3 Marta

The real revolution in the world of cloning is not about clones.

It’s about what madę cloning possible in the first place. Something called nuclear transfer. It’s about the whole brave new universe of genetic engineering, and cloning is just the tip of the iceberg.

A clone is essentially a delayed identical twin. But with the same technology adding genetic enhancements to a celi and growing it into an embiyo you might engineer your unborn child to be resistant to AIDS, heart disease, or cancer. Or lilce select breeds of tomatoes, to grow smali and plump, or large and glossy. And, as we continue to unravel the secrets of the human genome, limitless possibilities will fan open before us. The problem, according to Lee Silver, a molecular biologist and author of Remaking Eden: “This engineering will be used only by

people who can afford it... it could produce two different species. Every scientist Tve talked to believes this will happen.” Welcome to the ethical dilemmas of the 21st century. From President Clinton’s cali for a ban on human cloning to Chicago physicist Richard G. Seed’s plan to open a cloning clinic, the fun has just begun.

The eminent Lewis Thomas, once wrote that he couldnT envision a clone “as anything but an absolute, desolate orphan.” Scientist Richard Dawkins said: “Wouldn’t you love to be cloned?

I would, out of pure curiosity.” But who gets the option? Polio vaccine was available to everyone, genetic vaccines are prohibitively expensive. “We could perfect cloning for humans in about five years,” says Silver, “and as soon as this happens, the technology for genetic engineering will be available.” He believes it can’t be stopped: “Even if it is madę illegal, someone will go to a clinic in the Caribbean.”