Philosophical Vegan Forum

For my English paper, i have to write a persuasive research paper (sounds like an oxymoron) on animal cloning being ethical.
I know little about this, except for that sheep from the 2000's
Could I
1) Get some links to articles on this topic
2) Your own personal opinions and what you know so i could think about what side im on
I dont really know how to feel about it. I mean if the animal feels ok.
But of course it would be used for eating most likely so i want to focus more on cloning like mamoths and such
I have to be on the pro-side so any pro info would be appreciated.
Thanks!

Unfortunately I'm not well-informed enough to present thorough explanations of why mammoths should or should not be cloned back into existence, but I am aware of some of the basic arguments:


Pros:

-Mammoths could be beneficial to arctic ecosystems

-Successful cloning of extinct species (in general) could be a good idea if the species in question could be beneficial to an ecosystem. How does this relate to cloning mammoths specifically? See next point.

-Mammoths have perhaps the most intact organic remains (from preserved corpses) of any extinct animal species (don't quote me on that; I'm not sure of this); so in order to improve cloning technology, mammoths would be an ideal species for research and testing.


Cons:

-Regarding to either mammoths or any cloned (formerly extinct) animals: how are these animals going to be used? Will they be purchased by zoos and circuses, and be forced to entertain humans, for the sake of profit (super-rare exclusive animals for public-viewing)? Will they end up on the plates of super-rich human @$$holes who want super-rare million-dollar steaks (with a glass of Martian water on the side)? Or will they be given protected land to roam free as wild animals; treated like many critically endangered species already are?

-Past attempts to produce clones have resulted in short-lived animals who develop health problems. Modern cloning technology falls far short of sci-fi-style "perfect cloning". Improving cloning technology to the point where clones are indistinguishable from naturally-bred animals (in the sense that they don't develop health-problems commonly associated with cloning) will likely involve a great deal of experimentation that results in a lot of animals suffering.


My own questions for any and all forum members: if cloning technology were perfected, which species would you like to see brought back? There are plenty of species who went extinct in recent decades/centuries, like the passenger pigeon, Tasmanian tiger, moa, elephant bird, etc.

I would love to see a moa up close (roaming free in New Zealand; not imprisoned in a zoo)! I love birds in general, especially big ones like emus, ostriches, and cassowaries!

Humans are a type of animal. Can you just advocate for human cloning, for highly intelligent people, to improve the world?
Animal cloning as research is an important step in the direction of human cloning.

Cloning technology is also very important to creating new man-made organisms. This would be particularly important for insects. Say, for example, to create insects that only eat weeds or more effectively eat pests through genetic modification.

Otherwise, you could make some vague argument about restoring extinct species, but that's usually an appeal to nature fallacy. I don't believe it's necessarily important to save or restore extinct species. I care about animals as sentient individuals, not so much about species. The idea that particular species are ever so important to the local ecology is usually greatly exaggerated.

ArmouredAbolitionist wrote:
I would love to see a moa up close (roaming free in New Zealand; not imprisoned in a zoo)! I love birds in general, especially big ones like emus, ostriches, and cassowaries!

Bless the Emu Wars