A Giant Step in Cloning

mernil writes "The Independent reports: "A technical breakthrough has enabled scientists to create for the first time dozens of cloned embryos from adult monkeys, raising the prospect of the same procedure being used to make cloned human embryos."

Comments

one problem

[ILuvRamen]

They still haven't solved the #1 problem with cloning though: why would I want another one of me? My exact genes aren't that great as is.

Re:one problem

[Paradise Pete]

But once you start talking about putting your brain in another body is a whole nother mess in itself because it trivializes the point of having a body in the first place.

Compared to your brain, which body it's in is a whole lot less important. Put your brain in a replacement body and it's still you, just with some weird body. But put a replacement brain in your body and you cease to be.

Re:one problem

[PrescriptionWarning]

I think there's some psychological condition that some major burn victims have when they have to have complete facial reconstructive surgery, even if their new face doesn't appear horrific, getting used to someone else staring you back in the face in the mirror might be quite a shock to someone. Now imagine its their entire body that has changed.

Re:one problem

[inviolet]

The problem here is clear. What if I need a brain because of a stroke, head trauma, or something?

The key here is clearly to keep the clone sedated, and do a nightly robocopy or rsync to keep it updated. Also, the clone should be stored offsite, probably in a fireproof vault.

Ah, but now you've got to answer the "transporter question": if you could duplicate yourself perfectly, would that duplicate be 'you'?

Certainly the duplicate would insist that it was indeed 'you', because it genuinely thinks that it is. But, if we destroyed your original body, would your consciousness resume in the duplicate? Or would this-instance-of-you end, and someone exactly like you take over?

There's no way ever to know the answer, yet it's a critical question when it comes to brain-duping. It's the secular version of the old religious question of what is contained in the spirit (and is thus eternal) versus what is contained in the brain (and is thus lost upon death).

Re:Hmmm.

[LiquidCoooled]

hint: an iceman clone created and grown today will know as much about life 5000 years ago as you or I.

However I do see us attempting to clone wooly mammoths and dodos and other extinct animals.

Re:Hmmm.

[hairykrishna]

Not that interesting - the humans 5000 years ago were basically identical to now. Only real differences are diet and lifestyle related

Re:Sometimes...

[rucs_hack]

I'm sure (or would like to believe) there was a spirited

If there was a spirit, then it would be logical to assume it is the result of sentience. That being so, any clone of a human would have one. Any idea to the contrary is little more than the standard religious doctrine of 'hate that which is different', achieved by the simple mechanism of asserting that the target of that hate does not posses something required for acceptance by the group doing the hating.

Did you know that the catholics debated for centuries whether black people had souls? And look how we treated them....

Re:hmmmm

[Thanshin]

Or a way of getting year embryos from adult years.

Brother-in-Law

[WED Fan]

It'd be interesting to add a few Einsteins to the world

The problem with clones is that to get an exact duplicate, they'd have to give them and exact life experience. Won't happen.

Clone Einstein, and you're most likely to get my brother-in-law. He is a genius. Smart. But the laziest son-of-a-bitch you are likely to meet. He was tested early, school came easy, everyone treated him like a prodigy. As a result, he coasted through life. Ended up NOT going to college and becoming a half-rate photographer. Without the formal higher education, he is still good. He can read science journals and expound upon the theory behind the articles and hold his own with some laser physicists I know. But, he lacks the drive and the imagination to really put that brain to work.

The Einstein that we had was a unique individual, the sum of all his experiences. Clone him now, give him an XBox 360 Mark V with Quantum Interface and he'll play Halo 10 all day long and never amount to anything.

Besides, cloning takes the fun out of reproduction. I heartily recommend it to those of you who haven't tried the real thing, yet.

Re:hmmmmm . . .

[EaglemanBSA]

It's a pun, supposed to sound like "obscene phone call"

Re:hmmmm

[krotkruton]

I would have gone with offtopic. The GP pointed out why the "sex slave" idea doesn't apply to this discussion since you'd still have to raise the clones. Had you replied to the GPP, then your comment would have made more sense as he was the one who made the joke about cloning his very own celebrity. But if that had been the case, the Troll mod would have made more sense since you were creating an argument out of a joke, and I doubt I'm the only one who's tired about people picking apart the ethics or factual details in jokes.

"An Internet troll... is someone who intentionally posts controversial or contrary messages... with the intention of baiting users into an argumentative response." (wikipedia). Hope that clears it up for ya.