New York Science Grade 8

Unit 1: Reproduction, Heredity, and Evolution

HUMAN CLONING: SOME ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS

Introduction

If you read the newspaper or listen to television news, you have heard a lot about cloning. Do you know exactly what a clone is? According to the dictionary, a clone is a group of genetically identical cells that are descended from a common ancestor, such as a clone of bacterial cells grown from one original bacterial cell in a laboratory. A clone could also be an organism that grew from a single parent by asexual reproduction. For example, an organism called a hydra reproduces asexually by growing buds from its body. When the buds mature and drop off, they are new organisms that are genetically identical to the parent, and thus they are clones of the single parent hydra. A clone could also be a replica of a DNA sequence that is produced through genetic engineering.

However, these definitions of a clone don't really address the current debate about cloning. A sheep named Dolly was the very first clone of an adult mammal. Dolly was news because for the first time a clone was created from differentiated cells — that is, cells that were not embryonic. Since Dolly, researchers the world over have been creating clones of other mammals, including mice and cows. Because human beings are also mammals, scientists have begun to discuss the ethical, moral, legal, and biological issues that might result from the cloning of human beings. Under what circumstances should cloning be allowed? Is it acceptable to clone bacteria or mice? Is it acceptable to clone your favorite pet animal? Should cloning of human organs be allowed? Should cloning of human beings be allowed? What kinds of restrictions should be placed on cloning technologies?

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Task

Your job in this WebQuest is to form an opinion as to whether human cloning should be allowed. You will learn what cloning is and how clones are made. You will research the ethical arguments both for, and against, human cloning. You will find out if there are any laws regarding the cloning of humans and what those laws state. You will identify some of the moral issues that accompany the cloning of human beings. Finally, you will form an opinion as to whether human cloning should be allowed.

Once you have done your research, you will write a set of ethical standards that you think should be used to govern the use of cloning technologies. Then you will prepare a set of ten questions that relate to your standards and use these questions on a survey form. You will interview at least ten people and ask them to complete the survey. Finally, you will compile the survey results and compare these results to your standards. How do your ethical standards compare to the survey results?

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Resources

Look at the web sites given here to find the information that will enable you to form your opinion about human cloning.

What is cloning?

• Cloning Fact Sheet
  Visit this site to learn about cloning. Click on the links at the top to read about various cloning-related topics.
• Cloning
  This University of Utah site describes cloning and the techniques used for some types of cloning. This site is somewhat advanced but gives good basic information on cloning.

How are clones made?

• Producing Clones: Animal Kingdom
  This “how stuff works” web page describes how animal clones are produced
• Cloning and Genetic Engineering This fact file will provide information on how clones are produced and what the implications are for future advances. What are some potential benefits of cloning? What are the risks?
• Conceiving a Clone.
  Go to this site to learn more about cloning and to read a discussion about the ethics of cloning.

What are some of the legal issues involved in cloning of humans?

• Legislation Pertaining to Cloning Human Beings.
  Go to this site to see what laws govern human cloning in the United States.

What are some of the moral and ethical concerns about cloning?

• State Laws on Human Cloning
  This PDF describes the current view on human cloning in certain states.
• Genetic Engineering and Cloning: Improving Nature of Uncorking the Genie?
  Visit this site by clicking the start button. The site describes the cloning of Dolly and offers a forum for people to debate the ethics of human cloning.
• The Cloning Debate.
  Go to this article by the Washington Post online to read about the debate over cloning. You can vote in a survey here on whether the United States should ban human cloning. Click on featured story to see other reports on cloning.
• Human Cloning.
  This site has an introductory article on human cloning, videos about cloning, and lists of reasons both for and against human cloning. It includes resources for students who are researching human cloning.
• Genetic Encores: The Ethics of Human Cloning.
  Visit this site by the Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy to read about the ethics of human cloning.

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Time

3 class periods for research; about two weeks at home to write, give, and compile survey results

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Process

Now that you have completed your research on the Internet, form your own opinion about whether or not human cloning should be allowed. Should all kinds of cloning be allowed? If cloning is allowed, should there be any restrictions on what it is used for? Should any kind of cloning be banned altogether? Write a short list of the ethical standards that you think should be used to determine the parameters of cloning technology. Prepare a set of ten questions based on your standards and use these questions to survey your friends, family members, or teachers and classmates to find their opinions about human cloning. Compare your survey results with your own opinion.

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Conclusion

In the process of completing this WebQuest, you have become informed about a topic that is in the news almost daily. Cloning is a topic that is the focus of heated debates among scientists, theologians, and legislators as well as the general public. Your research has shown you that there are legitimate concerns on more than one side of this issue. You have successfully gathered information, analyzed it critically, and formulated a position on a complex science issue. How does your opinion compare to those found in your research? How does your opinion compare to those people who completed your survey?

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