________________
THEORY OF MATTEREALS AND JAIN PHILOSOPHY / 103
it is an independent individual having its own personality, adaptability, and mental capability.
◆ Advantages
The process of cloning has a by product in the form of farming human body organs in a laboratory. Renewing the body's organs would potentially increase the life expectancy of a human by 50 years. Cloning of extinct and endangered species is another possibility. Even a live Dianaussour can be a distant reality.
♦ Disadvantages
Human cloning is amongst the most controversial forms of this practice. There have been numerous demands for all progress in the human cloning field to be halted. One of the most ethically questionable problems with human cloning is farming of organs from clones. For example, many believe it to be unethical to use a human clone to save the life of another. In this scenario, the cloned human would be euthanized so that the vital organs could be harvested.
Various religious, social and political leaders are opposing this practice on serious ethical grounds. A group of medical scientists is also objecting on the grounds that the cloned individual may be biologically damaged, due to the inherent unreliability of its origin: researchers currently are unable to safely and reliably clone even non-human primates.
Conclusion
This brings us back to the fundamental meaning of soul (atma-tatva). Our entire discussion was bifurcated in two parts - acquisition of body and presence of intelligent consciousness. The process of birth may vary from plant to plant, fish to fish and animal to animal (including mammals), but every life form has one thing in common - the fundamental intelligence to self-sustain and perpetuate. This intelligence, as per the Jain belief, is soul.
Jain Education International
For Personal & Private Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
