With over 100,000 people on the organ transplantation lists in the United States alone, many people need a new organ in order to have a fresh start at life. Some organs can come from live donations, such as a kidney, but others require a tragic death to occur. By evaluating the pros and cons of organ cloning, we may be able to find a solution to this problem.
What Are the Pros of Organ Cloning?
1. It would come from the individual’s own cells.
In theory, if an organ were cloned from a person’s own cells, then there would be a much greater chance for acceptance of the transplant. This would reduce care costs, medication expenses, and the amount of down time a transplant recipient would face over their lifetime.
2. The procedure wouldn’t require as much waiting.
Even for a live transplant option, a direct match must be located and this takes time. For an organ like a heart, people literally have to wait for someone to die to get the organ that is needed. Organ cloning would cut the wait times to a fraction of what they are right now.
3. It would prolong life.
Imagine if an organ that was failing could be transplanted by an exact duplicate? It could extend human life even further than the rates that we are seeing today.
What Are the Cons of Organ Cloning?
1. Cloned cells are often less stable than regular cells.
Cloning typically takes current cell data and replicates it, but also creates a new cell in the process. This creates a certain level of instability in the cell because the materials of the cell are new, but the “data” in the cell is old.
2. Any genetic issues would be duplicated.
If someone is struggling with a genetic heart problem, cloning the organ would also clone the problem. This means it wouldn’t be an effective treatment option.
3. There are ethical concerns that must be addressed.
Is cloning an organ humanity’s way of playing God? Or is it showing that we are practicing “dominion” over science? This debate would need to head toward a resolution as technology advances.
Organ cloning looks to be the future of medical science. By evaluating these pros and cons, we can all find the right path to travel in this field.
Crystal Lombardo is a contributing editor for Vision Launch. Crystal is a seasoned writer and researcher with over 10 years of experience. She has been an editor of three popular blogs that each have had over 500,000 monthly readers.
