Fritz Allhoff
American Journal of Bioethics 4.2 (2004): W29-W31
Publication year: 2004

Fritz Allhoff, “Telomeres and the Ethics of Human Cloning”, American Journal of Bioethics 4.2 (2004): W29-W31. Direct reply in Jesse Steinberg, “Response to Fritz Allhoff, ‘Telomeres and the Ethics of Human Cloning’”, American Journal of Bioethics 5.1 (2005): W27-W28.

Abstract: In search of a potential problem with cloning, I investigate the phenomenon of telomere shortening which is caused by cell replication; clones created from somatic cells will have shortened telomeres and therefore reach a state of senescence more rapidly. While genetic intervention might fix this problem at some point in the future, I ask whether, absent technological advances, this biological phenomenon undermines the moral permissibility of cloning.