Exploring the Complexities of Bioethical Discourse

Primate Cloning in the Press

Abstract

Among bioethical themes at the centre of public debate, one of the most sensitive is cloning, which has been controversial since its official appearance on the scene in the 1990s. The debate on the practice and its possible future application to humans has never ceased since Dolly the sheep was first born in 1996. It gathered new momentum when in late January 2018 Chinese researchers announced that they had successfully cloned two macaque monkeys applying a perfected version of the technique originally used to create Dolly. A barrier had been broken, and inevitably a whole series of ethical concerns were raised.
This article looks at the coverage of the 2018 monkey cloning success in the daily press worldwide, and at the discursive procedures used to illustrate its significance, including the popularisation strategies deployed. The focus of the analysis is on ethical implications, with special regard to animal testing ethics and to the possible extension of the technique to humans.