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Modern Biotechnology And Diginity Of Human Life; An Ethical Analysis
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CHAPTER ONE
1.1. GENERAL INTRODUCTION
With the Becconian dictum ‘knowledge is powerâ€, scientist have gone the extra mile on how to improve the environmental condition and then revamp the quality of human life. Now, we witness a great and extraordinary progress in Bio-technological sciences and medicine. This great advancement in medicine and biotechnological sciences has given human beings new pattern of life. However, these efforts of the scientists and biotechnologists have paved ways for extension of scientific researches on the human person. Thus, the great question is: Are these scientific and biotechnological discoveries a blessing or a curse to humanity?
Now, we can talk of manipulations on human genetic constitution. Modern biotechnologists and scientists have changed the status quo inbiology and medicine. Presently in Biotechnological sciences, we hear of microsurgery on a two weeks embryo. A stem cell from a human embryo can now be made to turn into a heart, kidney or any major organ cells and replace any damaged cell of the human body, thereby, providing opportunity for manufacturing human spare parts. Scientists claim to produce human embryo through various means like natural reproduction, asexual reproduction, and parthenogenesis. Through these means, they have thrown the entire humanity and the scientific community into confusion as when human life begins.
However, among all these, the most prominent discoveries include the prodigious changes in genetic engineering, like human foetal experimentations, eugenics, sterilization, in vitro fertilization, abortion, surrogate motherhood, and cloning. In addition, human modifications, such as plastic surgery, sex change, and the preservation and commercialization of human organs and embryos are all strange scientific possibilities. All these are topics in bioethical debates and controversies in biotechnological sciences and medicine. Such issues like the foregoing raised ethical and moral questions. When does human life begin? What is the status of the human embryo? Is human embryo a human person? Does human embryo have legal and moral right? All these are basic ethical question raised by the activities of these scientists and biotechnologists on the human person. Sequel to this, many groups developed positions to defend the human life and thereby restore the human dignity.
In this work, I specifically choose to explore the issue of human cloning. In fact, the central question is: “Should humans be cloned?†Moreover, scientists and biotechnologist have deviced artificial methods of creating human beings. This touches the beginnings of human life, together with the quality of life and end of the human life. The point is that human cloning involves intentional creation and destruction of human being in the name of saving the life of others. Is killing a person’s life to save another’s morally good? That is a basic ethical issue. According to Pope John Paul 11 “what is technically possible is not always morally admissible†Hence, in his address to the International Congress on the Transplants on 2000-AUS-29, he comments, “Medical…methods that fail to respect the dignity and value of the person must always be avoided.â€
As part of the introduction, this chapter includes the setting of the whole work in its methodological framework. Let us consider these frameworks.
CHAPTER ONE -- [Total Page(s) 3]
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