Arguments For Cloning

Those who support cloning see quite definite benefits in carrying out research in the area. Some of the more commonly heard arguments are:

• The possibility of creating a human repair kit. This could also mean elimination of donor organ rejection and regeneration of damaged tissues.
• The cloning of endangered species. The first semi–successful effort was made at this with a gaur (a large wild ox from India and south–east Asia), with a baby bull gaur being born in January of 2001. The animal only survived for 48 hours.
• Nature is already cloning organisms. Examples of this are the strawberry plant, potatoes, grass, onions and bacteria.
• It could enable people to raise an identical child after an unfortunate death.
• Cloning naturally occurs in some animals such as insects and frogs in a process called parthenogenesis. This is where an egg develops without fertilisation. If this ever happened naturally in humans (which it doesn’t), then an egg would grow into a baby without needing any sperm.
• The ability to clone genetically modified animals. These animals could include cows that produce milk with no lactose, which would help people like Brad Pitt who are allergic to lactose.

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