Manufacturing Evolution

Have you ever thought about cloning and the impact it could leave on this planet? How evolution will have human finger prints all over every genome know to man. Does this scare you or does it fascinate you? Personally I am confused, because neither the pros nor the cons of cloning can outweigh each other. Yes, cloning will cure diseases and replace much needed organs; however, cloning will also create a synthetic evolution and ultimately human race.

How you ask? Well it is simple, as humans, we have a natural desire to better ourselves. With the power of cloning we will never have to worry about another disease or organ failure again. We will have "optimal health", so we think. However, with no diseases life expectancy will increase and our world will become over populated. In turn, humans will become earth’s number one disease. If cloning becomes an everyday commodity, natural selection will take the back seat. The genes responsible for illnesses and less desired traits will not have natural selection to weed them out. Therefore, future generations are more likely to inherit "bad" genes.

The Council for Responsible Genetics warns that we do not know enough about the relationship of genes and traits. Therefore, there is no guarantee that if a gene is altered it will present the results we are looking for. Also they warn that there are many ideas of "biological perfection". Therefore, a gene that is altered by a parent and is considered "good" may in turn be considered "bad" by the descendent.

Morally cloning is in the eye of the beholder. For example a Christian may feel differently about cloning than an Atheist. Prof. Qiu Renzong, Director of the Bioethics Program at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, points out solid arguments against the morality of human cloning. He believes that cloning not only will cause religious issues but also legal issues. Prof. Qiu Renzong also supports his argument by adding that when animals are cloned we are only fulfilling human need. Like I pointed out earlier humans have a natural desire to better themselves and unfortunately the life of other species are at risk of our selfishness.

I think in the near future cloning will become a major medical tool and evolution will be based on the ability to balance natural selection with human desire.