The Beginning of Bloggerton

I assume that the best way to start a blog is to blog about something. I haven't really prepared for this but I have been thinking about somethings. This is a paper (not a long one) that I wrote for my genetics class.

When people hear the word “clone” what are they picturing? Most likely, their image is heavily influenced by science-fiction movies about a race of human copies that do everything exactly the same. We are, in fact, surrounded by clones. Some of us are even related to clones! Monozygotic twins are 99.9% genetically and physically identical. But nobody who knows a pair of twins would ever say that they are the same person. It is the beauty and tragedy of life that our environment plays such a strong role in our development. Even genetically identical twins think differently, play differently, and fall in love with different types of people.
So if a cloned human being is as much of an individual as you or I, why do so many people and organizations continue to ban the practice of human cloning? In my research I have determined that the strongest arguments against cloning are very well founded. The risk of developmental problems and the inherent misery of living with debilitating disease of the clones are what drive educated opponents of cloning. That cloning is far from perfected is the strongest indicator that we are not ready to risk a human life in the name of scientific advancement. Some oppose cloning saying that it is playing God, and over-stepping our non-God boundaries. Some believe people should only be created by conception (sperm and egg) and that no other method is allowed.
Whatever the ethical debate determines over the next few decades, the fact remains that so few people would ever desire or have the money to clone themselves or have a clone of a family member that the slippery slope issues that arise in philosophical circles will not have enough fuel to be realized.

So what is the big deal with cloning? I could almost be okay with manufacturing anencephalic organ donors! The cloning thing is actually not as ethically interesting unless the technique is imperfect and results in disease and disability of the cloned individual. But it is tied to stem cell research which I am also a huge believer in.
In the end, I am proud of our species for even considering the ethics of our advancements. We are getting exponentially more knowledgeable about our bodies and our world. It would be a tragedy to step into the frontiers of scientific discovery without seriously considering not just whether we can, but whether we should. Something that our species will have to wrestle with, something that no other species on earth will have to wrestle with, is when we have the ability and technology to do something, we have to decide if we are ready to accept the consequences.