Yet there are hardly any cred i ble sci en - tists who sup port hum an re pro duc

tive
clon - ing. This is be cause the proc ess is not only very ine f ic ient but also ent ails
cons ide ra ble risk. The ge netic re pro gram ming re quired of the adult nu cleus for
it to ini ti ate the form a tion of the em bryo is hardly ever as cor rect as that ob -
tained from nor mal re pro duc tive tis sue; so the cloned an i mals in vari ably have
some or ganic de fect. Cons eq uently there is a well-!us tif ied ef fec tive global
mor a to rium on hu man re pro- duc tive clon ing. The prom ise of adult nu clear
transf er lies else where in a pro cess called "ther a peu tic clo - n ing#. $f af ter nu
clear trans fer the de vel op ing em bry onic cells in stead of be ing im planted into
a womb are art if i cially cul tured in vi tro they give rise to a clone of em bryo nic
stem cells in stead of a foe tus. These cells can then be chemi c ally ind uced to
transf orm thems elves into vir tua lly any type of tiss ue cell which can be re in!ect
ed or transp lanted into the orig i nal do nor to cor rect var i ous de % cien cies in tis
sue func tion like di a be tes or &ar kin son#s dis ease. This tech nol ogy holds out
great hope for many inc ura ble cond i tions and also the prom - ise of more cost- ef
fec tive ther a pies. The moral ob !ec tions to ther a peu tic clon - ing are more fun
da ment al. $f hu man cells and em bryos are liv ing en ti ties can e' per im en ta -
tion with these be mora lly !ust if ied( )lso does not the comm erc ial i*a tion of
these tiss ues and proc esses vio l ate hum an dign ity( These ques - tions pro vide
us with an app ro pri ate point of de par ture for e' am in ing the +edantic view of
hu man life and bi o log i cal de vel op ment for it is this un der stand ing that will
help us for mu - late an an swer to these ques tions.
The,panishadic +iew of -ife and Transmigration )n un der stand ing of the +edantic
view of life is ess ent ial to an ap prec i at ion of its eth i - cal view point. Three ideas
are cru cial to this un der stand ing. one in di vid ual life as per- ceived by the
,panishads is only one com po -
nent in an in tric ately interl inked mass of Con - scious ness that is life; two our
pres ent e'i s - tence as liv ing sub !ects is only one of a se ries of transm ig rat ory
e'istences that we have been hav ing since time im mem o rial; three the e'- per ie
nci ng and transm ig rat ory sub! ect /!ivat- man0 is dis tinct from the physi cal body
de - rived from ge netic ma te rial con trib uted by par ents. ) de script ion of the
proc ess of transm i - grat ion is pro vided by the 1rihadaranyaka,pa- ni
shad.)charya 2hankara in trod uces the mat- ter in the foll owi ng words. "3ow the
quest ion is when the self loaded with knowl edge etc. is about to go to an other
body does it leave the old body and go to an other like a bird go ing to an other
tree( 4This is the 5aina view.6 7r is it car - ried by an other body serv ing as a ve hi
cle to the place where acc ord ing to its past work it is to be born( 4This is the view
of the devat8- v8dins.6 7r does it stay here while its or gans bec ome all-per vad
ing and func tion as such( 4This is the 2ankhya view.6 7r is it that so long as it rem
ains in the body its org ans are con- tracted to the body#s lim its but when it dies
they be come all-per vad ing9 like the light of a lamp when the /en clos ing0 !ar is
bro ken9 and con tract again when a new body is made( 4This is the +edantic
view. 6#: The +edantic view is sup ported by ,panishadic te'ts that e' pli - cate the
perv a sive na ture of the sense org ans /in their sub tle form0 /1rihad aran yaka
,pani- shad :.;.:<0 and their cont ract ion to /or iden ti - % ca tion with0 the lim its
of spe ci%c phys i cal bod ies. /$bid. :.<.==0 The same ,pa nishad %g - u ra tively il
lus trates the pro cess of trans mi gra- tion with the e' am ple of a mov ing leech.
"5ust as a leech mov ing on a blade of grass reaches its end takes hold of an other
supp ort and draws its elf to gether to wards it so does the self /!ivatman0 throw
this body aside > take hold of an other supp ort and draw it self to - gether to
wards it.# /$bid. ?.?.<0 This alt ern ate body how ever is not the gross body that the
!ivatman is %n ally des- tined to take up. $t is a subt le body pred om i -..:;