Dolly’s Army: cloning has become a reality

Dolly’s death gave rise to a lot of controversy about the non-viability of clones. “The aspen tree will not produce oranges,” people say; however, Dolly turned out to be quite reproductive: she had six lambs. But regarding her death, as I already said, there are different versions. The first says: due to the fact that Dolly was rarely outdoors (she was protected), she developed a lung disease. Others claim that the sheep had problems with its chromosomes – as a result, it aged prematurely. The reason for this is called cloning.

Around the same time, in the late 90s – early 2000s, debate began about whether it was possible to clone animals and, of course, humans. Hollywood also added fuel to the fire. Perhaps the most famous film about cloning of that time was the film “The Sixth Day” with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Later, this picture was included in the list of the most unreliable science fiction films. And, by the way, the sheep itself, based on an analysis of its mitochondria, was also called not the original clone, but rather the daughter of two mothers.

The appearance of Dolly and subsequent talk about the future of cloning forced the international community to react harshly. On January 12, 1998, the Protocol prohibiting human cloning was signed in Paris. But this was not enough. Already in 2005, the UN adopted the Declaration on Human Cloning, which called on UN member states to prohibit any form of human cloning to the extent that they are incompatible with human dignity and the protection of human life. In some countries – Spain, France, Great Britain, Germany, the USA and others – there is criminal liability for cloning. However, articles and messages from the series “scandals, intrigues, investigations” regularly appear in the media, which claim that people are being cloned for medical and military needs.

Next, perhaps, it is worth making a short historical excursion. In 1839, the German Theodor Schwann determined that every cell comes from a cell, giving rise to the cell theory that underlies cloning. Scientists began to grow clones of small animals. In Russia, Soviet and imperial, experiments in the field of cloning were carried out first with silkworms. Zoologist Alexander Tikhomirov, and then biologist Boris Astaurov, worked on them. Modern cloning experiments are based on a method developed in the 1940s by Soviet embryologist Georgy Lopashov. But his sensational article was not published in the USSR, but the Americans Briggs and King repeated the experience of the Soviet scientist and took the laurels for themselves. This is the basis.

But that past – what now? In China, animals are cloned en masse for research and other needs. In Western countries, for example, cloning of cats and dogs is practiced and is in great demand – exactly as in the aforementioned film “The Sixth Day”. However, this is also reminiscent of another film based on the Stephen King novel “Pet Sematary”. There, according to the story, in an ancient Indian cemetery, you could revive your pets. In our life, cloning technologies are used for this – pay 50-100 thousand dollars and resurrect your dog.

What about human cloning? For real cloning, as I already said, you can get a criminal sentence of 10 years or more. However, there is such a thing as therapeutic human cloning – and it is allowed in the UK, Sweden, and Belgium. We are talking about obtaining stem cells from a clone embryo. They are used to treat baldness, Parkinson’s disease and other ailments. It sounds noble, but the reality is not so pretty: embryos are killed – and, in fact, especially from a religious point of view, this is no different from murder.

Now, when the main efforts in the field of cloning are aimed at the reproduction of primates and extinct animals, when cloned bulls, pigs, and rabbits appear en masse, there is no doubt that sooner or later the issue of human cloning will be reconsidered. And, probably, the ban on it, albeit partially, will be lifted. Such is the spirit of the times, in which Elon Musk, for example, reports the success of microchipping a person, and 3D printers print human organs. All this is the creation or even, we use this term, the breeding of a new type of person – as expected, a person without weaknesses and ailments.

Someone may notice that the American and German Nazis did something similar with their eugenics. Nowadays, this kind of thing is decorously and nobly called genetic engineering. And some consider it a curse, a weapon of globalists, while others consider it salvation for humanity. But what are the prospects? Initially, the focus will be on growing individual body organs from cloned cells. Wealthy people pay a lot of money for healthy organs – so why not create them using genetic engineering? That’s the argument. Another key argument is that thanks to cloning it will be possible to correct various genetic diseases.

This rhetoric is actively heard from various media: it is carried out by scientists, publicists, doctors, activists, and politicians. And, again, everything seems adequate at first glance: why shouldn’t genetic engineering help humans by correcting genetic diseases? Plus, this way you can solve the problem of childlessness. The somatic cell is placed into the egg and you’re done. This sounds strange, but the birth through IVF (in vitro fertilization) was not immediately accepted. The restrictions here are purely ethical – primarily religious, but religion plays an increasingly smaller role in the life of a civilized society. Regarding the high cost of cloning, the rapid aging of the clone, high risks and high mortality, science promises to solve – or at least minimize – these problems.

Similar discussions are already underway – and I personally have no doubt that human cloning will be officially permitted within the next decades. This will be explained primarily by medical necessity, practical benefits and the like, including the needs of the army and medicine, but if you dig deeper, there are two factors that bring human cloning closer to reality.

The first factor is metaphysical. Mary Shelley published her great novel, Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, in 1818. There is also a legend about the Golem – a clay giant created in the 16th century by a rabbi to protect the Jewish people. All this is evidence of how much a person craves not only to take away, but also to give life in order to feel like the Creator. The second factor is practical. Human cloning, like microchipping, is the creation of a new breed of people who can be controlled as easily as possible.

This is the reality that is being prepared for us. What will come of this? Described by the same Mary Shelley in the novel “Frankenstein”. But when and who did this stop? An attack by chipped clones is inevitable, and even if it sounds like conspiracy fiction, like inflammatory delirium, but, you know, we have already been convinced many times that what is written will sooner or later come true. Everything, as they say, was invented before us.

Although, if we talk about human clones, I’m sure there is evidence of this, it exists, this technology has already been introduced into our lives. You just need to take a closer look.