To Clone or Not to Clone, That is the Question

I was not that impressed by either set of arguments related to human cloning because I think it is probably a more complex issue than a short FAQ can answer. But I do believe that science’s ability to do something sometimes runs ahead of whether or not it should do it. For instance, the Manhattan Project to build the atomic bomb: J. Robert Oppenheimer really regretted being the father of the atomic bomb later. 

I don’t think cloning would destroy the world, but Never Let Me Go raises one of the biggest objections, which is that human beings are generally not kind to people they consider inferior. I could imagine that there would be serious concerns about how we treat cloned people. The characters in the book so far seem mostly resigned to their fate as donors, but they were raised that way with no other options. Unlike in the novel, I think that it is more likely scientists would work to clone individual organs rather than whole human beings – in terms of organ donation, that seems like a much better option. 

Cold Moment Down Under

My cold moment was when I lived in Australia. One morning we went out to the local bagel shop to go get breakfast, and everyone in the shop was wearing Orthodox Jewish clothing. That’s when it hit me that that was the only area where I had seen any Jewish people in Australia outside of my family. I found out that Jews in Australia all lived in the same neighborhood and went to Jewish schools. All the bagel stores were on one street in that part of the city. It made me realize that being Jewish in Australia meant something different than it does in the U.S., where it isn’t really a big deal.