Human Cloning Isn't As Scary As It Sounds

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about us, and that environmental factors or the
random events in human development are utterly insignificant. The overwhelming
consensus among geneticists is that genetic determinism is false.

As geneticists have come to understand the ways in which genes operate, they
have also become aware of the myriad ways in which the environment affects their
"expression." The genetic contribution to the simplest physical traits, such as
height and hair color, is significantly mediated by environmental factors. And
the genetic contribution to the traits we value most deeply, from intelligence
to compassion, is conceded by even the most enthusiastic genetic researchers to
be limited and indirect. Indeed, we need only appeal to our ordinary experience
with identical twins—that they are different people despite their similarities—
to appreciate that genetic determinism is false.

Furthermore, because of the extra steps involved, cloning will probably always
be riskier—that is, less ...

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psychology, then
we have a great deal more than cloning to worry about.

Another disturbing possibility is the person who wants a clone in order to have
acceptable "spare parts" in case he or she needs an organ transplant later in
life. But regardless of the reason that someone has a clone produced, the result
would nevertheless be a human being with all the rights and protections that
accompany that status. It truly would be a disaster if the results of human
cloning were seen as less than fully human. But there is certainly no moral
justification for and little social danger of that happening; after all, we do
not accord lesser status to children who have been created through IVF or ...

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