Academic

GREGG EASTERBROOK: Embrace Human Cloning. Human clones, it is widely assumed, would be monstrous?

By Glenn Reynolds

GREGG EASTERBROOK: Embrace Human Cloning.

Human clones, it is widely assumed, would be monstrous perversions of nature. Yet chances are, you already know one. Indeed, you may know several and even have dated a clone. They walk among us in the form of identical twins: people who share exact sets of DNA. Such twins almost always look alike and often have similar quirks. But their minds, experiences, and personalities are different, and no one supposes they are less than fully human. And if identical twins are fully human, wouldn’t cloned people be as well?

Suppose scientists could create a clone from an adult human: It would probably be more distinct from its predecessor than most identical twins are from each other. A clone from a grown-up would have the same DNA but would come into the world as a gurgling baby, not an instant adult, as in sci-fi. The clone would go through childhood and adolescence with the same life-shaping unpredictability as any kid.

Indeed. This takes me back to the very earliest days of InstaPundit.

Full post as published by Instapundit.com on September 23, 2009 (boomark / email).