LEGALLY CLONED - A Legal Perspective on Cloning

God made man. A man named Ian Ilmut. Ian Ilmut made a sheep. A sheep called Dolly. And Dolly made news. First, as the world’s first cloned creature and subsequently, in 2003, for being euthanized due to “age related” diseases. Incidentally as per some reports, Dolly aged very fast and by the time she was hardly five suffered “diseases of old age” such as arthritis among others.

In the brouhaha following the news of the first ever successful cloning, there was a hue and cry and debates galore over the ethics of cloning.

The maverick scientist Richard Seed and his ilk might have argued about the benefits that accrue to science and Research avenues that open up as a result of legalizing human cloning. Parallels may be drawn between the pioneering doctors of the medieval era who had to steal corpses to conduct their studies and the zealots of today parading as saviors of science.

Okay, let’s assume for a moment that cloning is legalized. What then?

Cloning, like any other technology is in itself neither bad nor good; but like all technology, lies at the mercy of the people using it. Advancement of technology is fine but the application of this technology needs to be monitored. Because, unlike inventions made so far, cloning is a completely different genre altogether.

It impacts those aspects of life that have not been touched before. It raises questions about issues not thought of before. It is not just about harvesting limbs and organs for transplantation. If the ends of cloning were that innocent, it wouldn’t have generated the kind of hysteria that it has.

Here we are talking about people being harvested in the sterile environs of the labs -persons with no parents, no siblings, but just a donor whose clones they would be!

The question is, not whether cloning should be allowed. It is rather, how to deal with the concept of cloning and its fall out on society. With the news of cloning pigs, cows and now even humans pouring in, cloning will become a commonplace and maybe even an accepted occurrence.

Let’s admit it. Like it or not, Cloning is here to stay!

The comedy of errors that cloning entails as shown in the myriad sci-fi movies is the least of our concerns. There are more serious concerns to address. Concerns that are more terra-bound and terrifying. The ethical issues of taking over God’s job notwithstanding, several hitherto unimagined legal and societal complications will arise.

My Clone: My Offspring, my Sibling or my Alter Ego?
Cloning will result in a paradigm shift in the way we perceive human relationships.
Say, I clone “X” and create “A”, what is the relationship that emerges between the two?
Is “A”, the son of “X”, his brother; or his alter ego? They are two different persons bound by the same DNA. What, then, about the emotional bond?

Legal concerns:
For instance, what are the rights of an individual vis-à-vis his clone. Is a clone his personal property? Can he exercise rights over his clone like he does over his dog, cat or other living pet?
What are the rights of the clone as an individual? Does he have the personal freedom as enjoyed by his donor, can he be a citizen of a nation, have voting rights, own property?
Can he have a share in the property of his donor? What if the clone murders someone, how does one nab the real murderer between the two? They are identical right down to their DNA. Remember?

Civil Liberties:
Will we one day see clone uprisings, clone armies and fights for Clone empowerment, for civil liberties of clones ,equality of clones with Humans…. ?
The possibilities are endless. All these may seem like problems of the future but the future will be here before you can say “Dolly”.

IPR Concerns:
Intellectual property relates to one’s intellectual domain. Because the clone actually originated from me, is he my property? If so, do I also have a right and responsibility as regards his thoughts and actions? What about works of art created by the clone. Do I have copyright over those too?

Einstein or Hitler? Neither.
The argument of creating an Einstein for every Hitler seems kindergartenish when one realizes that clones are Humans – in every sense of the term except for the fact that they were created in a lab.

A clone could be crudely described as a growth from your body. Something like a tumour. Only it is a walking, talking & thinking tumour. So, it is only natural that they are subject to the same emotions as we humans are. They are more than just flesh and bones; they have minds, thoughts, emotions, feelings of joy, anger, jealousy etc.
If we were to pause for a moment to consider how varied a single person’s responses to different situations are, we will realize that the environment is the most decisive factor in determining who we are and what we become.
There are instances where the most patient of us has lost his cool at one time or another and also times when the most heinous of crimes have been vindicated taking into consideration the surrounding circumstances.

The law itself implores the courts to take the “facts and circumstances” into consideration before passing a verdict. The argument that a clone would certainly take after the donor is most fallacious and needs reconsideration if that is the main argument either for or against cloning.

Let the issue of cloning not become the Frankenstein’s monster that we cannot handle. The future might see clones being harvested to meet the growing demand. In a way, it’s a throwback to the past where slaves from Africa were brought in droves to feed the growing slave needs of the Whites. So in the near future, if I need a slave, I can just create one in the lab. How convenient!

The present cloning methods mean the person grows just like a normal human being at about the same period of gestation and rate of growth. But the future might see hybrid clones that grow quickly in months. All I need to do is to cultivate them in a lab and harvest them, as need dictates.

For all the wonders of the esoteric science of cloning and its alleged benefits to the cause of science, one cannot get over the feeling that something is amiss, and strangely disturbing. Let us not rush in where angels fear to tread. While the idea of playing God may be quite tempting, let us not bite the apple too soon – lest we choke on it!