Never Let Me Go: A Cautionary Tale of Human Cloning

Andrew Maynard
Sep 6, 2018 · 7 min read

“Who’d make up stories as horrible as that?”— Ruth

Sins of Futures Past

In 2002, the birth of the first human clone was announced. Baby Eve was born on December 26, 2002, and weighed seven pounds. Or so it was claimed. The announcement attracted media attention from around the world, and spawned story after story of the birth. Since then, no proof has emerged that baby Eve was anything other than a publicity stunt. But the furor at the time demonstrated how contentious the very idea of creating living copies of people can be.



Cloning

Despite advances in the science of cloning, the general consensus on whether we should allow humans to be cloned seems to be “no,” at least at the moment, although this is by no means a universally accepted position. In 2005, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted a “Declaration on Human Cloning” whereby “Member states were called on to adopt all measures necessary to prohibit all forms of human cloning inasmuch as they are incompatible with human dignity and the protection of human life.” Yet this was not a unanimous declaration: eighty-four members voted in favor, thirty-four against, and thirty-seven abstained. One of the more problematic issues was how absolute the language was in the declaration. A number of those member states that voted against it expressed their opposition to human reproductive cloning where a fully functioning person results (human reproductive cloning), but wanted to ensure that the way remained open to therapeutic cloning, where cloned cells remain in lab cultures.


Films from the Future

Snips, clips, and insights, from the forthcoming book Films from the Future: The Morality and Technology of Sci-Fi Movies (available now for pre-order)

Andrew Maynard

Written by

Director of the Arizona State University Risk Innovation Lab and author of “Films from the Future: The Technology and Morality of Sci-Fi Movies”

Films from the Future

Snips, clips, and insights, from the forthcoming book Films from the Future: The Morality and Technology of Sci-Fi Movies (available now for pre-order)

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