Benefits of cloning people
Susan L. Sprecher
South Bend, Ind.
The recent debate on campus over cloning individuals reveals the narrow focus that bioethics is using to view human genome issues. The more critical question is how we will preserve the germplasm, not of a single person, but of whole races that are rapidly vanishing.
Imagine when the last population of full-blooded Kalahari Bushmen is gone. That rare and beautiful race will then be as unrecoverable as the dodo. We are being urged to save pandas and rhinos from extinction. Why not save the unique phenotypes of humankind?
Human races are cultural artifacts with aesthetic function. They also have value as components of the total biodiversity of the natural world. As reservoirs of distinct physical traits and genotypes, different races may have unexpected importance in the future survival of our species.
Genetic preservation is well-established for plants and animals, and an international effort is being made to preserve biodiversity in every crop plant and livestock species. Why not in humans?
Bioethicists need to broaden their vision and give guidance on how we should preserve the germplasm of whole races. Will it be by cloning, tissue banks, surrogate parenting or preferential gamete pairings? Time is running out, and the tough bioethical questions for Homo sapiens remain to be answered.
Susan L. Sprecher
South Bend, Ind.
March 30, 2001
All Viewpoint Stories for Monday, April 2, 2001
