Well Hello, Dolly!
Now this is what I'm talking about -- my cutting-edge, sci-fi future. Watch the video that goes along with the Wired article. It's fascinating stuff, and also offers a glimpse into how life just may have evolved on this planet. I mean, if there's a god, his name has got to be Electricity.
"Up until now, (human cloning) seemed largely like a theoretical exercise," said Bernard Siegel, director of the Genetics Policy Institute. "But now with actual stem-cell lines created for individuals suffering with diseases and medical conditions, this takes on a greater significance, and those who would want to ban this research are going to come face to face with millions of patients seeking cures."
I'm an identical twin myself (one of nature's clones), and so have no problem with the concept of human cloning. While I share my exact DNA with another human being, my brother and I both have our own distinct personalities, individualities and lives, we make our own choices and we've easily managed to create our own full set of separate experiences, so I don't get all bent out of shape by the scare-tactics of the Luddites when they whisper about soulless Frankenstein monsters brewed in a test-tube, or mutter darkly about genetic determinism (i.e. -- "They'll clone Hitler! Aiieeee!
An executive order from 2001 forbids United States scientists from cloning embryos to produce stem cells for research, and a number of states have outlawed human cloning, but no federal law banning human cloning has yet made it past the Senate, and I hope a federal ban on human cloning is never enacted. I like George Bush for a lot of reasons, but on human cloning and stem cell research, I think he's dead wrong. Scientists in this country should not have their hands tied regarding stem cell research or human cloning advances, or they'll fall dreadfully behind in the medical progressions accrued from such research, leaving our medical system as sad and third-rate a wreck as the medical systems in, oh, say, Canada, for example.
Sorry, I just had to blame Canada.
And when the news reports talk about the "Korean scientists," I really wish they'd remember to place the "South" in front of it. North Korea is an intellectual and technological wasteland (not to mention a hell-hole for its starving citizenry), and it'd be a shame if Kim Jong Il gained any good-will or credit through mere geographical association.
On a related note: when it's discovered that stem cells cannot be used to treat alcoholism, drug addiction and sex addiction, can we stop calling these behaviors "diseases" and begin to hold people fully accountable for their own lack of self-control? "But . . . but, I'm a victim!" Yeah, whatever, stop your blubbering -- you're disturbing the other customers at the bar.
OFF-TOPIC:
You see, just as all homsexuals aren't Lefty Liberals, all Christians aren't Right-Wing Conservatives. It's odd that I have to even point out these things, but some of my more radical leftist readers are a little slow . . .
Comments
If I wasn't so lazy, I'd look up Dubya's Executive Order from 2001 before I comment, but I'm gonna comment anyway...
I think the deal is that American scientists cannot receive Federal research money to clone embryos for stem cell research, but if someone in the private sector wants to hand a scientist in NY a billion dollars for private research, there's nothing against it. I'm not sure, but I'm pretty sure that's the deal. Dubya's Executive Order forbade Federal funding t--
--wheeee! Look at my alliteration!
Anyway, that's what I understood. Let me know if I'm wrong.
I have nothing against human cloning either. I think there are great benefits to the sick, the lame, the handicapped, and the barren couples seeking a child. However, I also view cloning the same way I view the power of the atom: Use it with some frickin' common sense.
Hmmm... I think I stole that last quote from Einstein or Fermi.
_________________________
Homocon sez:
But what is "common sense" in regards to cloning? I mean, it's easy enough to say, "use it with some frickin' common sense," yet infinitely more difficult to put it into practice when the term "common sense" establishes no real guidelines or boundaries.
What do you mean, specifically?
Posted by: Scott | May 21, 2005 5:38 PM
Common sense=Don't clone Hitler... especially if the potential parents are uptight, vegan, workaholic Austrians who blame the Jews for any hardship in their lives.
Cloned dinosaurs=cool.
Cloned kidneys and other body parts from your own tissue used for transplants=cool.
Cloned dead dictators=not cool.
Posted by: Scott | May 23, 2005 7:24 AM