On Cloning

Cloning: few words have such potential to grip our imagination or grab headlines, because cloning is no longer the stuff of science fiction or Star Wars - it is here and it is now. Yet human cloning is currently banned throughout the world, and therapeutic cloning banned in many countries. In this highly controversial book, John Harris does a lot more than ask why we are so afraid of cloning. He presents a deft and informed defence of human cloning, carefully exposing the rhetorical and highly dubious arguments against it. He begins with a welcome introduction to what a human clone is, before tackling some of the most common and frequently bizarre criticisms of cloning: Is it really wicked? Can we regulate it? What about the welfare of cloned children? Does it turn human beings into commodities? Dismissing one by one some of the myths about human cloning, in particular that it is unnatural; unsafe; an assault on human dignity; that it will end the diversity of life and lead to a race of super-clones; he astutely argues that some of our most cherished values, such as the freedom to start a family and freedom from state control, actually support the case for human cloning.