Re: Ban on Human Cloning

Zeb Haradon (zharadon@inconnect.com)
Fri, 19 Nov 1999 20:02:24 -0800

>A reasonable prioritization based on the relative impacts of
>the solutions would be:
> a) solve the organ supply problem
> b) reduce the "cost" of the organs (grow them faster/cheaper)
> c) minimize the rejection problems (make them look like the recipient)
>
>I'm not convinced that "cloning" technologies make any significant
>contribution in these areas.
>
>Robert
>

Sorry for not being clear before by what I meant about the connection between stem cells and cloning - my point was that if you create a zygote cloned from yourself, and do the neccessary biotech procedures to keep the zygote from becomming a person (i.e. keep it as a mass of stem cells), then grow organs from these stem cells, the organs will be a perfect match to the person who gave the cell sample. This would solve issue c) completely. I believe what mis-led you was my use of the word 'clone' - I define it as creating a zygote which is a genetic match to some living or dead person - not neccessarily letting the zygote grow to maturity. I'd like to add:
d) Legalize organ selling and trading, with strict controls in place to prevent the theft of organs from living people. There are many people who would be willing to sell a kidney. Many more who would be willing to take a cash reward today in exchange for their organs after death. Competition among organ agencies would solve most of the supply problems. An eBay-like organ website would be ideal.



Zeb Haradon
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