Genetics and Moral Issues

From guest blogger, Rachel.

As a geneticist, I find the topics of cloning and stem cells very interesting. They are controversial, and their future ethical implications are unknown. For me there is not much to consider on the stem cell debate: I have always approved of both, and now that iPS is functional to reprogram cells, the debate is small. Cloning, however, has interesting implications for the future. I don’t agree with Allhoff’s argument for the immorality of cloning but I do think it would be unethical to clone for the purposes of a child. The hard part is that the potential research is very interesting, but that can be done with stem cells. It just all still seems so futuristic, but it’s the present. With epigenetics being studied more in depth, I wonder if something from that will arise to create another reason for the immorality of cloning for children.