To Clone or Not to Clone

There is hope that stem cell research can move forward without the need for human cloning. Researchers have demonstrated that human skin cells can be made to behave like embryonic stem cells. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,312294,00.html .

But, even though this new technique shows significant promise, it is still very likely that a human clone will be produced in the near future even if the need for cloning to produce stem cells is eliminated. We humans have never demonstrated the ability to say no. Even if every ethical researcher decided to abandon human cloning, there will always be someone, somewhere to give it a try. Legislators can pass laws prohibiting research. But work can and will continue where our laws do not apply. Even now, work continues outside of the United States to produce human clones. It is therefore prudent to consider how to deal with the inevitable introduction of clones into our society.