When you clone a clone do the clones keep getting less and less clear like in the movie “Multiplicity” with Michael Keaton? Or would a clone of a clone be exactly the same as the original?
Popular fiction has caused more ignorance about cloning than almost any subject I know of.
I’m 23. If I were to clone myself today, it would take my clone 23 years to physically mature to the point I’m at. He would have my same genetic makeup, so he’d have roughly the same features as me-- my height, build, skin tone, and facial features would also be present.
However, he would be exposed to a different environment in the womb, and would have a completely different experience. Maybe he’d be an ultra left-wing pro wrestler, or a zoologist studying frogs in the Amazon.
Bottom line: clones are like their parent insofar as identical twins are like their twin sibling. Same body, different mind.
Fingerprints and freckles would be different due to fluidic pressure differences in the womb (same reason cloned cats have different fur patterns).
As the previous poster said, personality would be different due to environmental factors…
But also… there is a question as to whether that body at the age of 23 would be as healthy as the original body at 23. Our cells have things in them called telomeres, the number of which (IIRC) decreases as we age. If the clone is made with adult cells (like Dolly the sheep), it may only have the same number of tolemeres as the host–
–in other words, the newborn would have the same number of tolemeres as a 23 year old, and thus its cells may be 64 years old by the time it reaches 23. A clone of that clone would probably be even worse in that department.
(N.B.: It’s been a good while since I studied this topic (back when Dolly was cloned) so my facts could be a bit fuzzy. But it will give you a starting point for any research you might want to do on the subject.
I believe the issue with the telomeres is they get shorter as we age, rather than less numerous, but you’ve got the gist right.
–Cliffy
Except your math – a 23 year old clone of a 23-year old would have 46 year “old” cells, not 64.
It’s still a matter of current research exactly how clones differ from their parents. With current technology, yes, probably a clone of a clone of a clone would experience problems of some sort. Will we be able to overcome these difficulties at some point? We’re not sure. Personally, I think we will, but that’s just one guy’s opinion.
To quote the great populist philosopher Homer J. Simpson… “D’oH!” 