t has been only four decades since James D. Watson and Francis H. Crick made one of the most profound discoveries ever, the double helix structure of DNA. Today we know, human DNA is made of up twenty-three pairs of chromosomes and is found in all cells of the human body. Human genes are short segments of DNA that determine human traits, ranging from sex to eye color (Toward 1995.) To a large extent, DNA predetermines what diseases we will get, what our IQ will be and how we will function etc. According to Time magazines DNA is a complex structure that has 100,000 genes and 3 billion chemical codes (Isaacson 42) which encrypt the very basis of our biological unit. DNA is the true thumb imprint which makes each individual unique, and the entire controversy surrounding genetic engineering revolves around the idea of destroying the human by changing this code. Genetic engineering today has already helped many infertile patients to have children by a technique called in-vitro fertilization (Toward E01.)
In October 1993, the Doctor Jerry L. Hall, a geneticist, at George Washington to University Medical Center cloned a human embryo. This set off an ethical debate. Ethicists asked why the cloning was done, and who will set the guidelines for this practice in the future. There are those who believe that this issue is about individual autonomy. They believe that this is not society's business and no one should be allowed to interfere with a person's personal privacy and that nothing can be more personal then genetic material that makes us who we are (Kolata A1.)
According to Richard A. McCormick, S.J., who teaches theology at the University of Notre Dame, "one's approach to cloning will vary according to the range of issues one wants to consider." For example, he says some people look at it from the point of view of helping infertile couples to have offspring and they say that this is not wrong because geneticists ...