The actual process of cloning is nothing new. It began in the 1970s with the cloning of frogs. Scientists have cloned plants and animals for years since then. Recently, there have been continuing controversies regarding the process of human cloning, and whether or not our society has a use for it. On July 5,1996, scientist Ian Wilmut (after 277 attempts), created first born cloned mammal which was a healthy lamb by the name of "Dolly". A process called somatic nuclear cell transfer accomplished this task. For example, a cell is first taken from a donor female, then an unfertilized egg is taken from a second female, DNA from the cell is removed and transferred to the egg which is implanted into a surrogate mother, and finally the resulting baby is genetically identical to the original donor(The Human Cloning Process). Since this extraordinarily scientific breakthrough occurred there have been many reactions. March of 1997, President Clinton issued a moratorium banning the use of federal funds for human cloning for the following five years, giving the National Bioethics Board significant time to assess the risks of cloning and study ethical and social impacts. September of that same year, 64,000 biologists and physicians signed a voluntary 5-year moratorium on human cloning. January 1998, nineteen European nations sign a ban, and the FDA announces its authority to regulate human cloning (The Human Cloning Process). The controversy is still ongoing, but has made some progress within the recent years.
People who are against human cloning state many logical concerns of its effectiveness and need in our society. The fear of the unknown takes a toll on the human psyche particularly on this issue. Lewis Thomas (1913-1993), a physician and scientist, states that his reasons for opposing human cloning is because "there is no end to protocol", meaning that in order to truly clone someone you would have to clone the people in their lives that had any affect on them as well which would be an endless task (Thomas 784).
