The journey that human cloning has taken has been characterized by dramatic ups and downs, heated arguments, and confusion about the path ahead. When researchers witnessed the birth of the first cloned mammal, they were ecstatic, but this high ended with the tragic premature death of this sheep, Dolly, due to anomalies (Jaenisch 2004: 2787). The initial success and progress in this field made scientists want to do further research into this technology, which would eventually lead to working with human embryos. This work grew to a high enough profile to be addressed by former President George W. Bush, who decided to remove all funding for human cloning. This cut included both therapeutic cloning that worked with embryos not intended to be implanted for a future live birth, and reproductive cloning that produced embryos designed for this purpose. The president's decision sparked controversy, but was then carried forward by current president Barack Obama. Confusion over the ethics of cloning human cells centers on a lack of understanding of the technology itself and the consequences of its widespread use. Although there are many arguments in favor of this technology, the changes it would bring to society and culture, the reasons for not implementing this technology and the dramatic issues that human cloning itself brings demonstrate that the cloning of human beings it shouldn't happen. Although predictions about the future are fundamentally wrong, one can see the general direction that human cloning would take in the society and culture of the world. At the individual level, cloning would produce one individual genetically related to another much closer than natural reproduction ever could. A co......middle of paper......if can be easily avoided by simply stopping the current use and future development of cloning in humans (Bowring 2003: 401).Works CitedBottum, J. " Against Human Cloning." Human Life Review 27.2 (2001): 121. MasterFILE Premier. Network. December 9, 2013.Bowring, Finn. “Therapeutic and Reproductive Cloning: A Critique.” Social Sciences and Medicine (1982) 58.2 (2004): 401-409. MEDLINE. Network. December 9, 2013.Jaenisch, Rudolf. "Human Cloning: The Science and Ethics of Nuclear Transplantation." N Engl J Med 351.27 (2004): 2787-91.Kass, Leon R, Life, liberty and defense of dignity. San Francisco: Encounter Books, 2002. Nelkin, Dorothy, “The Social Power of Genetic Information.” London: Harvard University Press, 1992.Williamson, Robert. “Human reproductive cloning is unethical because it undermines autonomy: Comment on Savulescu.” Journal of Medical Ethics 25.2 (1999): 96.