The science of cloning: Medical and legal ramifications

Abstract

There are certain pivotal scientific events and discoveries that dramatically change our view of the world and notion of the possible. Cloning is one such event. Once it was thought to be science fiction, but with the announcement in February, 1997 of the birth of Dolly, the first sheep cloned from an adult somatic cell a new world of possibilities in research, health, and reproduction opened up. This expansion of possibilities brought with it a range of ethical, and legal implications, many of which had never before been addressed. This work is organized as follows. The science of cloning will be explained, along with the triumphs and failures it has encountered and the promise it holds. Thereafter the focus will be directed to the possibility of human cloning and its ethical and legal ramifications, as well as Judaism's approach.