Cloning

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But the advanced reproductive technologies are really moving forward and I worry about that because of the old religious notion that there's a difference between procreation and reproduction. Yes, procreation and reproduction. There is a difference. Procreation is a uniquely human process. Reproduction is sort of a technological process. And I worry that the line between reproduction and procreation is going to be even further blurred.

While legal restrictions are one deterrent to pursuing human cloning at this time, some scientists believe today's technology just isn't ready to be tested on humans. Ian Wilmut, one of Dolly's co-creators, has even said that human cloning projects would be irresponsible. Cloning technology is still in its early stages, and nearly 98 percent of cloning efforts end in failure. The embryos are either not suitable for implanting into the uterus, or die some time during gestation or shortly after birth.

Therapeutic cloning” is obviously not therapeutic

for the embryo. The new human is specifically

created in order to be destroyed as a source

of tissue: “[Therapeutic cloning] requires the

deliberate creation and disaggregation of a human

embryo.”

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Gurdon, who won this year's Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine, said that while any attempts to clone a human would likely raise complex ethical issues, he believes that in the near future people would overcome their concerns if cloning became medically useful.

"It is quite possible that the real legacy of this whole new programming technology is that it will be introducing the era of designer babies.

THERAPEUTIC CLONIC:

To create tissues (like muscle for an ailing heart) or organs (a kidney) in the lab and transplant them whole, Capron says, "You need to do a lot of work on how you signal cells to differentiate and grow in normal fashion. None of that work requires cloned embryos, it all can be done with existing or newly created cell lines."