An ethical examination of the public response to nonhuman mammalian cloning

Abstract

In this essay I respond to the general public debate that we have seen so far concerning the prospect of cloning nonhuman mammals by Nuclear Somatic Transfer, or NST. In this process, the genetic material from an adult, differentiated cell is transferred to an enucleated oocyte. The resulting cell is then induced to develop so that the new individual is genetically identical to the individual from whom the somatic cell was taken, except for the presence of foreign mitochondrial DNA from the oocyte and possible mutations in the donor cell. The elements of the public debate to which I attend are twofold. First, I examine the apparent belief of most people that the cloning of nonhuman mammals i..