While cloned human technology enables human life extension and scientific advancement, the ethical issues and social changes it creates raise new challenges for protecting the dignity and rights of cloned humans.
The future of cloned animals and cloned humans
The nucleus, which contains the genes, is removed from an animal’s body cells. This nucleus is then replaced in an egg of the same species, reprogrammed, and implanted in the uterus, where it grows in culture to give birth to an animal with the same genes as the animal that provided the body cells. This process is called ‘cloning’ and the resulting animal is called a ‘cloned animal’. If this technology were to be applied to humans, the result would be a “cloned human”. The idea of a cloned human being has existed in the imagination for many years, but with modern scientific and technological advances, it’s possible that it could become a reality in the near future.
The emergence of cloned humans is bound to spark ethical debate. If cloned humans become a reality, they will have the same genes as the original human, but their psychological and emotional experiences may be different. What will this cloned “me” mean to the original me, and how will society change as a result? These are not just scientific questions, but deep philosophical and social discussions.
New ethical dilemmas created by cloned humans
The movie “The Island” focuses on what life will be like for future cloned humans and presents two main social issues that could arise from their emergence. The first is that cloned humans will be forced to live a tightly controlled, impoverished life in a confined space. The second problem is that they are exploited and killed in a brutal way.
The film begins by showing the daily routine of the main character, Lincoln Six-Echo, a cloned human being. He wakes up from a recurring nightmare, and a program built into his bed detects his brain waves. A program in his bathroom then analyzes his urine to determine what nutrients he is lacking, and provides him with breakfast based on that information. These scenes seem to symbolize the hope that science and technology can provide a better life for humans in the future. However, as we continue to watch the film, we realize that this “convenient” life could actually be a means of suppressing human freedom.
The reason why the clones are so tightly controlled is because they are treated as a tool to extend human life. The purpose of their existence is to provide organs when their original human, or client, needs them. They receive strict health care to ensure that they provide healthy organs, and their freedom is limited. This setting emphasizes that they function merely as “insurance” for life extension, and explains why they are so closely monitored.
The ethical issues raised by the existence of cloned humans go beyond their repressed lives. In the movie, the clones live in a tightly controlled environment, unaware of their true purpose. Their only goal is to get to a fictional place called “The Island,” which they believe is their only hope. But in reality, it doesn’t exist, and the “winning” clones are brutally murdered to provide organs. This brutal reality paints a picture of cloned humans being turned into tools in the name of “life extension” and raises the question of what price we pay for extending human life.
The ethical and social implications of cloned human technology
The creation of a cloned human being would not only raise ethical issues, but would also lead to profound changes in society as a whole. If they do come into existence, will they exist merely as tools of humans, or will they be recognized as individuals with dignity in their own right? This raises the issue of the conflict between the rights of the clones and the rights of humans.
How should their humanity and rights be protected once they come into existence? Will there ever be a society in which cloned humans can claim their rights as independent beings, rather than simply being used as tools to prolong the lives of original humans? These questions invite us to imagine the future of scientific and technological advances, and to debate whether cloned humans can become more than just a tool for life extension, but a new social entity.
Another issue that could arise if cloned humans were to be commercialized is the social changes that would result from extending human life. Increasing life expectancy through organ transplantation will accelerate the aging of society and increase the scarcity of resources. These issues could exacerbate current resource distribution problems, and the social changes that cloned human technology will bring will pose new challenges that science cannot solve.
The questions that the emergence of cloned humans poses to our society are not just about life extension or technological advancement. The existence of cloned humans will require a new paradigm of human dignity, bioethics, and social responsibility. The future of cloned humans is not just a technological issue, but one that requires in-depth discussions about humanity, ethics, and social responsibility.
