A little more - and human cloning will become an everyday reality. But for some reason, this frontier taken by science does not cause delight in people.
From the very beginning, sensational publications influenced the attitude to the problem of the birth of a human clone, and literary reminiscences also supported the negative emotional reaction. Scientists once rode this path to their fullest. Clones in cheap comics look like soulless, repeated over and over zombies, used by the forces of evil for the most dirty deeds.
He's a twin, but much younger
In fact, the clone was not afraid from the pocketbook and not a monstrous zombie, ready to destroy an already on the brink of civilization. It is simply another person's identical twin, delayed in time. And various monsters like Frankenstein or evil counterparts who sublimated in themselves the black component of the original (according to Stephen King's ideas) have nothing to do with it.
Human clones will be ordinary human beings, borne by an ordinary woman, they will be born in the prescribed nine months and will be raised in a family like any other children.
It will take them 18 years to reach adulthood. Consequently, the twin clone will be several decades younger than its original, so there is no danger that it will become a competitor to the donor, and there should be no envy in the relationship between the copy and the original: different generations.
Just like identical twins, the clone and the DNA donor will have different fingerprints. The clone will not be able to inherit any of the memories of the original, so multiple personality and mental disabilities will also remain the prerogative of creepy films.
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A clone is not a photocopy or double of a person, but simply a younger identical twin. He will have all the legal rights and obligations like any other citizen. No one will be able to create a clone slave or a secret assistant killer.
Of course, human cloning will be done on a voluntary basis. The donor, from whose cell it is supposed to create a new person, must give his consent to this. And the woman will carry a twin clone and then raise this child absolutely voluntarily. Any other scenario, violent or criminal, is unthinkable.
Since cloning requires a woman to carry a child, there is no danger of villainous scientists creating thousands of clones in secret laboratories. Cloning will only be done upon request and with the participation of ordinary people as an additional alternative for reproduction.
This will give families the opportunity to conceive and raise children - twins of outstanding personalities, and childless couples will be able to acquire the desired child. And the way they want. Identical to a beautiful neighbor, or a charming TV presenter, or a deputy of the Legislative Assembly, or Anzhelichka Varum, of course, with the consent of the cloned original.
A scientist is growing up in the family
Outstanding people are of special value for the nation and state. In many ways, both cultural and financial. This means that repeating them at a different level cannot but improve the general state of affairs in the country. And it will be, moreover, a subject of special pride and joy for many.
For example, actors like Alexander Abdulov and Oleg Yankovsky, beloved by all women in Russia (and the CIS, too) (you can add a few dozen, if not hundreds of names to all intermediate letters of the alphabet in the list) have become very old. The emergence of a young counterpart would be greeted with delight. Our idols gave birth to a lot of children, but nature really decided to rest on most of them. So we have the dominance in show business and on TV of worthless creatures with loud names and trails of alcove scandals.
The clone would be just as gifted as its prototype. He might not have become a film actor or singer, but his inherited talents would certainly have been put to use.
The same reasoning applies to sports stars. For example, Kafelnikov will win back, and an equally gifted little boy is already growing up to replace him. And he also plays tennis …
Why not clone prominent intellectuals? We recently buried Dmitry Likhachev, and read with bitterness in the newspapers: "The conscience of the nation is dead." And if there were a clone, maybe we had at least a little conscience, but there would be …
And of course, all scientists who made significant discoveries should be cloned. Moreover, the clone will certainly be persuaded to work in the same industry. Then one would break through his discovery, overcome the bastions of officials and retrogrades from science, and the other, without wasting time on organizational procedures, developed the idea to unthinkable heights.
Would be a good man
Cloning mere mortals is also quite reasonable. After all, we often talk about someone: "There would be more people like that!.."
For example, old uncle Petya is a wonderful person who is treated with love and respect in society and in the family. His niece and her husband decide that they would like to have a child, the same, cheerful and good-natured, with the same blue eyes and a round bald spot … Uncle, of course, is flattered and will allow himself to be reproduced.
And in order not to be born in the country a huge number of "Nanais" or "Ivanushki", you can take a few simple points in the law. For example, that a clone must be born in a complete family and with the consent of both spouses. And the one who gives his gene has certain guardian duties. The price of such reproduction will also serve as a limitation: it will be rather big.
Similar, but not one hundred percent
Like identical twins, outwardly the clone almost completely repeats the original, has practically the same height and physique. For famous supermodels and movie stars, this can be very important. Identical twins have a 70 percent correlation in intelligence and a 50 percent correlation in character traits. This means that if you clone an outstanding scientist, then his twin clone may actually be even smarter! And if the clone of Natalia Fateeva has a slightly different character, does it matter?
Of course, no one can yet say with certainty what percentage of the twins of outstanding people will make an equally significant contribution to science. However, if we do not engage in cloning, we will never know. If it turns out that clones of outstanding people do not live up to the reputation of their predecessors, then the incentive for cloning the luminaries of science will weaken.
I do not know, but I condemn
Reproduction of this kind is considered by many to be unnatural and disgusting. It seems that creating another person with the same genetic code would violate his human dignity and uniqueness.
But today at least 150 million people already live in the world, whose genetic code is not unique. What, are the current twins and triplets disgusting? On the contrary, everyone finds them adorable.
Natural identical twins are born on average once every 80 births. And they are much more alike than clones, since natural twins are exactly the same age, while the clone and donor will have a significant age difference.
Do twins violate human dignity? Of course not. Moreover, the clone is likely to think of itself as extraordinary, especially if it is the twin of an extraordinary personality. Children born in this way will have the advantage of knowing from the very beginning of life what they have the ability to do. So where is the problem?
Monsters are born in a different test tube
Those who believe that cloning can lead to the creation of human monsters or freaks simply confuse it with genetic engineering. When cloned, DNA is simply copied, and the result is an exact twin of the existing individual. This genetic engineering implies the modification of human DNA, as a result of which a mutant can appear - a creature that is unlike anyone else. Which, presumably, could lead to the creation of very unusual people, even monsters.
There is, of course, the possibility that unprincipled dictators such as Fidel Castro or Saddam Hussein may try to perpetuate their power by creating a clone and handing over power to it when they die. There is also the possibility that such people might try to create a super-army of thousands of Arnold Schwarzenegger clones. But evil in this case does not come from the achievements of science, but from totalitarian regimes. The ideal solution would be a worldwide ban on dictators, but alas, this is unlikely.
Clone rights and responsibilities
And laws, of course, will be needed. Such that no side problems arise.
Human clones must officially have the same legal rights and responsibilities as any other human being. So that keeping your own clone in the cellar for spare parts in case of illness was impossible.
The currently living person should not be cloned without his written consent, it is his will to decide whether he will allow himself to be cloned after death.
Human clones should only be nurtured and born as an adult woman acting of her own free will. Growing a human fetus outside a woman's body, for example, in laboratory apparatus, should be prohibited. And so far there is no technology for artificial cultivation of the fruit, however, Japanese researchers are working on this.
There is reason to believe that the predisposition to cruelty and murder is genetically predetermined. Therefore, the cloning of convicted killers should be prohibited. There are enough criminals in the world without their artificial creation.
The ban should undoubtedly be extended to well-known mass murderers of the past, such as Hitler, Lenin and Stalin.
The model contains any cell
Geneticists have already conducted a number of experiments with frozen cells. This means that there is no need for the DNA donor to be alive when cloning is performed. If a tissue sample is properly frozen, a person can be cloned long after they die.
Today's technology does not yet allow cloning of long-dead people whose tissue has not been frozen. However, it cannot be said that this will not be possible in the future. After all, all human tissues contain DNA and can potentially be a source for cloning. Even from those long gone from us, hair, bones, teeth could remain. DNA decays after death, but it does so slowly. Of course, after 60 million years, only short fragments of dinosaur DNA remain, and the chances of recreating Jurassic Park are slim. However, there is a good chance of DNA recovery from very ancient human tissue samples.
The majestic genius will rise
Hair samples of many famous people of the past have been preserved. The list of these people includes Isaac Newton, George Washington, Napoleon, Beethoven, and Elvis Presley. Until now, curls were just extravagant rarities. Now they are gaining much more importance.
It is possible that great people can be cloned from samples of their tissues or bones. Albert Einstein's brain is stored in a special vessel. The location of the bones of many other famous people is known, such as Alexander Pushkin, Leo Tolstoy, Abraham Lincoln, Leonardo da Vinci …
And what prospects open up in case of the possibility of cloning outstanding people of the past! Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, Andrei Sakharov - imagine the potential for scientific progress, if scientists of this magnitude could be born and trained in the 21st century! Of course, there is no guarantee that their twins will definitely want to study physics. Instead, in their new life, they may find some other field of science more interesting, such as the creation of artificial intelligence or genetic engineering.
Pharaoh twice born
And the DNA of Egyptian mummies is generally intact. Perhaps the ancient Egyptians were very prudent in saving their dead bodies. The mummy of Ramses II, mentioned in the Old Testament, has been preserved in excellent condition. And this means that any modern Egyptian woman can give birth to the twin of the great pharaoh. Does it thrill you to see the living embodiment of Ramses II and hear the voice that spoke to Moses more than three thousand years ago?
V. Bogomolova