Is cloning our pets a slippery slope to human cloning?

by Tess Boardman

Created on: July 20, 2009   Last Updated: July 21, 2009

Is cloning our pets a slippery slope to human cloning? No, not any more than allowing legal adoptions will cause women to sell their babies for money. The slippery slope argument states that if there is an exception made to a rule, then the rule itself is no longer valid. This fallacy in logic discounts the ability of humans to maintain morality in a world filled with shades of grey.

Cloning has been around for longer than most people think. Hans Dreisch experimented with sea urchins in the late 1800's and was able to prove that genetic material is not lost in division of the cell. In 1951, an experiment on frog embryos was a success when nucleus containing the genetic material from one cell was removed placed in another cell. This process is known as nuclear transplant and is the basis for cloning today.

Cloning evokes images from popular culture and has been featured in movies such as The Boys from Brazil, Jurassic Park, and The Sixth Day. As the science progresses and we gain more knowledge of cloning, will it evolve to the level of human cloning? The famous cloned sheep, Dolly, was the result of 276 tries of reproductive cloning and was the first in a string of successes in cloning technology. Several different species have been cloned, giving rise to processes that can clone our beloved pets once they have passed on.

Pet cloning began when an American billionaire wanted to clone his dog, and this project produced the first cloned cat in 2001. Dogs proved to be more difficult, but not impossible with the first dog clone being born in 2005. However, even with advances in the ability to produce clones, the survival rate is poor and their health issues, numerous.

Some clones have already found their way to our homes, not as guests but as food. Cloning pets is now offered for a hefty price, and for those who cannot let go of a beloved animal, feel it is worth the price. This leave many wondering that if we clone our pets, will we begin to clone our children, our parents, or our best friend in an effort to preserve that relationship.

This concern is valid; however, the root of our fears lies in the belief that life is sacred and human intervention should not be allowed into the territory of procreation. The false belief that we can clone the person, complete with personality is still a fear in some minds as it challenges their beliefs that each human being possesses a soul. Even for those who do not believe that a soul exists, there are fears that clones

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