# Has someone already cloned a person? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 18, 2022, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-someone-already-cloned-a-person/958007 "2022-01-18T17:18:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-someone-already-cloned-a-person/958007/1 "2022-01-18T17:18:48Z")
I know that human cloning (as long as you allow them to live to maturity) is controversial and I _think_ illegal, bu what are the odds someone’s already done it? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-someone-already-cloned-a-person/958007/2 "2022-01-18T17:25:46Z")
I’ve cloned plants (asexually reproduced plants via cuttings) but I’ve never cloned a patented plant, which is illegal. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-someone-already-cloned-a-person/958007/3 "2022-01-18T17:31:49Z")
There’s no money in doing it in secret. I doubt it has happened. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-someone-already-cloned-a-person/958007/4 "2022-01-18T17:40:46Z")
Why is this in GD? Is there a debate here? ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-someone-already-cloned-a-person/958007/5 "2022-01-18T17:42:23Z")
In the 1970s, someone claimed to have done it. But it was fake. And like @naita said, what’s the benefit of doing it in secret? > **[David Rorvik](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Rorvik)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > David Michael Rorvik (born 1944) is an American journalist and novelist who was the author of the 1978 book In his Image: The Cloning of a Man in which he claimed to have been part of a successful endeavor to create a clone of a human being. The book is widely considered to be a hoax. > Rorvik was born in Circle, Montana. He graduated with a B.A. from the University of Montana in 1966 and a M.S. summa cum laude from the Columbia University Gradua... ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-someone-already-cloned-a-person/958007/6 "2022-01-18T17:42:27Z")
Sorry, I presumed people would argue about the likelihood of it happening. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-someone-already-cloned-a-person/958007/7 "2022-01-18T17:43:46Z")
> [@naita](#): > > There’s no money in doing it in secret. Oh, I don’t know. No billionaire out there that has lost a child in a tragic accident or the like? And then lost their mind a little? I also doubt that it’s happened though. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-someone-already-cloned-a-person/958007/8 "2022-01-18T17:45:20Z")
It’s certainly possible. And there are academics who have gone as far as [cloning human embryos](https://www.cell.com/fulltext/S0092-8674(13)00571-0) but they did not go so far as to implant them. There have yet to be any legitimate and believable claims that anybody has gone that far. The technology is certainly already there but the legal and ethical bits are very tricky, as you might imagine. It’s certainly possible somebody has done so clandestinely but, if so, they aren’t talking. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-someone-already-cloned-a-person/958007/9 "2022-01-18T17:48:04Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > And like @naita said, what’s the benefit of doing it in secret? I could see it being done in secret so they could figure out if it’s even possible (and if it is, how to do it) before having to deal with public fallout. If it doesn’t work, no one knows and they never find themselves in the cross hairs of every media outlet. If they announce that they’re going to attempt it, it’s not likely to ever get off the ground since it would be so controversial. It’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-someone-already-cloned-a-person/958007/10 "2022-01-18T17:51:08Z")
Looks like some monkeys have been cloned, but no apes yet. I imagine that would be the next step. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-someone-already-cloned-a-person/958007/11 "2022-01-18T17:58:19Z")
Only Mother Nature. Identical twins are naturally occurring clones. As are identical triplets (very rare) and other hypothetical naturally occurring identical multiple births. In theory, if you take a human embryo at a very early stage, like 4-8 cells, and split it you’ll get twins/triplets/clones. Not sure of the details, but if a human being has been cloned at this point my guess would be this is the most likely method used. The technology to clone an adult human exists, at least in theory, but I’m not sure what the pay off would be. What would be the motivation? ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-someone-already-cloned-a-person/958007/12 "2022-01-18T18:05:19Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > What would be the motivation? If cloning were truly safe and you didn’t have the weird genetic problems and short lifespan that I think Dolly the sheep had, I could definitely see a market in cloning a child who was killed somehow (illness or accident). For example, if a couple is finally able to conceive through fertility treatments and then their baby or child dies, it might be easier to clone the kid than go through all of those fertility treatments again. If my kid died, that would definitely be tempting – I already know how my kids came out, and it’s fantastic. Why roll the dice? ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-someone-already-cloned-a-person/958007/13 "2022-01-18T18:05:31Z")
> [@Folly](#): > > No billionaire out there that has lost a child in a tragic accident or the like? And then lost their mind a little? When it’s explained to them that it doesn’t instantly regenerate an identical 7-year-old like in a sci-fi B-movie, the appeal might diminish… > [@RitterSport](#): > > If my kid died, that would definitely be tempting – I already know how my kids came out, and it’s fantastic. Why roll the dice? …but I guess that’s a fair point. Just having another baby with known genotype (provided you don’t imagine it will be a reincarnation of the exact same person) is not unreasonable. I could also imagine an egotistical crackpot wanting to clone _themselves_ - creating genetically identical offspring. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-someone-already-cloned-a-person/958007/14 "2022-01-18T18:10:15Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > When it’s explained to them that it doesn’t instantly regenerate an identical 7-year-old like in a sci-fi B-movie, the appeal might diminish… Back when she was alive, my grandmother said that she doesn’t thing cloning should be allowed, because she thought it was important for a person to have a mother. I’m not sure what she thought cloning was, but it was probably along those lines. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-someone-already-cloned-a-person/958007/15 "2022-01-18T18:15:58Z")
Shhh. NASA Manager: “Maybe we should tell everybody that the mice we sent to space came back super intelligent.” Mouse, dressed in suit, with British accent, turns around in swivel chair: “No. I don’t think we’ll be telling them THAT…” ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-someone-already-cloned-a-person/958007/16 "2022-01-18T18:34:12Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Identical twins are naturally occurring clones. Twins and clones are the same genetically, but there are few [ethical differences.](https://scholarblogs.emory.edu/philosophy316/2014/01/27/twinning-versus-cloning/) I saw someone on TV who looked identical to me. I got mad, figuring some villainous scientist stole my DNA and cloned me! But, my daughter said, _“no, that’s just Fabio.”_ ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-someone-already-cloned-a-person/958007/17 "2022-01-18T18:56:12Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Identical twins are naturally occurring clones… > In theory, if you take a human embryo at a very early stage, like 4-8 cells, and split it you’ll get twins/triplets/clones. Cloning is the creation of an identical copy from an original template. I think that’s qualitatively different from dividing a zygote to create several simultaneous identical copies, none of which has any claim to be the original. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-someone-already-cloned-a-person/958007/18 "2022-01-18T18:58:09Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > The technology to clone an adult human exists, at least in theory, but I’m not sure what the pay off would be. What would be the motivation? There have been several movies over the years about clones being grown and harvested for the benefit of rich people who then have identical gene-matched organs to harvest. Not saying it would ever be a scientific possibility, but lots of money + possibility of life extension? There’s your motivation! > **[The Clonus Horror (1979) ⭐ 4.0 | Horror, Romance, Sci-Fi](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078062/?ref_=tt_urv)** > > 1h 30m | R > **[The Island (2005 film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Island_(2005_film))** > > The Island is a 2005 American science fiction action thriller film directed and co-produced by Michael Bay and written by Caspian Tredwell-Owen, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, from a story by Tredwell-Owen. It stars Ewan McGregor, Scarlett Johansson, Djimon Hounsou, Sean Bean, Michael Clarke Duncan, and Steve Buscemi. The film is about Lincoln Six Echo (McGregor), who struggles to fit into the highly structured world in which he lives, isolated in a compound, and the series of events that unfo... > **[Never Let Me Go (2010 film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Never_Let_Me_Go_(2010_film))** > > Never Let Me Go is a 2010 British dystopian romantic tragedy film based on Kazuo Ishiguro's 2005 novel of the same name. The film was directed by Mark Romanek from a screenplay by Alex Garland. Never Let Me Go is set in an alternative history and centres on Kathy, Ruth and Tommy, portrayed by Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley and Andrew Garfield, respectively, who become entangled in a love triangle. Principal photography began in April 2009. Filming locations included Andrew Melville Hall and F... ---
**Author:** ![Kimera757](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimera757/32/3765_2.png) [@Kimera757](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimera757)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-someone-already-cloned-a-person/958007/19 "2022-01-18T18:58:58Z")
No chance. Assuming scientists get past the hurdles (and I assume they will) it’s basically ego stroking (from the scientist and possibly clone’s “parent”). One of these days a scientist will prove they’ve cloned someone, and I won’t be too upset, since other scientists will go “well then, never mind” and it will probably not get done again. Cloning body parts is something that’s actually useful. The last human cloning experiment I heard of involved a scientist unethically compelling women to carry “clones” and it turned out he hadn’t successfully cloned anything. He just wanted the accolades of pulling it off. It was a bit like Theranos, one generation back, or those idiots who claimed they were in the World Trade Center towers on September 11th but weren’t even in New York that day. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-someone-already-cloned-a-person/958007/20 "2022-01-18T19:02:23Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > The technology to clone an adult human exists, at least in theory, but I’m not sure what the pay off would be. What would be the motivation? Yep. Look, assumed you cloned Hitler. You would not get a person with his background, moral, ethics, or even his knowledge of German. He would just be a guy, that unless he grew that mustache, likely would not even look that much like the dead dictator. > [@Folly](#): > > Oh, I don’t know. No billionaire out there that has lost a child in a tragic accident or the like? And then lost their mind a little? But yeah- this could be a “good” reason, especially if the child died in infancy. Or even organ harvesting. But even there, you would have to “grow” the clone to adulthood, and if you needed that kidney, 20 years is a bit long to wait. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-someone-already-cloned-a-person/958007.md?page=2)