is cloning a way for people to become immortal?

Answer 1

No! Strictly speaking, cloning will not make you immortal. The problem is that each time you are cloned, you will be starting from scratch, which means that you have to learn EVERYTHING (such as language, certain behaviors, how to act and think, all the things you did as a child, and you will have to go to school) all over again. This sort of kills the point of being immortal. All you are doing is just starting over again. All of your experiences, memories, and everything you learned and figured out, will be lost.

Now if there was a way to transfer your memories and everything stored in your brain to your clone, now that would be awesome and then yes, you just might live for a long long time.

You have got to see the movie "The Sixth Day" with Arnold Schwarzenegger (I think I got that wrong).

Answer 2

Technically, a clone of anyone (human or animal) would have an entirely separate personality, so it wouldn't be "you". The scenario envisioned by people who advocate this is so complex, it's beyond even the most advanced science now (not cloning, but transferring "YOU"...your mind, memory, feelings, etc.) into the cloned body. Even people who are frozen and plan to be thawed when there's a cure for whatever killed them, are dubious about the technology to ensure that the brain could survive the freezing process (even if it does, for instance, would they still be themselves? Would there be possible malfunctions, etc.?).

However, cloning itself was once seen as impossible, yet is now almost routine. So, I would imagine that, somewhere in the future, humans will find a way to use it to at least prolong life.

Another, more probable method is to turn off the "genetic switches" that trigger aging. You'd still have to deal with an ever expanding population and the aging of the Earth itself (what if there's a huge climate change, for example?).

As for actual immortality, you are talking about people NEVER dying. I don't think that's possible, unless, like the X-files episode, "Kill-switch", we can upload ourselves as an AI into cyberspace. Even then, someone has to stay behind and be the systems manager! :P

Here are a couple sites that discuss the pros and cons of cloning and cryogenics.

Answer 3

NO - after reading the answers i did not see two facts, one DNA does not have an aging gene just growth hormones which you would have to stop. you age by the replication of the cells the more the cells divide the weaker the genetic signature gets unless an exact dna chain can be replicated when you are young. To do the fountain of youth you would have to remove cells at 18 from every part of the body and freeze it. then when 50 reintgrate them and chances are hypothetical that the younger cells will over take the older ones.

Further more if you are 30 when you do the clone the childs dna will be considered 30 years old so will die sooner and it is not you, but by body, plus natives believe that the memories of our ancestors are passed into our generations by blood.

Answer 4

If you clone yourself, how does the clone get your memories? They don't transfer in the DNA - you'd have to find some other way to do that. You won't find immortality this way. I can't address your comments about a "soul" until you can define it. I can't say that any such thing even exists or not, so I don't know how it would go about transferring from you to your clone.

Answer 5

I don't think so because cloning just makes someone look exactly like the person or animal that's being cloned.

Answer 6

No, a clon is a different person that looks exactly like you do, like a copy, but it doesn´t have your same soul and it will not have the same experiences like you in life, so it doesn´t mean you are going to become immortal.

Answer 7

No, just to improve the quality of life.

Cloning will provide, essentially, spare parts for human beings. But brain tissue itself can only last so long, and the only way around that is to build a new brain. If you replace your own brain with another brain, you are effectively dead and the new brain (and the personality it would create) would take your place.

Answer 8

If it were possible, which it isn't. Some say having kids is another way yet others say to go to heaven will be the only way.

Answer 9

good q.

Yet we are immortal through the eyes of our children. If you want to live forever. Have healthy children and grand kids and so on.

The reality is...most folks don't want to live forever, they want to be young forever.

Answer 10

cloning does not recreates a person but creates its duplicate which can be rightly called as another man, not you.