Faust and Prometheus: notes for an ethics of human cloning Authors Francisco Montero Delgado Hospital Universitari Vall d’Hebron, Laboratoris Clínics HUVH Keywords: ethics of cloning, ontological status of the embryo, reproductive ethics committees, ectogenesis, surrogate motherhood. Abstract Both therapeutic and reproductive cloning raise a polarized debate among citizens and the scientific community. We have to stress the idea that cloning produces a copy of a gene, not a photocopy, since a copy of a person is not the same human being. Nor can we clone the desire for freedom or the personal conscience built with untransferable intimate experiences, creating different identities as a result. The myths of Faust and Prometheus are becoming a reality and this causes a vertigo of existential magnitudes never observed before in human beings. In spite of the prohibition and given the irremediable fact of reproductive cloning, we should begin to formulate standards to be able to take morally defensible decisions about this new and inevitable scientific possibility. We humans have always intervened in nature with our tools and technologies, with our techné. We have also invented conceptual or intellectual tools. The creation of binding committees on reproductive ethics could represent a powerful deliberative and regulating tool in the approach to cloning, analyzing every application with rigor and on a case-by-case basis in order to use ethics in the service of genetics. The real fear that certain narcissistic personalities may misuse cloning to flatter their sick egocentric personalities or to wield power over others must be present in the decision-making process. Likewise, another important problem is that human cloning alters the basic relationship between the cloned person and his or her genetic ancestor (father or mother). This leaves lots of questions unanswered and it challenges the traditional models of parenthood: What does it mean to be a father? What is a family? What is the purpose of having children?Keywords: ethics of cloning, ontological status of the embryo, reproductive ethics committees, ectogenesis, surrogate motherhood. Downloads Download data is not yet available. Author Biography Francisco Montero Delgado, Hospital Universitari Vall d’Hebron, Laboratoris Clínics HUVH Downloads PDF (Català) Issue Vol. 67 (2016) Section Destacats de recerca License The intellectual property of the articles belongs to the respective authors. At the time of submitting the articles to Treballs de la Societat Catalana de Biologia, authors accept the following terms: — Authors assign to the SCB (a subsidiary of the Institut d’Estudis Catalans) the rights of reproduction, public communication (including communication through social networks) and distribution of the articles submitted for publication to Treballs de la Societat Catalana de Biologia, in any form and medium, including digital platforms. The Publications Committee reserves the right to accept or refuse submitted articles and the right to make any editorial changes it deems appropriate. If the suggested changes are accepted by authors, they should re-submit the article with such changes. — Authors answer to the SCB for the authorship and originality of submitted articles. In other words, authors assure that submitted articles do not contain fragments of works by other authors or fragments of their own previously published works; that the content of articles is original, and that the copyright of third parties is not infringed upon. Authors accept this responsibility and undertake to hold harmless the SCB for any loss or damage resulting from non-compliance with this obligation. Furthermore, they should include a statement in articles submitted to the journal regarding their responsibility for the content of the articles. — Authors are responsible for obtaining permission for the reproduction of all graphic material included in articles, and they should moreover ensure that images, videos, etc., have been created with the consent of the individuals appearing in them, and that material belonging to third parties is clearly identified and acknowledged as such within the text. Likewise, authors should provide the respective consents and authorisations to the SCB when submitting articles. — The SCB is exempt from any liability arising from the possible infringement of intellectual property rights by authors. In all cases, it undertakes to publish corrections, clarifications, retractions and apologies, if necessary. — Unless otherwise stated in the text or in the graphic material, the contents published in the journal are subject to an Attribution - NonCommercial - NoDerivs 3.0 Spain (by-nc-nd) license from Creative Commons, the full text of which may be consulted at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/es/deed.en. Therefore, the general public is authorised to reproduce, distribute and communicate articles as long as their authorship and publishing entity are acknowledged, and no commercial use is made of them nor derivative work produced from them. — The journal is not responsible for the ideas and opinions expressed by the authors of published articles.
