Campus News

Cloning humans presents ethical issues, says Bioscience Center director

Twenty years after scientists cloned the first mammal, a sheep named Dolly, U.S. News & World Report wrote an article about the state of cloning in the science world.

The article asked UGA researcher Steven Stice, a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar, about the ethical issues surrounding cloning and people’s fears about cloned human beings.

“Are there people out there hoping to clone humans? I hope not,” said Stice, director of UGA’s Regenerative Bioscience Center. “I don’t see any great value or reason for cloning humans. I’m against it from an ethical side. I don’t know of anyone doing it.”

Stice told U.S. News that cloning is useful in circumstances related to reproducing animals but should only used in a “limited scope.”

“I think cloning is safe,” he said. “It’s one of many reproductive tools that can be used by people trying to get better quality and safer meat and milk for more people.”