From: Wei Dai (weidai@eskimo.com)
Date: Thu Aug 16 2001 - 20:04:41 MDT
Did anyone see this news on MSNBC.com about a new company offering to
copyright your DNA for $1500?
http://www.msnbc.com/news/614414.asp?0dm=C19PB
I don't think DNA can be copyrighted, so this particular way to prevent
oneself from being cloned probably wouldn't work. The story also mentions
that US courts have ruled against turning someone into a parent without
his or her consent, so copyright protection isn't really necessary. But
this wouldn't prevent large-scale cloning of celebrities, since you
can create one illegal clone, get his consent, and then all subsequent
clones will be legal. (It does cause an 18-year delay though, or however
many years until the illegal clone reaches age of consent.)
I wonder if we might see anti-cloning technology that actually would work.
For example a genetically engineered self-destruct mechansism that causes
a cell's DNA to be wiped as soon as it is detached from the body. How
feasible would this be?
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