Human Cloning Debate: Ethics, Rights, and Social Boundaries
At the very essence of the Frankenstein myth is the idea that humans have the technology and wisdom to create or duplicate life. This idea, cloning, is neither new, nor mysterious – it is simply the biological process of producing replicas of organisms through other means than sexual reproduction. In the United States, consumption of meat and other products derived from cloning was approved in December of 2006, with no special labeling required. However, although there are two types of human cloning typically discussed: therapeutic or using adult cells for use in medicine, and reproductive, involving cloning human beings. In the United States, House Bill 4808 was introduced in March, 2010, banning federal funding from human cloning. That bill has yet to be passed, and the issues remain quite controversial.