story idea
Apr. 2nd, 2009 06:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bonny_kateThere is a world, very much like ours, where human cloning is prevalent. There are those who speak against it, but they are mainly ignored. Cloning began in the spirit of scientific inquiry; they were going to cure cancer and the common cold. But now parents who lost a child may clone that child in order to have them again. Of course, cloning is expensive, so multiple clones are often made and the imperfect or unwanted are given to adoption agencies, if they're lucky.
The real problem comes with law enforcement. A clone is not quite the same as a twin. Identical twins may appear identical, may have the same DNA, but there are small differences. One is lefthanded and another righthanded. Fingerprints are never exactly the same. But with clones, everything is identical. They have the same DNA, the same retina scan, and the same fingerprints. Guaranteed or your money back (check the fine print).
There is a girl who just graduated high school. She doesn't know that she's a clone. Her adopted parents don't even know. She's about to find out when she's arrested for stealing a lot of money (based on DNA and fingerprints) except she didn't. But that doesn't matter to the law. Legally, she's the same person, and she can be prosecuted to the full extent. Morally, most people agree, because even if she isn't the particular clone that stole the money, she would have, under the same circumstances, because she's the same person.
Everyone knows that clones don't have souls, or if they do, it's the same soul as the original.
It's not so much a story right now as a nifty setting from which I might make a story. We'll see if it goes anywhere.
The real problem comes with law enforcement. A clone is not quite the same as a twin. Identical twins may appear identical, may have the same DNA, but there are small differences. One is lefthanded and another righthanded. Fingerprints are never exactly the same. But with clones, everything is identical. They have the same DNA, the same retina scan, and the same fingerprints. Guaranteed or your money back (check the fine print).
There is a girl who just graduated high school. She doesn't know that she's a clone. Her adopted parents don't even know. She's about to find out when she's arrested for stealing a lot of money (based on DNA and fingerprints) except she didn't. But that doesn't matter to the law. Legally, she's the same person, and she can be prosecuted to the full extent. Morally, most people agree, because even if she isn't the particular clone that stole the money, she would have, under the same circumstances, because she's the same person.
Everyone knows that clones don't have souls, or if they do, it's the same soul as the original.
It's not so much a story right now as a nifty setting from which I might make a story. We'll see if it goes anywhere.