Friday, November 27, 2009

Cloning - a good and a bad thing...

To talk about cloning is not an easy task. We have risks, we have benefits and we have, of course, our personal opinion.

Cloning is good because it can help infertile people to have babies, it can lead us to the cure of many diseases like cancer and, with cloning, we wouldn´t need to use animals on experiments.

But it is bad because we´re not sure that the proces will be succeessful; clones can be discriminated against and a clone can be stranger than we are.

For me, cloning an entire person is wrong because of discrimination that the clones would suffer but also because we are special because we are different and cloning would change that.

However, I agree with the cloning of organs because this process could lead us to the development of cures of diseases like cancer.



Cristina Correia 11th B nº 12

My opinion about cloning

In spite of not being much discussed, cloning is a very delicate subject. There are so many benefits as risks and although many people are in favour of cloning, there are people who refuse to accept it.

Cloning isn’t a magical way of creating life, but it has benefits like saving many lives, cure diseases and let infertile couples have biological children of their own. In plants, cloning would help to produce high yielding crops, resistant to droughts and pests. Cloning animals could preserve endangered species and prevent hunger of humans.

Those who are against cloning justify it mainly with ethical and religion issues, like make persons replaceable or create something that only god could create in a unique way. But there are scientific risks, for example, cloning human beings can go wrong and produce deformed offspring or the most cloned animals would die before they are born or younger than normal animals. Plants with modified DNA are called trangenic. Genetically modified food has a possible inherent toxicity to people or wildlife and has tendency to provoke an allergic reaction.

Cloning technology will help, like I said before, infertile persons having babies and more than that, the organ transplants could save many people. I don’t think cloning has the potential to hurt someone, unless a person is forced to be submitted to cloning, and from this point of view only animals will be harmed because they aren’t capable of expressing themselves.

For me and for my family cloning should be approved by governments, but only for medical purposes, such as transplants. Maybe others will judge me, because to save a person I’ll be killing another (that is the clone), and for this I don’t have an answer. I think we have to wait and hope scientists find a good solution which includes not kill or hurt anyone.

Joana Barbosa 11th G

What are the possible implications of cloning to society?


The cloning issue is an issue that is much discussed. Some people support it, some people don’t. It’s what their moral tells them.
Cloning embryos can have advantages like the chance of developing a cure for cancer, those cells can help infertile people to have babies and make possible the chance of replacing our pets or endangered species.
But it has its disadvantages too. Most cloned animals die before they are born or younger than normal animals and one thing I think essential, cloning makes us all less special – the concept of being replaceable.
Of course, technology is an important factor on cloning. Technological advances allow us to evolve on research.
I don’t agree with cloning an organism and I have a few arguments to support my belief like those I presented before but the most important is the concept of being replaceable. I don’t care if it is black, white, woman or man… Each one of us is irreplaceable, we are what we are, whether we like it or not.
But I agree with cloning cells or organs because we can find the cure for many diseases and it’s “insurance” for us.
And we know scientists can clone skin on a laboratory but with the advance of technology we can hope that other organs may start being cloned like, who knows, the heart.


Cláudia Leite no 11 11th B

Friday, November 20, 2009

Cloning

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Today, cloning is a very serious topic.
There are people who believe that this science can change our lives for the better. However I think we need to be careful about its consequences.
There are people who say that cloned cells can be used to cure some diseases or to help infertile people.
On the contrary, I feel that there could be lots of disadvantages. I think that cloning can create situations where people are disrespected, because scientists may try “to build” the perfect human being.
So far, the experiences that we have seen are far from being perfect.
Personally, I think that governments should try to control these actions; otherwise things will be out of control.
Of course, I understand that when someone is suffering from a serious disease he/she wants to be saved.
Even so, I defend that we need to be careful about cloning.


Carlos Paiva, nº9 11ºD

Cloning: good or bad?


Clones are more susceptible to many genetic defects, illness and death yet it could be argued that the same conditions can, and do occur in beings born through the natural process of procreation. Cloned animals have reproduced and given birth to normal healthy offspring. Even cloning from an aged animal doesn´t create an aged clone. Diseases are normal. Whether a being is created from sperm and egg or cloned from a single cell fused with an egg cell form which the genes have been removed, there is no assurance that abnormalities may not occur.
Science may need experimentation in order to advance but other beings will always suffer from the advancement of technology, we reach an impasse where we must face the issues of human rights and animal rights as well. Therapeutic cloning is an alternative way of medical advancement that can offer hope to many people who suffer from conditions that otherwise would have no cure, so in my opinion cloning is not a disadvantage but an advantage for most people.

Diogo Moreira nº14 11ºB