Transcript Chapter Six: Human Cloning

Chapter Six:
Genetic Engineering,
Stem Cell Research, and
Human Cloning
Review
Applying Ethics: A Text with Readings (10th ed.)
Julie C. Van Camp, Jeffrey Olen, Vincent Barry
Cengage Learning/Wadsworth
What is Genetic Engineering?
What are some of the scientific alterations
possible for humans?
– Gene Therapy
– Stem cell research
– Human cloning
What are some of the scientific alterations
possible for animal and plant life?
– Modified grains tolerant of disease and drought
– Cloned animals
What are some of the reasons why
we might want to clone humans?
Creating replacement tissue (spare parts)
Producing a fully developed human being
for infertile couples
Reproducing outstanding humans in
history
What are examples of the moral and legal
issues surrounding cloning?
Do people have a right to reproduce by any available
means?
Do other societal concerns override any such rights?
Will there be harmful effects on the cloned twin?
How will family relationships be redefined?
Could persons be cloned without their consent?
Would cloning be immoral because it is “unnatural”?
Stem Cell Research
What are examples of the overlapping ethical
Issues with cloning and abortion?
How do the issues and controversies compare
between adult and embryonic stem cell research?
Is federal funding appropriate or should this
research should be funded only with private funds,
due to the ethical controversy?
“The Case against Perfection”
Michael J. Sandel
What questions should be considered in
weighing the ethics of rapid developments in
technology?
– Traditional questions, which verge on theology
– Moral status of nature
– Proper stance of human beings toward the given
world
Why are familiar appeals to autonomy, fairness,
individual rights inadequate?
“Moral Status of Cloning Humans”
Michael Tooley
What is his position on cloning?
– There is nothing intrinsically immoral about human cloning
What reasons does he give to support this position?
– No one has a right to a genetically unique nature
– Cloning does not restrict the open future of individuals
Why does he believe that cloning promises to be very
beneficial to society?
– Happier and healthier individuals
– Solution to infertility
– Saving lives
“The Morality of Killing Human Embryos”
Bonnie Steinbock
How is the controversy over embryonic stem
cell research similar to that over abortion?
– When does human life begin?
– What is the moral status of the human embryo?
What are the different approaches she considers
to “moral status”?
How does she reach her conclusion that it is
permissible to use human embryos in research
as they lack moral status?
“Stem Cells, Biotechnology, and Human Rights:
Implications for a Posthuman Future”
Paul Lauritzen
What is his objection to the current debate on
stem cell research?
– Too much narrow focus on stem cell research,
whether embryonic or adult
What does he urge that we focus on instead?
– prospect of transforming the contours of human life
– our attitudes toward the natural world