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... strong resentment against government regulation and the belief in free enterprise and technological progress is dominant. As a result of this and the fact that there is no legal prohibition in force "it is perfectly possible that tomorrow you will read in the newspaper that a human being has been cloned in the US. " An important effect of the new biotechnology on American culture is, according to Bereano, "genetic essentialism." This is the reductionist approach, which posits that genetic makeup determines the essence of a human and that the person's life is largely a playing out of a genetic script, minimizing environmental and cultural influences. The discussion on the cloning of people is not only about the production of replicas but about, via cloning, the makings of better human beings or better body parts. Thus, a website has recently appeared on which a business offers the ova from top models for sale. "Eugenetics, that's what it's all about, " said Bereano.
Italy In Italy, the publicity around Dolly revitalized the political discussion on the research of embryos younger than two weeks, which had been held in Parliament the year before. This finally brought the issue into the media. The way in which the debate was conducted was strongly determined by the long-standing polarization in Italian society between the religious world (the Vatican) and the secular world as to the possible interventions in human life, said Agnes Allansdottir, lecturer in Social Psychology and Communication at the University of Sienna. For the first ten days after Dolly, the Italian media were polarized between the secular press and the newspapers more oriented towards the Vatican.
Whereas the former wrote on the scientific achievement and the usefulness of cloning, the latter wrote in terms of "Brave New world" and "Playing God." Allansdottir's media analysis revealed that the media coverage on cloning was embedded in the already existing fear of new technology in general. This fear is fed by a total lack of trust in the government's ability to regulate and monitor science and technology plus a complete lack of trust in scientific institutions. Because of this, the public is convinced that as soon as the cloning of human beings becomes technically possible, it will occur. With respect to politics, the Italian Minister of Public Health announced a temporary ban on all types of cloning in 1998, which is still in force. The latest version of legislation contained a total ban on (reproductive and non-reproductive) human cloning.
Despite of many ethical aspects the public's voice was absent within this debate. Neither the government nor NGO's have tried to fill this gap. 3. The afternoon session: Great Britain, the Netherlands, South Korea, and United States In the afternoon, the presentations and discussions were aimed at describing and comparing the different ways in which the general public was involved in the debate. Four cases were presented: Great Britain, the Netherlands, South Korea, and United States.
Great Britain After Dolly, the Human Genetics Advisory Commission (HGAC/HFEA) published a consultation document on cloning. In response to this, the Wellcome Trust decided, in the spring of 1998, to carry out an investigation into public opinion on cloning. From a public opinion poll in March 1997, it was shown that 72 % of the population was in favor of a ban (except for research) on the cloning of human beings. The Wellcome Trust wanted to know why people were opposed. The Project Manager for Public Consultations of the Wellcome Trust, Ian Muchamore, argued that the results showed that "Dolly was the trigger for a broader debate on biotechnology and genetic intervention." The initial reaction of the focus groups can be characterized by quoting the terms "Nazi science" and "photocopied individuals." He cautioned that these cultural references should not be taken too literally. "People use them as a kind of short-hand, as a way of saying 'I don't like it'." The most surprising finding was the concern about the social effects of cloning. The interviewees expressed concern chiefly for the wellbeing of the clone, of the psychological effect of having to go through life as a genetically identical person.
Also the fact that reproductive cloning does not require sexual intercourse was found horrifying. Muchamore also encountered a very low public trust in government. Even if there is regulation, "there is little faith that research is not still being conducted behind closed doors. " Muchamore remarked that the opinion of the public should not be taken as being absolute. "Ideas may change after a while. Louise Brown, the first IVF-born baby, and the first heart transplant were also welcomed with skepticism and distrust.
So the question is what the significance is of public opinion when concrete applications are still far away. " The Netherlands In comparison to Denmark, a more cautious approach was taken in the Netherlands. Parliament expressed the need for a societal debate on cloning. In response to this the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sports asked the Rathenau Institute - the Dutch parliamentary technology assessment organization - to organize such a debate, perhaps hoping that the debate might lead to consensus. Koos van der Bruggen, program coordinator for Biomedical Technology at the Rathenau Institute, explained that a hearing was set up in the parliament building to define the agenda for the public debate. From the hearing a number of conclusions were drawn.
The hearing showed that cloning becomes important only in combination with genetic modification. Although cloning of adult human beings triggers the imagination it is an unrealistic option for the foreseeable future. Some scientists see non-reproductive cloning of human embryos as a possibility to achieve better results in reproduction and transplantation technologies. The cloning of animals for the production of medicine could be interesting. In animal husbandry there are still a lot of questions about the usefulness of cloning. In the following phase of the project, the debate was deepened and broadened.
Separate meetings were organized on the various applications of cloning and two special meetings were organized on the religious and political aspects of cloning. To represent the public a citizen's panel of twenty people had been formed before the hearing. The mission of this panel was to form an informed opinion on cloning. Further, several regional debates were organized and a survey was held t...
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Research essay sample on Cloning Of Human Beings Lack Of Trust
