Jason Hetherington/Stone+/Getty Images
Would having a clone be the same as having an identical twin? You might not have as much in common as you'd think. See more twin pictures.
While there's still a great deal of controversy surrounding the issue of human cloning, a few facts are steadily gaining acceptance. A human clone wouldn't be a soulless zombie, wouldn't have the same thoughts and memories as its parent and would possess just as much free will as the rest of us. In short, a human clone would just be a normal person who happens to have one genetic parent instead of two.
Still, it's pretty easy to let your mind run wild when contemplating the notion of human cloning. For thousands of years, philosophers and scientists have tackled the question, "Who am I?" The prospect of meeting your genetic duplicate just adds more fuel to the existential fire.
Up Next |
To date, there are no known human clones. Cloning techniques are still evolving, and various medical and ethical concerns have seen human cloning efforts outlawed in various countries. The closest we have to human clones are monozygotic, or identical, twins. The reason they're born so genetically similar is that, after being fertilized by sperm, the egg splits and develops as two zygotes instead of one.
To clone a human, doctors would most likely use a process called somatic cell nuclear transfer -- the same technique used with animals like Dolly, the famous sheep clone. Normally, sperm fertilizes an egg, combining two sets of DNA into one. Cloning involves destroying the nucleus in the egg and replacing it with the nucleus from the animal to be cloned. This resulting egg only contains one set of DNA.
Doctors would then implant the egg in a surrogate mother's womb. After that point, the clone would continue to develop, influenced by various environmental factors.
This independent development contributes to the differences between identical twins. Over the course of a lifetime, different tastes, experiences, illnesses and dreams shape who they are. Despite their nearly identical genes, monozygotic twins may lead very different lives.
Although they're not identical, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen seem to have a good time. Might you and your clone get along just as famously? Read the next page to find out.
