So today I happened to see a bit of a Next Generation episode, “Up the Long Ladder,” on TNT. Or maybe Spike. Or possibly USA. I don’t actually know which is which. Anywhistle, though the episode is most memorable for the extremely hot actress playing a wonderfully forward Irish lass who seduces Will Riker by getting her feet dirty, it’s notable for a bit of an ethical conundrum it presents. The Enterprise encounters a long-lost Earth colony consisting entirely of clones of five persons. The colony is a few hundred years old, and for various technobabble reasons they need new blood, or rather new cloning stock, since they’ve given up sex and find the thought a trifle grody. The colony leader asks Picard & Co. for a cup of DNA, and they all refuse; First Officer Horndog even says, “One Will Horndog is unique–maybe even special – but hundreds would diminish me in ways I can’t even imagine.”
Eighteen years ago when I first saw this episode I thought Riker’s opinion was a trifle odd. Given that the DNA acquisition process was painless and quick, and that the clone would only share his DNA, not his memories (and thus not his identity, not in any real sense), his and the others’ refusal seemed, well, churlish. So I ask you, Dopers–given the parameters mentioned above–painless and swift DNA donation, no impact on your ability to reproduce naturally, virtual certainty that you’ll never see the clone again, and sharing of memories with the clone, and certainty that the process is safe for the clones for at least five or six generations–would you let yourself be cloned? If not, why not?
I’d probably refuse—but for the same reason I wouldn’t donate sperm, either. I don’t, personally, want to be responsible for spawning new human life. I don’t want that on my hands.
…Now that I think of it, I probably shouldn’t have used the figure of speech “on my hands” a sentance after making a reference to sperm donation. :smack:
Given that:
-Donation of the DNA is painless and causes me no side-effects.
-The clones won’t be ‘me’ any more than a twin brother would.
-I will never meet the clones, nor will anyone ever mistake them for me.
I’d say go right ahead. If the clones are at all likely to find themselves inhabiting the same places as me, then I would definitely refuse just because of the possibility of mistaken identity.
They don’t WANT my DNA, unless they can and are prepared to do major alterations on it, in which case they’d probably not need it. If they can do the alterations on my DNA, and they still want it, I’m fine with it.
I also suspect that my DNA wouldn’t be very high on their wish list, but if they wanted it, I’d say yes. This is real-life cloning, which is basically just a form of reproduction. The clones won’t be “me”; they will be genetically identical, but they will have different memories and experiences, which means that they will have different personalities. Plus, they will be much younger than me.
The more familiar sci-fi cloning, which spits out a perfect duplicate of you complete with your memories and personality, would be a definite no. With that kind of clone around, you are totally expendable :eek:
I’d have no problems with being cloned, so long as the Clone will get to live a full normal life. If a clone could be created with only a brain stem, I would consider that a good idea for replacement body parts.
It would depend on what the society is like ( if Oceania or Eastasia needs new DNA, tough ), and whether they actually needed my DNA. I’m not interested in reproduction, and am ambivalent ethically on the whole subject ( new people can’t consent to being created, after all ). In Riker’s place, I’d probably swallow my qualms and say OK, after a closer examination of what their society is like.
No, and my answer is the same as Ranchoth. I won’t create a life that I am not responsible for. I won’t have kids for the same reason - I just don’t want to be responsible.
In the transporter thread I said I’d have no problem being transported even with the old one being killed; basically because I don’t deem anything special about this particular body. But I would only consent to create the new clone if this body was gone.
So I would probably not have a problem with creating a clone body to jump to after this body reaches, oh, say 50 years old or so. And I’d do it a few times, too…but not a whole separate one.
Have a genetic twin somewhere, somewhere that he could be committing crimes and getting me involved in paternity suits and defaming my good name?
Hell no. If I were a Starfleet officer, in a world with instant handheld DNA identification, I would not.
On the other hand, if there were a way to make a clone of me right now in the world we live in, I’d say … uh … hell no. I have defective DNA. (If we could revise the DNA to make the clone more viable than I am, and make a few bizarre and twisted changes just to satisfy the mad scientist urges in me, maybe.)
he even WAS cloned in a different episode (well it turned out he was cloned years ago) by a transporter accident when half the beam reflected off clouds or something. Of course that clone did have his memories up to that point*. Also lo and behold, the clone showed up in DS9 pretending to be the original and nicked a ship.
*I always felt sorry for that clone. 1o years stuck on that planet thinking he was the one and only Riker, when there was another one running around living his life and splitting up with the woman he was fantasizing about seeing again for his full exile.
Assuming there’s nothing inhumane that’s going to be done (no freaky genetic experiments or forced slavery or anything like that), and there’s a genuine need for the DNA, then, yeah, sure I would. I’m not particularly attached to my particular genetic sequence, except insomuch as I am tied to this particular corporeal manifestation. If they leave it and me alone, then it’s cool.
I’m lying face-down in the gene pool, so I’m not going to be much help to somebody hoping to repopulate a planet with healthy people. I would have no objection to being cloned late in life, though; Riker’s objection was that if he was cloned, there would be hundreds of clones of him wandering around while he was still active and alive.
