The Impact of Cloning on Humans:
     There are several major changes that our society would undergo if a human was successfully cloned.  Some of the major ones are blatantly apparent.  It would be difficult to ascertain what makes a family is human clones began to populate the Earth.  Do children need parents for moral, spiritual, and mental growth?  Would knowing one is a clone impact one's life in a negative or positive way?  Could fathers be mothers?  Could people begin to share genetic information; could clones be made half of one individual and half of another?  What would all of this mean in terms of the family dynamic?  Each of these is a major concern for the scientists hoping to further the notion of human cloning.  Any unanswered question might be enough to postpone scientific testing (10, picture is reference 11).
   

Another frequently debated impact of human cloning is the issue virtual or designer children and the possibility that scientists, or people in general, would begin to view clones as simply genetic makeup and inhuman.  It is foreseeable that with the birth of human cloning , people would begin choosing choosing their children/clones based on their genetic makeup (27).  One can only imagine the types of problems this type of family planning could create.  Is it fair to choose what characteristics a baby will develop?  Is it possible that children could become accessories like designer purses or jewelry?  Since so many implications could stem from choosing a child's genetic material that it is difficult to predict all of the potential outcomes (10).

A similar impacting characteristic of human cloning is the act of playing God or going against one's religious belief system to participate in human cloning.  The major religious arguments in opposition of human cloning are that we must not act as God, we must preserve the sanctity of life, protect human nature, and ensure the option of Heaven.  It is argued that perhaps there is something inherently sinful about being a clone, which might damn an individual from eternal life with God.  Several religious organizations have spoken out against human cloning, such as the Pope and hundreds of theologians worldwide (12).  Other perceived impacts include questions of belonging and identity for the human and the possibility that sex could suffer as a result of reproduction without the act of intercourse (10).

The Impact of Cloning on Animals:

One of the biggest concerns in this type of cloning are animal rights.  Do we, as humans, have the responsibility to preserve life in animals?  Should we subject animals to harm in the name of science?  Can we subject animals to inhumane conditions in order to further the ideals of cloning?  Is the death of many animals justified by the successful cloning of a few? Unanswerable questions continue when examining the many undesirable aspects of cloning on animals (18). 

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) began testing over a decade ago to create "superpigs, that carry the human growth gene, as well as giant sheep" (18 pg 102).  With only limited success (just one out in every 200 potential embryos survives), the scientists found that the newborn pigs suffered from blindness, pneumonia, and arthritis.  These type of detrimental side effects cause animal rights activists to protest this type of cloning or gene treatments.  Without limitations in animal testing, it has been predicted that we might soon see "the development of cattle weighing over 10,000 pounds and pigs that are twelve feet long and five feet high" (18 pg. 104).  This could potentially lead to the overproduction of some types of food or products (18).

Animal cloning is not known to be extremely successful.  "With the simplest technique for adding genes to embryos, the success rate is 50 percent at best, and this is accompanied by a 5 percent risk of inducing disease-causing mutations in the animal that is born" (10 pg. 129).  We must ask ourselves if this type of cloning is worth the risks it creates for animals.