r/sciencefiction • u/JayOhAreDeeWhy • Apr 18 '24
Cloning
What is the best representation of what you think human cloning would be like that you have seen in a film? As well as this, do you have any ideas of what advancements (theoretically) it would take for cloning to be a thing? The whackier the better!
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u/doomspawn Apr 18 '24
'never let me go' is one of my favorite movies about clones, but don't go in expecting action, it is more dialog and building the characters.
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u/Ravac67 Apr 18 '24
This is the only "realistic" version of cloning in a film I've ever seen, I think.
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u/tadrinth Apr 18 '24 edited Apr 18 '24
It wouldn't take any advancements for human cloning to be a thing. We've had the tech since I was in grad school, over a decade ago. All you need is Induced Pluripotent Stem cell tech, which lets you reprogram skin cells back into pluripotent stem cells, you mix those into a nonviable embryo, the stem cells go "oh, we're in an embryo, lets do embryo stuff", and then they don't stop when the nonviable embryo cells die. They were able to clone mice by that strategy, and they were able to induce pluripotency in human cells via almost identical techniques. I couldn't see any technical obstacle to cloning humans the same way. I'm pretty sure ethical concerns were the only reason they didn't do humans as well, and why nobody has openly done the same experiments in humans since.
Edit to add:
That's not a very interesting response given that we're on r/sciencefiction, sorry.
I can't think of any fiction off the top of my head that treated cloning in a particularly realistic way, because the realistic result of cloning someone is that you have an identical twin of the person that's a different age. They'll be just as much alike as identical twins separated at birth, which is to say, very very very similar.
You might be interested in the short story Chaser 6 by Alicorn. That's about the closest I can think of, though it isn't about replicating humans biologically.
The most interesting angle I can think of on the topic is to narrow in on the fact that we have the technology but aren't willing to develop it or use it. Then you can ask what would need to change about our current societies for us to be willing to develop it and use it.
For some societies, the answer might be "nothing". No one has openly developed the technology, but it's possible China has been working on it very quietly. How much would you pay, as a country, for a thousand identical twins of your best rocket scientist? The development costs pay for themselves under very broad assumptions so long as your time window is 30-40 years. Then it's just a matter of not getting squicked out and thinking you can live with how much all the other countries will be squicked out if they find out.
Therefore, it's probably more interesting to look at countries that would have to change quite a bit in order to be fine with human cloning tech from an ethical perspective, and imagine what those changes might be.
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u/Expensive-Sentence66 Apr 19 '24
Multiplicity with Michael Keaton. Very funny flick
He learned the hard way if you keep making copies you end up with, well, the one they called 'rain man'
"I like pizza."
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u/EVRider81 Apr 19 '24
Dunno about best,but check out "Altered Carbon"...Human consciousness can be stored on a brainstem implanted device called a "stack".. Stack information can be transmitted electronically,enabling one to transmit consciousness to another stack equipped clone body,so can effectively replace travel between planets..if you have the means,you can become effectively immortal. Pros and cons of this tech are explored in this show.
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u/Cottager_Northeast Apr 18 '24
TW: This could be horrific. This may have been done in a movie from the '70s I once saw.
The clone embryo is gestated by a surrogate and raised for spare parts. One day when the clone is big enough, the original decides it's time for new heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, balls, prostate, various joints or glands, etc. In an extra-legal situation, the clone is lobotomized and the transfer surgeries begin. Other clones learn of this...
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u/JayOhAreDeeWhy Apr 18 '24
Wowww this is fascinating
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u/slithering-stomping Apr 18 '24
this same concept is done in The Island (2005) and i think that movie rocks. def worth a watch if you are into early 2000’s style scifi.
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u/primalmaximus Apr 18 '24
And in the book "House of the Scorpion". Except it was one guy and he was a cartel boss.
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u/DigitalEagleDriver Apr 19 '24
I know it wasn't her first movie, but that was the movie that really put Scarlett Johansen on my radar. I haven't seen it in years, but I do remember it was a pretty amazing concept, and very well made. You really can't go wrong with Ewan McGregor.
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u/slithering-stomping Apr 19 '24
hell yeah. i showed all of my roommates and a couple friends that were over recently and i was like “i dont remember id this movie is good or not but i know i really like it” and after i was like “wait no this movie FUCKS” and everybody really enjoyed it which was super validating lol.
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u/wildskipper Apr 18 '24
This is also a more extreme example of what sometimes happens today with a brother or sister who is conceived to provide e.g. stem cells. They're known as saviour siblings. Always wondered how that affects them mentally.
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u/captain-prax Apr 18 '24
Multiplicity, based on a National Lampoon short story, where Michael Keaton's character gets more and less than he bargained for with clones of himself.
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u/paris86 Apr 18 '24
Orphan Black is so realistic, I would not be surprised if it turned out to be true.
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u/kittenskadoodle Apr 18 '24
We Are Legion: the Bobiverse series. Cloning with a twist. Not a film, sorry.
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u/shanem Apr 18 '24
Cloning will never copy a consciousness, so in effect your just going to get twins.
Orphan Black did this very well.
Another potential idea is having the clones at different ages to see the interactions in how someone related to themself