Peddie School program focuses on cloning

A panel examines whether cloning holds promise or is a threat.

By: David Pescatore
   HIGHTSTOWN — Stem-cell research, human experimentation and the whims of God were just some of the topics of discussion at The Peddie School’s second annual current events program, "Cloning: Promise or Threat?"
   Peddie plans the event as a day away from regular study where students will have an opportunity to hear lectures and participate in open discussions about a topical issue. Last year’s program, which followed the same format, focused on terrorism.
   "(Cloning) is not just another technology. It touches the very essence of what we are," said Gina Kolata, science reporter for The New York Times. Ms. Kolata was one of nine experts, from various fields of study, invited to lead discussions during the event held April 8.
   Head of School John Green said that he chose the topic for several reasons.
   "With our campaign to construct a new, state-of-the-art science building well under way, it seemed appropriate to focus on a scientific topic. I chose cloning because … I sense this new, exciting, and controversial technology is likely to touch all of our lives in one way or another in the near future."
Dolly



   The day began with an introductory panel discussion made up of Ms. Kolata; Ida Chow, executive officer of the Society for Developmental Biology; and Dominic Sisti, a researcher at the University of Pennsylvania Center for Bioethics.
   Dr. Chow, who refers to herself and her twin sister as "natural clones," began by presenting a simplified explanation of cloning using the example of Dolly the sheep, the first mammal cloned from an adult cell. The 6-year-old Dolly was recently euthanized after developing a progressive lung disease.
   She explained that all of a body’s cells begin as generic stem cells, then they differentiate into specific cells such as heart cells, skin cells, etc.
   "Before Dolly, we believed that once cells differentiate, they can not go back to their original form. Dolly showed that they can," Dr. Chow said. "Different cells have all of the genes, but not all are activated."
   She then detailed the process that created Dolly.
   A donor egg was taken from a sheep. The DNA was removed from the egg and a cell from the mammary gland of another sheep was injected into it. The egg was then implanted back into the donor and Dolly was the result.
   But, it wasn’t quite that smooth and easy, Dr. Chow said.
   "There were 400 fusion attempts. Of those, 200 were transplanted into sheep and one live birth was produced."
   Dr. Chow said that cloning has a maximum success rate of about 5 percent. Unfortunately, of the "successes," many of the clones suffer from obesity, birth defects and early aging. Dolly’s disease is much more common in sheep several years older than Dolly.
   "Due to the risks involved, cloning of humans should not be done yet," she said.
   Although she spoke against human cloning, Dr. Chow said that the process has some practical uses, including cell-based therapy, drug toxicity testing and furthering the understanding of cell mechanics.
   Ms. Kolata further explained that Dolly so amazed people because they thought it was scientifically impossible to cause a cell to revert to its original form.
   "It turns out that an unfertilized egg knows how to do this," she said.
   "After we cloned Dolly, the next assumption was that we would clone humans.
   "Imagine how amazing it would be to make another Gina. I know where her talents lie. There would be no wasted time," Ms. Kolata said.
   She said that her son saw a downside from the perspective of the clone.
   "He told me to imagine looking up and knowing what you will look like when you get old."
Defining

‘personhood’



   Ms. Kolata said that cloning is such a hot topic because it collides "our hopes for technology with our fears of technology. People’s reactions go way beyond what science can actually do."
   Bioethicist Dominic Sisti said that there were several reasons why humans should not clone humans.
   "First is safety. It is not safe."
   He said that scientists should first perfect the cloning process on animals before attempting to replicate people, just like with any other drug or medical procedure.
   Second is the concept of what makes a person and how a clone should be treated.
   "I am a human being. But, what is that? Is it that I am alive? Is it a genetic being with cognition? Is it my relationships? All of the above?"
   He said that these questions must be answered before a human is cloned.
   The last element deals with our opinions of fetuses and stem cells.
   "If you think that an embryo is a ‘you,’ then you would be destroying a potential ‘you’ or ‘us.’ Some people think that it is just a mass of cells for us to use. If you believe that, then research is appropriate or even obligatory. It is similar to the abortion arguments. What are the metaphysics of personhood?"
   Lastly, he addressed the idea that a clone would be exactly like the original.
   "Clones are people, too. Dr. Chow’s twin is not exactly like her and a clone is really nothing more than a time-delay twin."
Should cloning

be legal?



   After the discussion, the students and experts separated into smaller groups for breakout sessions on cloning-related topics such as "Genetic Testing and You" and "Cloning in the Eyes of the Beholder."
   "Should Cloning be Legal? Who Decides?" was led by Rutgers philosophy professor Douglas Husak. Dr. Husak focuses on the philosophy of criminalization, or what should be illegal.
   "I am skeptical that punishment is a fair or effective way of solving social problems. In this society, we overuse the law. No one knows 5 percent of criminal law."
   Dr. Husak said that with more than two million people in jail, no democratic society punishes as much as we do.
   He said that the Senate could pass laws to punish whoever clones, but that it would probably not stop cloning.
   "Maybe nothing can stop cloning. You could go on a boat in international waters or to another country," Dr. Husak said.
   The allure of doing what authority says you can’t and performing the impossible are powerful motivators for researchers. Also, making it a crime to do research is entering a whole new area, Dr. Husak said.
   So why outlaw cloning?
   One student in the audience proposed a theory.
   "Laws prevent us from being responsible. It is the symbolic moral high ground," the student said.
   He concluded that banning research would allow the United States to distance itself from failures but share in the knowledge gained from research abroad.
   Currently, the House of Representatives has passed a bill banning cloning. The Senate is considering that bill and another that would allow stem cell research.
Does God approve?



   Rabbi Eric Wisnia, from Congregation Beth Chaim in Princeton Junction, attempted to answer the question, "Does God Approve of Cloning?"
   "God is the creator. God made me and everything else.
   "I have a brain. I have to assume that God wants me to have a brain.
   "I like to learn. The more I learn, the more I understand. The more I understand, the more I can manipulate and control. So, knowledge is a good thing."
   With that established, Rabbi Wisnia had to identify God’s plan and the hierarchy of existence.
   "It’s all about satisfying me and my needs," he said.
   "I like food. I don’t like disease.
   "Now, God made them, too, so I guess that they are supposed to exist. But, I have determined that I am more important. And, since they want to kill me, I will get them first."
   Now that the Rabbi had determined his place in the order and established the goodness of knowledge, the question was how to go about learning.
   "I could cut you up and look. But this would kill you, so this is bad. So every kind of knowledge is not good.
   "Human life is important and should be preserved."
   The limit to knowledge, Rabbi Wisnia concluded, comes when you hurt another.
   He said that according to Jewish tradition, a mass of cells is not a fetus until it is 40 days old. Up until that point it is just that, a mass of cells to be used as we see fit, including, he said, for stem-cell research.
   When extending the argument to cloning, he said that since cloning humans could not benefit the world, and since there was no shortage of people being produced the old-fashioned way, we shouldn’t do it, even if we could.
No answers



   After the presentations, Katy Kidell, a Peddie senior from Hamilton, said that she would be paying more attention to the issue as a result of the event.
   "I don’t really have an interest in cloning, but I am interested in stem cells."
   Jeeyoung Oh, a junior from Commack, N.Y., said that she wished there had been someone who was more in favor of cloning.
   "This was kind of biased," she said.
   "The topic was too broad, also. They should have focused on either stem cells or human beings."
   The debate wasn’t settled during the four-hour event, but that wasn’t really the point.
   The point, as Ms. Kolata summarized, was to get high-school kids "asking questions about who we want to be and where we want to go as humans."