Brave New World: Why Not Clone a Human? Ethical Challenges of Biotechnology

It's pretty obvious that when the Wright Brothers sent up their first rickety flying machine at Kitty Hawk they never even considered the deleterious effect a refreshment cart blocking an airplane aisle might have on a full bladder. However, as this excellent episode from the Brave New World series (culled from ABC Nightline) reminds us, if we always worried about the impact of unforeseen consequences, little in the way of progress would ever occur. Pointing out that one of Barney the Purple Dinosaur's homilies is potentially outdated ("you are special, you're the only one…"--well, not if you're a sheep named Dolly), correspondent Robert Krulwich hooks up with Princeton University's Lee Silver and Harvard's Stephen Jay Gould to tackle that minutes-old philosophical chestnut: to be (cloned) or not to be (cloned)? That is the question haunting scientists, religious and political leaders, and the man and woman on the street, and Why Not Clone a Hunan? masterfully combines incisive commentary, archival footage, animated explanations, and educational sketches (often quite funny) to give viewers' grey matter the mental equivalent of a Tae-Bo workout. Marshalling arguments on both sides of the genetic fence, Krulwich, with occasional input from anchor Ted Koppel, explores situations ranging from bone marrow transplants for childhood leukemia (an instance where cloning would seem to be a benevolent solution) to the potential of cloning Hitler (scientifically possible, but unlikely to create a true The Boys From Brazil scenario, since a propensity towards evil--in itself an ethical choice--cannot be cloned). Even more likely for the near future is designer gene work (a topic addressed in the thought-provoking 1997 film Gattaca), in which parents will have the opportunity to select "options and extras" in an office setting where sex and reproduction are absolutely separate. In such a scenario, the humane satire of Randy Newman's call for tolerance in the song "Short People" could very easily become meaningless, since dwarfs--in a chilling re-visitation of 20th century eugenics--could be bred out of the species altogether. Sure to spark debate across a wide range of audiences in school, academic, and public libraries, this timely inquiry into a hot topic is highly recommended. The other titles in the Brave New World series (series price: $399) are: Wired for Speed: Technology and the Accelerating Pace of Life, Man and Machine: Redrawing the Boundary, Brain Disorders: Seeking New Remedies and What Is Family? Defining the Tie That Binds. Aud: J, H, C, P. (R. Pitman)