Human reproductive cloning.

Brock's thoughtful viewpoint “human cloning and our sense of self” (Reflections on Self: Immunity and Beyond, 12 April, p. [314][1]) prompts us to raise another issue that has been lost in the cacophony surrounding this controversial topic. Some claim that no legitimate scientific purpose can be served by perfecting technology to permit human reproductive cloning. Others include the preservation of endangered species among the legitimate and beneficial goals of mammalian cloning ([1][2]). Although it may seem difficult to imagine plausible circumstances under which our own species might become endangered, one possibility is the spontaneous origin or malicious development of a virus that is as lethal as AIDS and as contagious as chicken pox. However, with AIDS, individuals exist who are genetically resistant to the virus, no matter how many times they are exposed ([2][3]). In the event of a worldwide pandemic, the identification and cloning of rare genetically resistant individuals might therefore provide an effective last-ditch strategy for preventing our extinction. If safe, effective procedures for human reproductive cloning were developed, society could, if it chose, permit their use only for such emergencies, but not for other purposes ([3][4]). For those who consider human cloning to be intrinsically immoral ([4][5]), its use to prevent our extinction raises the existential question of whether the preservation of any particular moral system or code of ethics should take precedence over the preservation of the human species. One might well ask what moral system will prevail after Homo sapiens has become extinct? If any life-forms still exist, it is likely to be a Darwinian system. These are questions truly worthy of consideration by the Presidential Council on Bioethics or the ethical, legal, and social implications program of the Human Genome Project. 1. [↵][6]1. Y. Tsanoda, 2. Y. Kato , Differentiation 69, 158 (2002). [OpenUrl][7][CrossRef][8][PubMed][9][Web of Science][10] 2. [↵][11]1. R. Liu 2. et al. , Cell 86, 367 (2002). [OpenUrl][12] 3. [↵][13]The atomic bomb and manned exploration of the moon are examples of technology we have not continued to employ after their initial use. 4. [↵][14]1. L. R. Kass, 2. J. Q. Wilson , The Ethics of Human Cloning (AEI Press, Washington, DC, 1998). [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1070371 [2]: #ref-1 [3]: #ref-2 [4]: #ref-3 [5]: #ref-4 [6]: #xref-ref-1-1 "View reference 1 in text" [7]: {openurl}?query=rft.jtitle%253DDifferentiation%253B%2Bresearch%2Bin%2Bbiological%2Bdiversity%26rft.stitle%253DDifferentiation%26rft.aulast%253DTsunoda%26rft.auinit1%253DY.%26rft.volume%253D69%26rft.issue%253D4-5%26rft.spage%253D158%26rft.epage%253D161%26rft.atitle%253DRecent%2Bprogress%2Band%2Bproblems%2Bin%2Banimal%2Bcloning.%26rft_id%253Dinfo%253Adoi%252F10.1046%252Fj.1432-0436.2002.690405.x%26rft_id%253Dinfo%253Apmid%252F11841470%26rft.genre%253Darticle%26rft_val_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Ajournal%26ctx_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ctx_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Actx [8]: /lookup/external-ref?access_num=10.1046/j.1432-0436.2002.690405.x&link_type=DOI [9]: /lookup/external-ref?access_num=11841470&link_type=MED&atom=%2Fsci%2F297%2F5586%2F1477.1.atom [10]: /lookup/external-ref?access_num=000173607900005&link_type=ISI [11]: #xref-ref-2-1 "View reference 2 in text" [12]: {openurl}?query=rft.jtitle%253DCell%26rft.volume%253D86%26rft.spage%253D367%26rft.atitle%253DCELL%26rft.genre%253Darticle%26rft_val_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Ajournal%26ctx_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ctx_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Actx [13]: #xref-ref-3-1 "View reference 3 in text" [14]: #xref-ref-4-1 "View reference 4 in text"