How can scientists solve some of these ethical issues and give alternatives to human cloning?
One alternative to therapeutic
cloning is to use adult stem cells instead of embryonic stem cells ("Stem
Cell Basics"). Embryonic stem cells are obtained from the embryo and
require the destruction of the embryo. These stem cells have the ability to
become any specialized cell in the body. Adult stem cells, on the other hand,
are unspecialized cells in a specialized tissue or organ ("Stem Cell
Basics"). These can be found in different parts of the body such as in
bone marrow cells, muscle cells, and skin cells. These cells can become
specialized based on the type of tissue or organ they were found in and repair
it ("Stem Cell Basics"). Therefore instead of using therapeutic
cloning to get stem cells from embryos, a solution may be to just use adult
stem cells as that would result in no human embryos being harmed ("Stem
Cell Basics").
Other solutions may include taking embryonic stem cells from miscarried fetuses or from umbilical cords as umbilical cords get removed from the baby right after they are born anyways ("An Overview of Stem Cell Research"). These methods are less controversial as they no human lives are lost through them. In addition, some people are in favor of human cloning as they see it as a solution to infertility ("Female Infertility"). However, there are other ways to treat infertility. Some technologies that doctors use to help infertile men or women have kids include in-vitro fertilization and artificial insemination ("Female Infertility"). Unlike reproductive cloning, these methods do not require any embryos to be killed in the process ("Female Infertility"). |