The Historical Development of Cloning Technology and the Role of Regulation in Ensuring Responsible Applications

Abstract

Recent developments in biotechnology have led to significant advances in the ability to clone mammals. Although the state of scientific understanding has not reached the point where the cloning of a human being from a fully differentiated adult cell is possible, multiple groups have either made the attempt or asserted that they have broken this biological barrier. At this point, for reasons of safety and efficacy, these attempts must be strictly regulated, and even banned. An examination of the historical development of this technology reveals why cloning techniques were able to advance to such a refined state before being regulated and how regulatory mechanisms have addressed recent attempts to apply cloning techniques to human genetic material. For the time being, these stop-gap measures may be sufficient, but will be unlikely to provide a permanent solution in the longer term. When the technology progresses to the point where human cloning is reasonably safe, regulation will need to speak to underlying substantive questions involving our conceptions of sentience and life.