In his article of February 28th, Fintan O'Toole comments on the recent successful cloning of Dolly the sheep from a single cell, and refers to the ethical risks availability of such biotechnology will inevitably create. Regarding the potential for human cloning, however, he correctly concludes that while cloned human beings may possess an identical genetic template as the individual from whence they derive, such cloned individuals will never be able to undergo the same life experiences nor possess the same memories, by virtue of their being born at a different time in history.
Such highly significant variable as personal history notwithstanding, the contribution of additional uncontrollable factors might also sound a salutary note. As the geneticist R.C. Lewontin argues in Hidden Histories of Science, the unpredictable nature of the interactions between genes and the environment cannot be underestimated, even during the course of biological development. Spontaneous variations in development occur regularly, as a result of what has been termed developmental noise, i.e. random events in the timing of division and movement of developing cells.
Thus neurobiologists are presently unable to deduce how much of the differences in cognitive function between individuals are a consequence of genetic difference, different life experiences and the aforementioned developmental noise. Identical twins are a typical case in point; whilst they possess the same genetic make-up and are very similar in appearance and constitution, they are also distinct individuals in their own right.
Those of us concerned, therefore, about the potentially far-reaching consequences accompanying the misuse of such biotechnology should draw some consolation from the fact that not even the extraordinary sophistication of cloning technology will be capable of exercising ultimate control over the development of individuals. Nature, thank goodness, will inevitably have the final say. Yours, etc.,
Cruachan Park, Rahoon, Galway City.