Editor:

“We will ensure that our government never opens the door to the use of cloning for human reproduction,” President Barack Obama said as he addressed the nation March 9, after lifting the ban on embryonic stem cell research. What Obama did not say, however, is that we will never open the door to the use of cloning for “research reproduction,” which is exactly what he plans on doing.

What is the difference between “human reproductive cloning” and “research cloning”? Nothing, they are exactly the same. They both use the same procedure called Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer which was used to clone Dolly the sheep in 1996. The only real difference is that, if not banned, human reproductive clones would be allowed to grow into adulthood, while the research clones would be killed at a much earlier age for use in science experiments.

Same procedure, same DNA, same human, same clone. If successful, Obama’s sleight of hand might allow for the first human clone to be produced in the very near future. Our taxpayer money would then not only be going to make and destroy human embryos, but also help fund human cloning.

The only thing worse than ignorance is the misuse of knowledge.

Samuel Passi,
President of the LIFE Club
Junior, Biology