2012 National DNA Day Online Chatroom Transcript

This is just one question from an archive of the National DNA Day Moderated Chat held in April 2012. The NHGRI Director and many genomics experts from across NHGRI took questions from students, teachers and the general public on topics ranging from basic genomic research, to the genetic basis of disease, to ethical questions about genetic privacy.

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How do you feel about cloning? when do you think it should be put to use? or are there too many unethical issues that scratch the surface?
     Phyllis Frosst, Ph.D.: I am the the Senior Advisor for Policy, Communications and Strategic Alliances at the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) part of the NIH. I focus on a range of therapeutic and translational policy efforts for the center and educate a range of audiences on the center?s activities and opportunities. I think it depends what you mean by "cloning". Recombinant DNA technology, used in just about every molecular biology lab in the world, and is pretty much free of ethical conundrums. If you're thinking of Human cloning, then I think that these are issues which we need to discuss as a society, before we make any rules or laws. So much good has come from science which careful consideration of limits allowed to move forward.
South High Community School in MA (11th grade student)

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