilizadas duas fontes de dados: matérias publicadas na Folha de São Paulo e Veja nos anos de 1997 a 2007 e as cartas enviadas pelos leitores a essasfontes no mesmo período. Os descritores de busca foram: clone, clonagem, clonagem humana, clonagem terapêutica, engenharia genética e terapia celular com célula-tronco. Encontrou-se 952 matérias e 40 cartas. Os dados foram tratados pelo software Alceste. Os resultados mostram arepresentação da clonagem humana objetivada nos seguintes objetos: bebê clonado; vontade de ser Deus; fabricação de tecidos; pessoas doentes e ancorada em idéias religiosas, eugenistas e da cura pela ciência. Os achados apontam uma representação estruturada entre os leitores, com coesão e idéias partilhadas. Abre-se caminho para investigações sobre a formação de novas representações.

Knowing how social actors appropriate and (re)construction the scientific knowledge is of interest to the theory of social representations. This study aimed to understand the genesis of social representations of human cloning. It was used two sources of data for analysis: articles published in Folha de Sao Paulo and Veja during the period from 1997 to 2007 and the letterssent by readers of newspapers and magazines surveyed during the same period. The keywords used were: clone, cloning, human cloning, therapeutic cloning, genetic engineering and cell therapy with stem cell. It was found 952 articles and 40 letters. The database was analyzed by the Alceste.The results show a representation of human cloning objectified: cloned baby, man's desire to be God, the manufacture of tissues, sick people and anchored in ideas of a religious nature,eugenics experiences and healing through science. These findings point to a structured representation among readers, cohesion and sharing of ideas. This opens a path for future research emergence of new representations.

Stem cell technologies: regulation, patents and problems.

Human embryonic stem cell research promises to deliver in the future a whole range of therapeutic treatments, but currently governments in different jurisdictions must try to regulate this burgeoning area. Part of the problem has been, and continues to be, polarised community opinion on the use of human embryonic stem cells for research. This article compares the approaches of the Australian, United Kingdom and United States governments in regulating human embryonic stem cell research. To date, these governments have approached the issue through implementing legislation or policy to control research. Similarly, the three jurisdictions have viewed the patentability of human embryonic stem cell technologies in their own ways with different policies being adopted by the three patent offices. This article examines these different approaches and discusses the inevitable concerns that have been raised due to the lack of a universal approach in relation to the regulation of research; the patenting of stem cell technologies; and the effects patents granted are having on further human embryonic stem cell research.

Stem cell research: a target article collection: Part II--what's in a name: embryos, clones, and stem cells.

In 2001, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the "Human Cloning Prohibition Act" and President Bush announced his decision to allow only limited research on existing stem cell lines but not on "embryos." In contrast, the U.K. has explicitly authorized "therapeutic cloning." Much more will be said about bioethical, legal, and social implications, but subtleties of the science and careful definitions of terms have received much less consideration. Legislators and reporters struggle to discuss "cloning," "pluripotency," "stem cells," and "embryos," and whether "adult" are preferable to "embryonic" stem cells as research subjects. They profess to abhor "copying humans" or "killing embryos." Do they know what they are talking about? Do we? This paper explores the historical, philosophical, and scientific contexts that inform this heated discussion.

Reflection on the Legislative Environment of Human Cloning Technology in China / 中国医学伦理学

Human cloning technology,owing to the particularity of its research objectives,has brought about tremendous effect on society since this technology arises.But we still lack the corresponding measurement concerning the behaviors of research and application all over the world.By digging deeply into the relationship among the technology,law and morality,this essay seeks to find out the accordance of carrying out research on human cloning technology,and gives a deep-going analysis of the legislation environment in China.

On the Potential Influence of Reproductive Cloning on Sex Ethics / 中国医学伦理学

Currently the human reproductive cloning is developing rapidly and vigorously,which draws wide attention and arouses various ethical issues as well.Reproductive cloning may affect human sex ethics in many fields,such as sexual aesthetics,homosexuality,sexual relationship,and sex ratio,etc.Rational attitude should be kept in the face of the development of human reproductive cloning.