Cloning in Brave New World
It has been said that Muhammad is the "Seal of the Prophets," meaning that he was the last. However, our world has recently been graced by another prophet in Aldous Huxley. Huxley's prophetic vision is unmistakable in his science-fiction novel, Brave New World, in which he delivers a valuable message: control advancements in technology before they control us. Huxley supports this message with a strong example of a society that is so overrun by technology that the human race has lost their individuality, freedom, and ultimately their identity as human beings. In this "Brave New World," artificially-born humans are genetically engineered, divided into castes, molded into machines through hypnopaedia, and controlled by the drug Soma. The new world appears to be a perfect utopia on the surface--there is no disease, no warfare, and no sadness. However, the humans have sacrificed thought, feelings, free will, and everything which makes one human to achieve this state. Through Brave New World, Huxley teaches us that these sacrifices are far too great and will eventually occur if humans continue to misuse technology in the future. Huxley's warning in Brave New World carries so much weight because of the truthful predictions he includes
As of now, a human has not been cloned. However, scientists state that cloning a human is entirely possible. There are two ways to clone a human. The first method consists of splitting and embryo into several halves. This in turn will create several sets of identical twins, or clones. The second method is more complicated, utilizing somatic cell nuclear transfer technology. Basically, it consists of taking cells from an already existing human being and cloning them by taking the nucleus of a cell, with the DNA, and injecting it into an egg or ovum whose nucleus has been removed. Therefore the resulting embryo will posses every characteristic of the person whose cell was used as the substitute, creating an exact duplicate.7 Despite the multitude of ethical, religious, and moral concerns cloning receives, there can be some benefits through its use. One positive use for cloning would be as a treatment for infertility. When parents are infertile, in-vitro fertilization may not always be available, so cloning would allow them to have a child. Also, parents with genetic diseases, such as sickle cell anemia or Down syndrome, will be ensured that their offspring will not possess these sicknesses. Another possible use would be to clone humans and store their organs as extras, so when someone needs a new kidney he or she will have a backup.11 The most frightening aspect of Huxley's prediction of cloning is that it is coming true in our lives today. The cloning era began in 1952, when the first animal was cloned by Robert Briggs and Thomas King. These scientists duplicated simple tadpoles from tadpole cells.5 This event sparked a series of discoveries and a movement of cloning research, and soon more and more complex species were being reproduced. Just recently a sheep was cloned by Scottish scientist Ian Wilmut and his colleagues at the Roslin Institute on July 5, 1996.6 This event awakened the world at the possibilities of cloning, and that cloning humans was just a step away. Despite these useful possibilities, cloning can easily be detrimental to mankind. This is shown through the image in "Brave New World." As stated before, whether or not the government puts firm regulations on cloning will determine what path humans go down. If humans allow cloning to freely occur, we will further travel down the path Huxley warns us of taking. Having a baby will soon lose its meaning, and in turn life
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Approximate Word count = 1623
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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