Background Information
The implications of human cloning for spare parts are discussed in your textbook as part of this week’s reading. Opposition to emerging human cloning technologies often depends on whether an entire human being will eventually be cloned or just certain body parts. Most people would strongly oppose the cloning of entire human beings just so they can be harvested for spare body parts. Furthermore, some environmentalists worry that just the cloning of human body parts would indefinitely extend the lives of countless individuals and worsen the problems associated with overpopulation.
Some argue that technologies could eventually be developed that would allow for the cloning of only individual organs or body parts without creating embryos, fetuses, or other entities that could be viewed as distinct persons. Cloning advocates argue that the medical benefits for diabetics, cancer victims, heart patients, and other sick individuals would be enormous.
