Answer:
In order to clone animals, many attempts must be made before a viable clone is created. "Dolly the sheep" was the first to survive after 277 prior attempts. This suggests that to clone a human, one is going to produce a number of human "failed attempts." Pretty unethical.
- To clone a human is to create a child with no legal parentage, no family structure, a unique set of circumstances which may subject that child to prejudice, legal troubles, effective orphanage, who has to question their own role and place in life and even their own humanity and uniqueness. Not very ethical.
- In practical terms, some mammalian clones have had health problems and reduced life spans. Dolly the sheep had shortened telomeres which suggests to some that her cells carried the cellular "age" of her genetic source. It would certainly be unethical to clone a human until all such potential issues were known and resolved (and how can you be certain?)
- Humanity accepts that parents have the "right" to bring lives into being (although many children point out sooner or later that nobody asked them if they wanted to be born...) But does this mean that people have the "right" to create genetic copies of themselves? A clone cannot give consent, nor is there a parent to give consent, and until this question has been answered how can one claim that cloning a human is ethical?
- What purpose does creating a clone (as opposed to simply having a child naturally) serve? Is that purpose sufficient to justify bringing a human life into existence? If we do something like clone gifted athletes or scholars, are we unfairly burdening a child with the expectations drawn from their genetic donor?
- In a world of limited resources and overpopulation what makes it ok for us to engineer humans from existing genotypes, when naturally born children in great numbers need and deserve a chance?
You can go on and on. While I am not adamantly opposed to genetic engineering or cloning, we have to recognize that there are real ethical dilemmas when dealing with human tissues and human experimentation in general, and a myriad of ways in which such science can be used for monstrous purpose. As a result, in general the scientific community has collectively adopted strict rules and a cautious mindset... and rightly so.
Explanation:
