Pros And Cons Of Therapeutic Cloning

Words: 683
Pages: 3

The issues of therapeutic cloning have been debated in the past decade all around the world. Therapeutic cloning is the process of “creating a cloned embryo by inserting the nucleus of a human body cell into a denucleated egg, which is then induced to divide by electrical or chemical stimulation until it reaches the embryo stage” (Epstein). The objective of therapeutic cloning is to obtain the stem cells from the cloned embryo which have the capability to continuously divide and develop into various kinds of cells, tissues, and organs. Therapeutic cloning is often described as a therapy for certain diseases and disorders that society is unable to effectively handle today. Therapeutic cloning and reproductive cloning are two different procedures that the public confuses with each other. Reproductive cloning is the process of creating an identical copy of a human being through somatic cell nuclear transplantation (SCNT), which is allowed to grow up to 14 days in a laboratory and is then transplanted into a womb to grow until its birth. Therapeutic cloning is the process of creating a cloned embryo through SCNT which is allowed to grow for a few days and is then terminated for the harvesting of their stem cells. Although reproductive cloning and therapeutic cloning are different procedures which lead to …show more content…
Many individuals regard the embryos as human beings with moral rights which cause them to consider its termination to be morally impermissible. Embryonic stem cell research for therapeutic cloning involves harvesting stem cells and killing the embryo, which ultimately degrades human life. Most of the embryos that are cloned do not survive a week into the blastocyst stage since they are destroyed during the process of harvesting their cells (Prentice and