My two Cents...

Sorry guys.... This started out as a response to a posting but since it got a little long I am psting it alone.

I am still wondering how the argument in favor of cloning is so easily passed. Who exactly is in the position to declare that they should be cloned? Who decides "I am of such great talent and genius there should be two of me!" Those in positions of great power and wealth right? Now then, what are the characteristics of those in such powerful positions? Overall as you look at the power players in the world's arena, are they compassionate, sincere humanitarians? Or are they business minded self-serving people who gain their status on the backs of others.
On the other hand, say we leave it up to the public to decide who should be cloned. Well how long before a minority "genius" is cloned? Hell it took 40+ years to get a biracial president.
It is up to the population to decide where their priorities lie. Does diversity and uniqueness tip the scale to one side more than scientific advancement and our own selfish need to hold on to something that is gone. For me it does. I wouldn't consider risking the vast pool of differences in cultures, ideas and the beauty found in the many people that make up the world for anything... even granting a infertile couple a child. Just not worth it.
Consider this, about 6 years ago farmers were given a new type of corn. This type of corn needed very little pesticide and yielded almost double the crop. Transgenic maize or biotech corn was sold by Monsanto whose corporate office is right here in St. Louis. Today this corn is found everywhere cereal, chips, corn syrup, taco shells etc. the list goes on and on. Its long term effects are unclear but ah well. Hopefully we won’t become allergic to it as doctors predict.
Then you have the farmers who choose to grow organic crops. No pesticides or growth enhancing chemicals are used for their corn. As long as the farmers have a choice on what to grow and the consumer has a choice in what they buy its all good right?
No, that has not been the case. Since corn is easily pollinated by the wind the spores are traveling… fast! Farmers once certified as organic who sold their harvest for $2.75 a lb are being stripped of their organic seal. There FDA comes around and tests to see if you are using biotech products. Organic farmers who never used those products are testing positive. The price of their corn drops to less than $1. Did you know there is a place in Mexico where every species of corn is kept? It is like the world’s insurance. If there is a flood or outbreak of some kind that kills your corn crop you go there to replenish it. Recently, they found the BT corn had infiltrated the crops. Changing the corn slowly but surely to all be the same. There is nothing anyone could do to stop it. Scientist made the choice. Are you making the connection here? Seriously.
Furthermore since the product is patented by Monsanto they know who it is sold to and when. You sign a contract stating you will not replant the seed next year. You must only buy from them and there is a termination gene that can be introduced that wipes out the entire crop for those who violate the contract.
If this sounds at all worrisome to you, you may want to think about human cloning a little more critically. It’s not science fiction people it’s science.