Take a moment to imagine that the world is plagued by "Mini-Hitlers", genetic replicates of Adolf Hitler, all of them seeking world domination. If this happened, would a second Holocaust begin on a worldwide scale, killing millions upon millions of people in order to establish a superior race? Probably not. This scenario is far-fetched, but this is the kind of thing people think about when they hear the word "cloning". Cloning has always been considered science fiction. A survey conducted by CNN showed that sixty-three percent of Americans think of recreating evil when they hear the words "human cloning." According to this survey, a person's positive characteristics are often outweighed by more deviant behaviors that are typical in their personality. (CNN, 1997.) Stories about a villain using cloning technology to conquer the world have been very popular in the past. That is, of course, because human cloning was never a reality until recently.
Human cheek cells
Human cheek cells
Human Cloning RaëlianI say people do not yet realize the good that can come out of human cloning.
Ian Wilmut and his colleagues at Roslin Institute in Scotland created the first clone. Wilmut and his colleagues wanted to see if specialized cells could be reprogrammed into thinking that they were not specialized and develop all over again, thus creating a clone. In February 1997, the creation of Dolly the cloned sheep shocked people, including our federal government. (Wilmut, 1999.) The House of Representatives and the Senate immediately drafted bills to completely ban human cloning. President Clinton instituted a suspension on federal funds for human cloning experiments. He also established the National Bioethics Advisory Commission (NBAC) to address the science and ethics of human cloning. The appointed council immediately published an article entitled "Cloning Human Beings: Report and Recommendations of the NBAC", which basically said human cloning is morally unacceptable.