Human Cloning (Hardcover)

From the Publisher:
The leading scientific story of 1997 was the cloning of Dolly. The day after Dolly's existence was made known to the world, US President Clinton asked the National Bioethics Advisory Commission (NBAC) to assess the moral and legal issues involved in the use of cloning technology. When the Commission's report was released in June 1997, one of its principal claims was that it would not be morally proper, under current conditions, to clone a human being; Undaunted by the Commission's report, some have announced their intention to clone a human. At present the debate continues. In Human Cloning, seven highly respected authors examine the topic of cloning from a variety of different perspectives. In the text the authors describe the procedure of somatic cell nuclear transfer and outline the history of cloning discourse. They analyze both the moral and religious arguments for and against human cloning, and in the process critically evaluate the recommendations of the NBAC. In, addition, a number of authors discuss the effect that the creation of Dolly and the possibility of a human clone's existence has had upon our sense of self-identity and beliefs about the meaning of life.Seven medical ethicists, philosophers, religious thinkers, and social critics confront the Pandora's box of issues raised by the imminent prospect of cloning humans a la Huxley's 1932 Brave New World and the 1997 cloning of Dolly the sheep. They define cloning, describe the procedure and its history, analyze the moral and religious arguments pro and con, and evaluate the recommendations of the National Bioethics Advisory Commission. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.