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Human Cloning and Human Rights: Promises and Perils

Rudolf Jaenisch Stephen P. Marks: October 18, 2004; Running Time: 1:28:43

About the Lecture

About the Lecture

Ignore the noisy debate around cloning, Rudolf Jaenisch quietly insists, and instead look closely at the biology involved. First, note that there are two different kinds of cloning: reproductive cloning, the attempt to create an exact replica of a human being, which Jaenisch believes to be both biologically flawed and morally questionable; and therapeutic cloning, which offers potential cures to some of mankind’s most devastating diseases, and from Jaenisch’s point of view, sidesteps ethical pitfalls. Both involve transferring the genetic material from a somatic cell (from the skin, for instance) into an individual egg cell. The fertilized cell gives rise to embryonic stem cells, which have the near miraculous capacity to differentiate into every kind of tissue found in the body. Jaenisch says human embryonic stem cell research could help reveal the mechanisms behind biological growth, and enable a customized approach to treating such diseases as diabetes and Parkinson’s. Once scientists create these ES cells, they can grow them in vitro.

Ethical problems emerge, Jaenisch believes, when a cloned embryo is implanted in a uterus with the intent of creating a full-term clone, or with the intent of harvesting stem cells from an aborted fetus. These involve the “destruction of potential life.” The creation of cloned ES cells for research purposes, however, is the “propagation of existing life,” says Jaenisch.

Stephen Marks delineates the various human rights arguments around cloning: Are we at risk “of turning people into products?” Can “we pursue genetic health and enhancements” while maintaining the individual’s dignity? He describes the U.S. administration’s current opposition to any form of cloning and in particular, its attempt to throttle international treaties that might eventually permit therapeutic cloning.

Lecture Details

Location: E25-111

About the Speakers

Rudolf Jaenisch

Professor of Biology, MIT Founding Member, Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research

Jaenisch is one of the founders of transgenic science (gene transfer to create mouse models of human disease). His lab has produced mouse models leading to new understanding of cancers and various neurological diseases.

He received his doctorate in medicine from the University of Munich in 1967. He came to the Whitehead from the University of Hamburg in Germany, where he was head of the Department of Tumor Virology at the Heinrich Pette Institute.

Jaenisch received the 2002 Robert Koch Prize for Excellence in Scientific Achievement. In 2003, he was awarded the Charles Rodolphe Brupbacher Prize for basic research in oncology and was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences.

Jaenisch is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Academy of Microbiology, and a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Stephen P. Marks

François-Xavier Bagnoud Professor of Health and Human Rights Department of Population and International Health
Harvard School of Public Health

Stephen Marks' current interests include integrating human rights into sustainable human development. He has been a consultant to the United Nations Development Program on this topic and is principal investigator for a major grant by the Government of the Netherlands on the right to development. Another current research interest is international efforts to limit human genetic manipulation, focusing on human reproductive cloning and germline gene therapy. This study explores the human rights implications of these techniques and the assumptions of opposing attitudes on this question. Among his many degrees, he holds a Doctor of Laws (Docteur d’Etat en droit), with high honors, Institute of the Law of Peace and Development, Faculty of Law and Economics, University of Nice, 1979; an advanced degree (Diplôme d’études appliqués avancées, DEAA) in administrative litigation and human rights, Faculty of Law, Economics and Political Science of the University of Besançon, 1977; and a Certificate of European Studies, Institute of Advanced European Studies of the University of Legal, Political and Social Sciences of Strasbourg, 1972.

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