Decease… Death… Die…

The liberal position

Should the chain of the experiments be continued by the human’s cloning?

Is it acceptable from the moral and law points of view?

The liberal position is inclined to the positive answer. One of the arguments – prohibitions for scientific researches always have a limited by time character because they have been performed and they are performed now. Also, if the human’s cloning is prohibited, maybe it should be necessary at the same time prohibit the birth of the natural twins? The appearance of the human genetic copies is safe. We should be afraid of the possibility of cloning, in the given sense of replication of the geniuses of the criminal world, maniacs – as “the soul is genetically not conditioned”, A. Monin states. And that’s why there is nothing immoral in cloning. And in contrast to A. Monin, the creator of Dolly – Ian Wilmut – is speaking against the cloning of people. In England there was considered the necessity of prohibition of such experiments.

The conservative position

Conservative position concerning the cloning of people has two planes. Firstly, in the plane of analysis of the perspectives and sociocultural consequences of ousting of the family sexual relationships by the methods of the artificial reproduction. On the strength of the fact that cloning is a logic development of the methods of the artificial fecundation and gene technologies, the critique argumentation of the antagonists of the artificial reproduction of people and eugenic projects of different kinds not only saves its strength but is strengthening double uniting the above mentioned arguments. Secondly, conservatives are afraid of replication of the exploitative treatment of the person towards person through the creation of the “human reservists”. It is clear that usage of the person as a means for realization of other person’s goals is immoral.

The main goal of the medicine which is determines the direction of biomedical theory and practice is humanity’s escape from sufferings. Medical genetics helps to diagnose and in such a way to warn the great number of genetic illnesses – metabolic disturbance, the illnesses of blood (Cooley’s anemia, sicklemia, hemophilia). The development of the medically genetic methods of the diagnostics and treatment can assist to the prevention of such illnesses and relief of the suffering of many people. However the goal of the genetic interference must not be the artificial “perfection” of the mankind. As the task of the medical genetics is the care about concrete people, about concrete families.

Also only at the base of respect of personality’s freedom the genetic identification and genetic testing can be implemented (the creation of the “genetic passport”). Holding the information about the hereditary predisposition to dangerous illnesses can become a really backbreaking soul burden. And in addition, there is a real threat of abuse by genetic data with which they can serve to the different forms of the discrimination.

The technologies of interference into the reproductive functions of the person which are linked with the fortunes of the future generations cannot be realized without ethical understanding and legislative regulation. The gene therapy of the sex cells is extremely dangerous because it deals with the changes of genome in the chain of generations which can entail serious unpredictable consequences in the form of new mutations and destabilization of equilibrium between human community and environment.

The idea of human’s cloning is the reproduction of the independent organism from the single somatic cell which is genetically identical to the donor, is absolutely unacceptable. Its practical realization will destroy the natural fundamentals of the social relationships, it will cause the catastrophic change of the world outlook guidelines to the side of the further depreciation of the life of every separate person, it will create the threat to the human dignity, uniqueness and private inviolability, making person’s heredity defenseless before the extraneous interference.

And as for the cloning of isolated cells and tissues of the living organisms – there are no objections against these technologies because they don’t destroy the sovereignty of the human personality and they are useful in the researches, medical and agricultural practice.