Random thoughts on cloning
Jun. 11th, 2002 10:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
magidYesterday on NPR there was a discussion about the ethics of human cloning. One of the guests said how there could be difficulties in even the most innocuous sorts of cloning situations, such as an infertile couple cloning one of the parents to have a kid. The commentator went on to talk about family dynamics issues with a kid being almost exactly like one parent (improper desires, etc).
But would the kid really be that identical? Identical twins are very similar, but can have differences, and they become greater over time. So a parent and a kid would not necessarily scream out "exactly the same genetic material" as opposed to "oh, she looks like her mother/father." Plus there's the whole "nurture" part of the equation, which would be different than the parent's, from the conditions of the womb and onward after being born.
If there's no way to distinguish clones from non-clones visually, would other identification-based systems arise, or would it be a non-issue for (most) people?
Is some of the intuitive bias against cloning that many people have an issue with hubris, that certain (rich) people would have a chance to "do it over" in some form or another? Is having a clone of you born more a path to immortality than having a normally-conceived kid with half your genes born?
The cloning talked about in the news is genetic cloning, but the kind I think about automatically is more the still-in-realm-of-total-SF kind of Xeroxing a person so there are 2 copies where there were one, both fully grown (if the original was).
If a couple that cloned the mother to have a kid got a divorce, could the father claim he doesn't owe child support b/c the kid isn't biologically "his"? What if the split happens while the mother is still pregnant? If a couple divorces where the kid is a clone of the dad, would the dad have preference in custody arrangements?
(Note: mom & dad are used as default settings for couples/adults forming a family. I assume similar issues could arise in families with non-traditional composition, but I think that would just muddy the waters for these thoughts...)
But would the kid really be that identical? Identical twins are very similar, but can have differences, and they become greater over time. So a parent and a kid would not necessarily scream out "exactly the same genetic material" as opposed to "oh, she looks like her mother/father." Plus there's the whole "nurture" part of the equation, which would be different than the parent's, from the conditions of the womb and onward after being born.
If there's no way to distinguish clones from non-clones visually, would other identification-based systems arise, or would it be a non-issue for (most) people?
Is some of the intuitive bias against cloning that many people have an issue with hubris, that certain (rich) people would have a chance to "do it over" in some form or another? Is having a clone of you born more a path to immortality than having a normally-conceived kid with half your genes born?
The cloning talked about in the news is genetic cloning, but the kind I think about automatically is more the still-in-realm-of-total-SF kind of Xeroxing a person so there are 2 copies where there were one, both fully grown (if the original was).
If a couple that cloned the mother to have a kid got a divorce, could the father claim he doesn't owe child support b/c the kid isn't biologically "his"? What if the split happens while the mother is still pregnant? If a couple divorces where the kid is a clone of the dad, would the dad have preference in custody arrangements?
(Note: mom & dad are used as default settings for couples/adults forming a family. I assume similar issues could arise in families with non-traditional composition, but I think that would just muddy the waters for these thoughts...)
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Re: not identical
Date: 2002-06-11 08:25 am (UTC)I agree. I was thinking of the people who would try to duck what others might see as their responsibilities, rather than the (majority of) parents who would fit into your description.
I haven't heard of _Creator_; a movie would be fun- choose a time. (I hear you're booked until September.... :-)
I think your last paragraph was what I was trying to get at, in far too many words... Thanks.