Deck 10: Cloning and Genetic Enhancement

Question 1

What is the main difference between a cloned (SCNT) individual and an individual who is a product of normal sexual reproduction?

A) The SCNT individual has genetic material primarily from one person instead of two.
B) The SCNT individual has genetic material primarily from two people instead of one.
C) The SCNT individual has no genetic material.
D) There is no significant difference.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

An oocyte is

A) an unfertilized egg.
B) the nucleus that is implanted into the ovum during SCNT.
C) the nucleus that removed from the ovum during SCNT.
D) an undifferentiated stem cell that can be used in treating various medical conditions.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

In therapeutic cloning, the goal is to

A) produce and raise a child.
B) go down a slippery slope.
C) treat disease.
D) none of the above

Answer 3

C

Question 4

In reproductive cloning, the cloned individual will have nearly the same genetic makeup as

A) the female who carries the zygote to term.
B) the individual who donates the nucleus.
C) the female who donates the egg.
D) none of the above

Question 5

What does SCNT stand for, as used in the discussion on cloning?

A) skin cell nuclear transfer
B) stem cell nuclear transmission
C) somatic cell nuclear transfer
D) none of the above

Question 6

Which of the following is not an objection that Kass makes against cloning?

A) It constitutes unethical experimentation.
B) It threatens identity and individuality.
C) It will produce harmful biological mutations as clones produce further clones.
D) It perverts our values concerning parenthood and the raising of children.

Question 7

According to Kass, one problem with cloning is that

A) cloned individuals are likely to experience psychological and social identity problems.
B) cloned individuals cannot be created quickly enough.
C) there are no problems with cloning.
D) none of the above

Question 8

Kass worries that cloned individuals:

A) will be seen as curiosities.
B) will be scrutinized in relation to the person they are clones of.
C) both of the above
D) none of the above

Question 9

According to Kass the fact that people (like him) feel repugnance at the thought of human reproductive cloning

A) shows conclusively that reproductive cloning is always wrong.
B) shows conclusively that reproductive cloning is sometimes wrong.
C) has nothing to do with the morality of cloning.
D) is a sign that something is wrong with reproductive cloning.

Question 10

Which of the following is a premise of Kass's despotism argument?

A) Cloning is inherently morally wrong.
B) In reproductive cloning, one seeks to impose one's will on a child's future.
C) The permissibility of cloning depends on the parent's intent to raise the child.
D) We have a good reason not to clone.

Question 11

What is Pence's main objective in his article "Will Cloning Harm People?"

A) to use consequentialist arguments to show that cloning is immoral
B) to object to consequentialist arguments against cloning
C) to use Kant's humanity formulation to show that cloning is immoral
D) to use Kant's humanity formulation to show that cloning is morally acceptable

Question 12

Pence compares six different cases of reproduction, from natural twinning to SCNT. What conclusion does he draw from this comparison?

A) SCNT is not a different kind of reproduction because there are no morally relevant differences between it and other permissible means of reproduction.
B) Because there is a low risk of harm for natural twinning, there will be a low risk of harm for SCNT.
C) both A and B
D) neither A nor B

Question 13

What assumption does Pence think people who object to SCNT make when they say that SCNT is not best for the child?

A) The parents have good motives.
B) We can't tell what the motives of the parents are.
C) The parents have bad motives.
D) none of the above

Question 14

Which of the following is not an objection Pence gives to the argument that SCNT is not best for the child?

A) The argument assumes genetic determinism or genetic reductionism.
B) The expectations people will place on SCNT individuals could be no worse than normal expectations of children created sexually.
C) People's prejudicial attitudes are likely to change.
D) If people's prejudicial attitudes do not change, then we should not allow SCNT.

Question 15

What does Pence think is an appropriate standard for the safety of SCNT before it should be allowed?

A) There should be no standards for safety.
B) SCNT should not be allowed unless a healthy baby could be guaranteed.
C) SCNT should be allowed when it falls within the range of risks that is accepted by ordinary people in sexual reproduction.
D) none of the above

Question 16

Sandel believes that the use of genetic enhancement is inherently wrong because

A) its use would be unsafe.
B) its use would be unfair.
C) both of the above
D) none of the above

Question 17

Suppose two athletes, A and B, are equally skilled. Suppose also that A naturally inherited certain traits from her father that made playing the sport easier for her, and thus she didn't have to train as hard as B. According to the ethic of willfulness,

A) A is a better athlete.
B) B is a better athlete.
C) B doesn't count as an athlete because training precludes athleticism.
D) A and B are equally good athletes.

Question 18

According to Sandel, eugenics and genetic enhancement can be seen to be wrong from a secular perspective because they would produce unwelcome changes in

A) humility
B) responsibility
C) solidarity
D) all of the above

Question 19

According to Sandel, eugenics and genetic enhancement can be seen to be wrong from a religious perspective because

A) their use would lead to atheism or agnosticism.
B) in using them, we would confuse our role in creation with God's role.
C) the Bible explicitly opposes all forms of technological enhancement.
D) all of the above

Question 20

Sandel's case against moral engineering can best be considered

A) a Kantian approach.
B) an application of the ethics of prima facie duty.
C) a virtue ethics approach.
D) a natural law theory approach.

Question 21

Frances Kamm discusses the case of a scientist who works on finding a cure for congenital blindness and is motivated only by a bad desire for mastery to suggest that

A) sometimes an action can be permissible even if it is motivated by a bad desire.
B) all actions motived by bad desires are impermissible.
C) the desire for mastery is not, as Sandel argues, a bad desire.
D) sometimes the only way to cure a disease is through selfish desires.

Question 22

Kamm claims that Sandel's moral distinction between treatment and enhancement assumes that

A) nature in itself has no moral value.
B) nature is sacred and should be honored.
C) human beings want enhancement more than they want treatment.
D) there is no moral difference between treatment and enhancement.

Question 23

In response to Sandel's argument about the relationship between genetic enhancement and parent-child relationships, Kamm argues that

A) genetic transformation will actually strengthen the bond between parent and child.
B) children are too young to understand the implications of genetic enhancement.
C) Sandel's reasoning does not rule out the use of moderate, worthwhile genetic transformation.
D) the use of training and appliances as a way of transforming gifts is not, as Sandel argues, morally permissible.

Question 24

In response to Sandel's "social justice" argument, Kamm argues that

A) even if we were able to enhance ourselves or others, we would not thereby be obligated to do so.
B) there is a difference between (i) choosing that one have a certain trait and (ii) being responsible for bearing the costs of that choice.
C) having the option to enhance will lead to fewer instances of people who require the assistance of others.
D) all of the above

Question 25

One of the premises of the "lack of imagination" argument that Kamm discusses is that

A) genetic enhancement is always morally permissible.
B) nature ought to be honored over personal choice.
C) most people's conception of the varieties of goods is limited.
D) we ought to always leave the development of valuable traits up to chance.

Question 26

Which of the following is a "positional good," according to Peter Singer's definition?

A) being at least six feet tall (in a population where this is above average)
B) having an IQ of at least 150 (in a population where this is the average)
C) being at least six feet tall (in a population where this is the average)
D) all of the above

Question 27

Of the following social problems that could result from a genetic supermarket, which does Singer think is the least serious?

A) loss of human diversity
B) the effects of engineering children to have positional goods
C) loss of equality of opportunity
D) increased disparity between the rich and the poor

Question 28

Which of the following is an intrinsic good, according to Singer?

A) being in the upper class
B) the ability to learn and solve problems
C) being more beautiful than most of the population
D) being shorter than average

Question 29

The crucial difference between sexual and asexual reproduction is that only the former requires sexual intercourse.

Question 30

SCNT individuals are offspring produced by reproductive cloning.

Question 31

Genetic enhancement requires asexual reproduction.

Question 32

The first "test tube" baby was born in 1978 using in vitro fertilization.

Question 33

Kass's only argument against cloning is that it will lead to a dystopian world much like the one described in Brave New World.

Question 34

According to Kass, determining whether human cloning is feasible would itself require unethical experimentation.

Question 35

Kass claims that almost everybody thinks about cloning from the point of view of the cloned child, rather than from the point of view of adults choosing to clone.

Question 36

Pence argues that reproductive cloning will have better consequences than other forms of reproduction and is thus permissible on consequentialist grounds.

Question 37

According to Pence, there is a risk of SCNT babies turning out abnormal.

Question 38

Pence argues that human cloning through SCNT, given its current level of safety, is morally permissible.

Question 39

According to Sandel, the ethics of effort is superior to the ethics of giftedness.

Question 40

Sandel claims that if genetic enhancement in sports is morally objectionable, it must be for reasons other than fairness.

Question 41

Sandel argues that cloning is wrong because it violates the autonomy of the cloned individual.

Question 42

Frances Kamm agrees with Sandel's claim that actions motivated by bad desires are always wrong.

Question 43

In response to Sandel's "enhancement versus treatment" argument, Kamm claims that nature can fail to be good and the good can fail to be natural.

Question 44

Kamm maintains that if an individual is designed in detail by other persons, then that individual is still entitled to respect.

Question 45

Kamm discusses the case of someone who is careless with his hairdryer to illustrate the point that we are not always responsible for bearing the costs of our mistakes.

Question 46

Peter Singer argues that genetic supermarket is "bad for the kids" because it will inevitably ruin their life prospects.

Question 47

According to Singer, preventing the possible social harms of the genetic supermarket will require addressing very difficult fundamental value questions.

Question 48

Singer claims that the only way genetic enhancement would lead to a better and more compassionate society is through coercion.

Question 49

_________ cloning is cloning whose main purpose is to produce an individual member of a species.

Question 50

_________ fertilization is the process through which a sperm fertilizes an egg outside a woman's body and is later implanted in a woman's uterus.

Question 51

_________ is the project of "improving" humanity by bringing about genetic changes in future generations.

Question 52

A(n) _________ cell is a cell found throughout the body that is significant because of its capability of developing into any kind of cell or tissue in the body.

Question 53

Kass claims that in some cases _________ is "the emotional expression of deep wisdom, beyond reason's power to completely articulate it."

Question 54

Kass argues that cloning is wrong because it is inherently _________, "for it seeks to make one's children after one's own image . . . and their future according to one's will."

Question 55

In Kass's view, cloning "turns procreation into _________" because "the total genetic blueprint of the cloned individual is selected and determined by the human artisans."

Question 56

According to Pence, embryos cannot be harmed or benefitted because they are not _________.

Question 57

In responding to the objection that choosing a child's genotype will tell us how the new child will live, Pence argues that this sort of reasoning is based on a false view of genetic _________.

Question 58

The objection that choosing a child's genotype will tell us how that child will live is what Pence calls "the argument for a(n) _________ future."

Question 59

Sandel argues, "The real problem with genetically altered athletes is that they corrupt athletic competition as a human activity that honors the cultivation and display of natural _________."

Question 60

Sandel claims, "To appreciate children as _________ is to accept them as they come, not as objects of our design or products of our will or instruments of our ambition."

Question 61

In Sandel's view, "striving is not the point of sports; _________ is."

Question 62

Frances Kamm objects to Sandel's argument that the desire for _________ is a bad disposition and that genetic enhancement is wrong because it expresses this disposition.

Question 63

Kamm contrasts Sandel's view about "balancing" acceptance and transformative love and a view he calls _________, according to which the goal of enhancement is not perfection but mastery as a means to getting sufficient goods.

Question 64

Kamm distinguishes ex _________ and ex post "designing," where the former is a matter of choosing traits for a child that does not yet exist.

Question 65

After rejecting the claim that the genetic supermarket harms the individuals who use the market or are created by it, Peter Singer moves on to focus on the _________ harms of the market.

Question 66

One of the most serious consequences of the genetic supermarket, according to Singer, is possible negative effects of engineering children to have _________ goods, such as being tall.

Question 67

Singer raises several concerns that the genetic supermarket could reduce equality of _________.

Question 68

he focuses on the social harms of genetic enhancement, Singer can be thought of as applying the ethical theory known as _________.