On Cloning and Public Misinformation
Continuing my talk from earlier this afternoon, another topic on which I am often asked questions is cloning. (Why a chemist should be expected to know anything about cloning in the first place brings up another area about the public's misinformation about scientists in general.)
I have been asked the following questions or heard the following statements:
- Do clones have souls?
- What if someone were to clone Hitler?
- Cloning is playing God. Humans should not play God.
Let's cover the 1st two questions now:
- Do clones have souls? In reply, I ask this, "Does one's identical twin have a soul? And do they have the same soul as their identical twin? Obviously, the answers are yes and no, respectively. There is nothing terribly exciting or mysterious about clones. They are just as human as anyone else because they have the same exact DNA that all of us have. It's not like they are made from alien body stuffs. They come out of a womb just like the rest of us. And here is something quite often overlooked: a clone is less identical to his or her clone than an identical twin is to his or her twin. Twins share all the same DNA, excepting modifications and/or mutations occurring in the womb; clones, unless they have the same mother's egg cells, do not share the same mitochondrial DNA. (Most DNA is in the nucleus of a cell -- nuclear DNA, actually (oh no! "nuclear") -- but a small portion is in these tiny parts of a cell called mitochondria. Our mitochondria all come from our mother's egg cells, not from sperm cells.) This question is silly, and it makes me sad that the public is so misinformed as to even ask it. In vitro babies have always had souls as far as I know....
- Similarly, the same issues apply here. Unless one has to worry about his or her identical twin being just the same as him or her, there is little to worry about. First, one could never clone Hitler exactly, because, as I have just mentioned above, one would need Hitler's mother. As far as I know, Hitler's mum is quite dead -- unless there is some Neonazi conspiracy that has stored her body in cryogenics all this time. I'm somewhat doubtful of that. Second, I think it would be quite difficult to exactly replicate the in utero conditions that he experienced. Interestingly enough, many of the factors that make us who we are take place in the womb. A simple change in hormones in the mother or surrogate mother can have drastic affects on the developing fetus and become a part of the person who is later born. Third, I find it equally doubtful that one could exactly duplicate the conditions of Hitler's entire life. For we are more than just the "sum of our genes". So much of who we are is based on education, environment, and... memories. Therefore, even if a soul is really just a figment of our imaginations and is entirely a part of our physical body, Hitler's clone could never have the same -- or even anything close to it -- soul as Hitler did. So what would there be to be afraid of? What about Einstein? What if we cloned him? Would he be a genius? I doubt it. Sure, I think he would likely have a high IQ, so by that definition sure. But he would be so drastically different than Einstein, to expect him to come up with new physics theories would be unfair and cruel to the poor person. Yes, clones are people too.
For the reply to the final statement, I shall hold off until another time.
I should point out that I am not in favor of cloning. But I think it ludicrous that people should be afraid of clones themselves. If human cloning is wrong, it would be for other reasons, not because "We've created a monster!" One such reason is that, as I just hinted above, it would be highly unfair to the poor kids who were born clones if everyone expected them to be just like their clones. If baby Einstein clone was forced by his "parents" to study physics when all he really wanted to do was be a fireman, that would be a problem. Another problem -- and again, one for the clone him- or herself -- is that there may be unforeseen health risks to the clone.
But I would be proceeding into another topic; for now, I only really wanted to talk about another public fear that stems from a lack of information.