A Chinese company known as the Boyalife Group has announced it will begin cloning cows later in the year. Will the organization that is responsible for creating the biggest cloning factory in the world, start making human replicas? It believes it has the technology to do so but public disapproval is stopping the company from taking the giant leap in human cloning.

In an article about ‘enhanced humans’, Futurism informs that the Boyalife Group is currently constructing a huge cloning factory in Tianjin, China (1). Production in the cloning plant is expected to start in the forthcoming months with the cloning of cows. The company aims to clone one million cows every year by 2020.

Cloning activities in the huge plant will not be confined to cows alone. According to Boyalife Group’s chief executive Xu Xiaochun, the company also intends to clone dogs and thoroughbred racehorses.

Boyalife has also announced it is working alongside the Chinese Academy of Sciences, as well as a partner in South Korea, to improve their cloning activities and capacity.

In relation to human cloning, Xu Xiaochun said:

“The technology is already there. If this is allowed, I don’t think there are other companies better than Boyalife that make better technology.”

Ethics of Human Cloning

The ethics involving human cloning have certainly been questioned by various people. For example, Patrick Dixon, Futurist keynote speaker, notes the arguments against human cloning.

Abnormal babies being produced through human cloning is one of the ‘non-ethical health risks from the mutation of genes highlighted by Dixon, who poses the question – if the many attempts to clone animals produce disfigured monsters with severe abnormalities, why would the cloning of humans be any different?

Then there are the emotional risks, as a child grows up unable to establish his or her identity.

Dixon also cites the non-ethical risk of abuse of the technology, raising the concern about powerful leaders getting their hands on cloning technology to abuse it for their own purposes.

Public opinion surrounding human cloning is not entirely negative. The medical capability this technology will offer is, by some, viewed as a positive in future medicine. As one reader wrote in response to the Daily Mail’s article on the Chinese cloning factory:

“I think from a medical standpoint, being able to clone a healthy organ to save a life would bring about an incredible change of times.”