The Economist

About the author: The Economist is a weekly magazine published in Britain.

Calls to ban human cloning are based on unsubstantiated fears that cloning technology will be used for evil purposes. Technology is never bad in and of itself; it is the purposes for which it is used that can be malevolent. Though cloning research does present some dangers, it also has many potential benefits and should not be banned simply out of fear of its possible misuse.

Dolly is a lamb. As the first mammal to have been successfully "cloned" from the cells of an adult, she is the talk of the world. But what strange talk it has been. Bill Clinton declares himself troubled, and demands a report within 90 days. France's farm minister foresees hideous barnyard monstrosities: chickens...