But one that galvanized numerous questions from the audience was a recent topic in medical ethics - the role of cloning. The public concern about cloning has been marred by the thought of re-creating dictators like Adolf Hitler, or by the idea of a cloned person having the same destiny as that person's genetically identical twin, Buchanan said. Although cloning had been performed on animals like goats, pigs and mice, scientists have recently announced such technology can be performed on humans. Panayiotis Zavos, an infertility specialist from the University of Kentucky, and Severino Antinori, an Italian researcher, made public last month the beginning of a human cloning test. Similarly, the New York Times reported in February about the actions of a religious group called Raelians, which claims it can potentially clone humans.
Scientists use electrical pulses to duplicate the recomposed cell.
Buchanan said human cloning is not wrong and there can be some benefits of the use of such technology, if it is not misused. As in the case of infertile or gay couples who want a biologically related child without collaborating with a third party, the process of cloning should be justified, he said. More problematic use of cloning technology, though, may emerge if permanently unconscious human beings are created as organ and tissue banks for the use of other individuals, he said. Instead, the public should support institutes devoted to the education of cloning technology, Buchanan said, because there has been a confusion of genetic identity with personal identity. You choose one profession to another - you choose one college to another.