Questacon > Teens > Science In Depth > Cloning > Arguments Against Cloning

Cloning

A sensitive subject

The cloning debate attracts quite passionate objections from people. Commonly heard arguments against cloning include:

• Just because we can, does it mean we should?
• A very largepercentage of cloning efforts end in failure. For example, it took 277 attempts to clone Dolly the sheep.
• Clones that do survive often have fatal or problem causing issues in their genes.
• Cloning will create a black market for stolen or discarded embryos.
• Cloning will stop genetic improvements to a species. This is because genetic improvements usually occur through sexual reproduction, which result in a mixing of the genes of the mother and father.
• If we try to clone endangered species, then we will put at risk the females of that species.

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