The Case against Human Cloning
![handle is hein.journals/hoflr27 and id is 533 raw text is: THE CASE AGAINST HUMAN CLONING
Vernon J. Ehlers*
In 1997, the announcement of a cloned sheep ignited an interna-
tional discussion that continues still today. The scientists at the Roslin
Institute in Edinburgh, Scotland, claimed that they had successfully
cloned an adult mammal.' Using a process called somatic cell nuclear
transfer, the scientists transferred the genetic code from the cell of an
adult sheep into an enucleated sheep egg.2 An electrical pulse caused the
egg to start dividing, and the resulting embryo was implanted in the
uterus of a surrogate sheep.3 Since the birth of Dolly, we have been
faced with the prospect of the cloning of human beings. This possibility
has raised fundamental questions about what it means to be human, and
has stirred debate over what restrictions, if any, should be placed on at-
tempts to clone humans.
During the ensuing months, ethicists, theologians, scientists, phy-
sicians, legislators, and concerned citizens contributed to the debate in
many fora. The National Bioethics Advisory Commission
(Commission) was called upon to conduct a ninety day review of
cloning and its implications.4 After acknowledging concerns about the
effect of cloning on children, our social values, and our morals, the
Commission concluded that at this time it is morally unacceptable for
anyone in the public or private sector, whether in a research or clinical
* Member, United States House of Representatives (R-MI); A.B., University of California
at Berkeley, 1956; Ph.D., University of California at Berkeley, 1960. Representative Ehlers serves
as Vice-Chairman of the Science Committee, as well as being a member of the Transportation and
Infrastructure Committee, the Education and Workforce Committee, and the House Administration
Committee.
I. See 1 NATIONAL BIOETHICS ADVISORY COMM'N, CLONING HUMAN BEINGS: REPORT
AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE NATIONAL BIOETHICS ADVISORY COMMISSION 1 (1997)
[hereinafter CLONING HUMAN BEINGS].
2. See id.
3. See . Wilmut et al., Viable Offspring Derived from Fetal and Adult Mammalian Cells,
385 NATURE 810, 813 (1997).
4. See CLONING HUMAN BEINGS, supra note 1, at i.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/hoflr27&div=27&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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The Case against Human Cloning
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