What was once confined to science-fiction is now an awe-inspiring reality as the world is left to grapple with the implications surrounding the successful cloning of sheep announced earlier this week.
While scientists worldwide have hailed the possible benefits and decried the potential abuses of genetic cloning, researchers concur that further scientific and ethical investigation into cloning is necessary before drawing any conclusions.
David Kurnit, University professor of human genetics and pediatrics, said he is enthusiastic about the future applications of cloning and acknowledged that ethical issues are commonly raised with the progress of science.
"I think it should be looked at optimistically as a significant step forward," Kurnit said. "Certainly there are ethical issues that have to be handled, but that's true for any major scientific advance."
The Scottish researchers who performed the cloning used a DNA blueprint from an adult sheep and implanted it into the unfertilized egg of a female sheep, similar to in-vitro fertilization. While this type of cloning has been successful with frogs and smaller animals, the rapid jump to cloning a larger animal raises the issue of cloning humans.
George Brewer, a University human genetics and internal medicine professor, said that cloning tests should be restricted to animals.
"I believe that as far as animals are concerned, that this really doesn't pose any kind of threat or problem," Brewer said. "But when you get into the human area, there is a genuine alarm and concern that this should not occur, and I share this view."
Shortly after the announcement of the cloning, President Clinton requested that a federal bioethics commission study the legal and ethical implications of the cloning. Former University President Harold Shapiro will head the commission.
Brewer said he does not expect the University to begin actively researching cloning technologies.
"I don't think it will have large implications in the near future, but the group has improved the technology and I'm sure that this technology will be taken advantage of," Brewer said. "I think the short term impact is in the ethical issues. I think these discussions will go forth."
As is often the case in today's society, scientific advancement has spurred subsequent legal regulation. There are currently no laws in the books banning cloning.
But Law Prof. Rebecca Eisenberg, who anticipates legislation to prohibit the cloning of humans, said she isn't worried about abuses of the technology occurring anytime soon.
"I don't know of any laws that it violates," Eisenberg said. "This is an astonishing achievement, but there is still a lot more to be learned before we would really be at risk of this technology running amok."
While the practical benefits of cloning, such as using plants and animals to produce enhanced food and drugs, don't commonly raise ethical debates, the potential cloning of human beings calls into question the sanctity of life.
But University philosophy Prof. David Velleman said that cloning technology isn't different from the concept of identical twins.
"As far as I know, it has no implications for the existence of a soul any more than the existence of identical twins has," Velleman said. "Those who believe in souls have no trouble in believing that identical twins have different souls."
Velleman said that even if humans were cloned, the process wouldn't necessarily create an exact copy of an individual because environmental factors must be considered in forming character traits.
"People are mistaken if they think that cloning will enable them to create carbon copies of themselves," Velleman said. "It will only enable them to create other people with carbon copies of their genes."
While legislation will likely be formulated soon to prevent possible abuses of cloning, long-term ramifications of the technology remain pure speculation at this point. Kurin said no one can accurately predict the path of scientific advances.
"We always try to predict the road ahead, but you can't predict the way things will go," Kurin said. "That's part of being human."
"I don't think we can control all of the things that will happen."
JONATHAN SUMMER/Daily
Tressia Hutchinson, a technician in Jeffrey Chamberlain's lab in the University's Buhl building, examines a mouse that is part of a recombinant DNA experiment.