Human Cloning: methodology and implications
An ovum from a woman - her sex cell - is removed from her ovary during a relatively simple procedure. The sex cell’s nucleus containing only the half-set, the 23 female chromosomes, is removed and discarded.
A somatic cell is any cell except a sex cell: it can be a skin cell. The nucleus from such a cell, from any person, is taken. This somatic cell nucleus is then inserted into the female sex cell whose own nucleus has been removed and discarded.
Note that every somatic cell nucleus has the full complement of 46 chromosomes. So now what had been a female sex cell with only 23 chromosomes has become an altered female sex cell with 46 chromosomes.
For some reason not clear, this new altered female sex cell is now capable of, or is made capable of, proliferating and forming an embryo similar to the
embryo that develops as a result of fertilization of a female sex cell by a male sex cell in the normal reproductive process. This is a female sex cell made capable of originating an embryo without any fertilization taking place. This embryo, if left alone, will, of course, be capable of implantation into the uterus and of progressing to pregnancy and delivery.
The question is commonly raised as to whether God would endow such a being with a human soul. The answer has to be YES. Everything that lives, whether human, animal or plant, every animate object, possesses a soul. The soul is the life-factor in everything that lives. Important to note, however, is the fact that only man possesses a soul capable of choice, a soul that can say yes or no. Man also is the only form of life that has a soul that will live forever, a soul that cannot die, a soul that is immortal.
Let’s assume in the following cases that the donor of the female sex cell is named Betty.
If the donor of the somatic cell and the donor of the female sex cell, Betty, are the same, and cloning is successful in producing a pregnancy, the resulting embryo/fetus/infant/adult would have all the chromosomes of the somatic cell donor, Betty, and would be a clone of Betty: would, like Betty, be a female with XX sex chromosomes. The child would have a mother, Betty, but no father. The child would be genetically related to Betty.
If the donor of the somatic cell is another woman, we’ll call Linda, the resulting embryo/fetus/infant/adult would have only the chromosomes of the somatic cell donor- Linda, would be a clone of Linda and would, like Linda, be a female with XX sex chromosomes. The child would be genetically related to Linda, have a mother, Linda, but no father. Betty would not be genetically related to the child.
If the donor of the somatic cell is a man, we’ll call George, the resulting embryo/fetus/infant/adult would have only the chromosomes of the somatic cell donor- George, would be a clone of George, and would, like George, be a male with XY sex chromosomes. The child would be genetically related to George, would have a father, George, but no mother. Betty would not be genetically related to the child.
If the embryo is not implanted into a uterus but used as a source of embryonal stem cells, this is misnamed ‘therapeutic cloning’.
If the embryo is implanted into a uterus and allowed to proceed to pregnancy, this is misnamed ‘reproductive cloning’.
What we are seeing in these developments is the beginning of asexual reproduction in the human world as opposed to normal human sexuality referred to as sexual reproduction.
We are now told that an artificial womb or uterus is available that would permit the embryo product of therapeutic or reproductive cloning to be nurtured through a full-term in vitro pregnancy – the ultimate in asexual reproduction.
What a dream come true for the ghouls among us! What a nightmare for the world, not only in spiritual but also in practical terms when one contemplates the myriad of potential problems of human identity, human relationships, legal relationships and all that these entail.
Is this what we want to leave to our children and coming generations. Is this how we treat the precious gift of life?
posted by fergail at 4:06 PM
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