There have been a variety of scientific breakthroughs throughout the last century. Some of these include prosthetics, vaccinations and antibiotics, just to name a few. Cloning just happens to be one of those "modern" scientific advances in our society, but at what price?

There are different types of cloning and in the news media, they mostly refer to reproductive cloning which is defined as "producing the genetic twin of another organism." People can develop a better stance once they have the basic understanding of the controversial issue.

The first mammal that was ever cloned was a sheep named Dolly who was created in 1996 by scientists. She was created by the DNA of another adult sheep who had actually died prior to Dolly's production. Most Dorset sheep live to be about 12 years old. However, Dolly suffered from a progressive lung disease transmitted by another infected sheep she was housed with, along with horrible arthritis, and had to be put down with a lethal injection at age 6 in 2003, cutting her life expectancy in half.

Although Dolly the sheep is just one example of animal cloning, there is another situation that has been reported recently of bringing back the woolly mammoth. Japanese scientists are eager to make another scientific breakthrough by being the first to bring back the woolly mammoth from frozen mammoth cells within the next five years.

Huh?

Why in the world would we need to see a woolly mammoth walking around, but more importantly, what the heck are scientists going to do with it once it is cloned into existence? That is, if they even get that far. Many tests were done in the 1990s to try bringing back the woolly mammoth, and all their attempts failed.

Scientific research on cloning animals can have a harmful effect on the rest of society because it all leads to that infamous slippery slope. First, they created Dolly the sheep, then they want to clone Fido the dog, then they want to clone Freddy the human.

The procedure for human cloning is referred to in the scientific/medical world as "therapeutic cloning," which is the process of cloning embryos. The human embryo is harvested from the mother and cloning takes place in the laboratory, which leads to the obvious question: Who volunteers their embryos for this? Is it done through the use of aborted cells or is there a black market for the embryos themselves?

And do not discount the advent of abortion and contraception because it gave us a different view on life itself, something not valued anymore, just something to be used. Those procedures have paved the way for things like stem-cell research and cloning.

Science is using the body as a commodity, placing the economical value on life as its primary end. This has dehumanized the human being.

When you make a copy of something such as an important document or photograph, the original is the only one of true value. There are not many copies of famous paintings or historical documents in the museums we visit today. So is also true of the human being. The original is the only one with intrinsic value.

No one can deny that this is also true about the very world in which we live. It is the differences in life that are the most beautiful and powerful whether it is in nature, the animal kingdom or even people. I mean, how would the world look if everyone owned a Chihuahua? Or how about if all you saw for flowers were daffodils? What if your whole community looked like you?

There are uniqueness and originality in everything we see, including people. Cloning is nothing but sameness.

One doesn't even have to believe in God to realize that this is all true.