Can Human Clones Reproduce Naturally: Pros, Cons and Legal Implications?

[arabianights]

Tom Cruise's Oblivion got me thinking:

can human clone reproduce naturally? what are the pros and cons of clones reproducing themselves?

 

[Simon Bridge]

You mean humans who are both clones of the same individual?
That would be the same as for siblings reproducing - only these are extremely close siblings.

Clones of different humans have about the same issues as for the two originals.

 

[SteamKing]

To be sure, no one has yet to clone a human being. Obviously, if you have the technology to clone a human, reproduction by the natural method would be, er..., quaint.

 

[Simon Bridge]

It may still be fun, as well as quaint.

 

[pacorz]

Yes, of course they could. You have to understand what cloning is - it's just another way to make a baby. If I wanted to clone you, for instance, here are the basic steps: 1) I would gather a few cells from you (I only need one good one, and I could theoretically get one without even touching you, for instance by taking it off the rim of a glass or cup you drank out of). 2) I would obtain a human egg cell from a donor. 3) I would remove the egg cell's nucleus and insert the nucleus of your cell in its place. 3) After watching this altered egg cell divide a few times to make sure it is healthy, I would put it into the uterus of a surrogate mother. 4) Nine months later, the surrogate mom would give birth to a baby who is genetically identical to you, this baby is also known as your clone. The clone would be a separate human being, and would be just like any other baby...it would just happen to have the same DNA as you do.

Consequently, a human clone could reproduce just like anyone else - UNLESS the person whose DNA the clone received had some genetic condition that rendered them unable to create offspring.

 

[Ryan_m_b]

Human cloning is illegal but if it were done successfully then the clone would grow up to be sexually mature and mate like anyone else. The first cloned mammal "Dolly the sheep" was able to have multiple offspring that grew up to be perfectly healthy.

 

[Simon Bridge]

Human cloning is illegal...

... not accurate - you need to cite a jurisdiction and, often, a purpose.
loosely: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_cloning#Current_law
... cloning laws vary from "unconstitutional" (Romania) to unregulated (most World countries).
The USA has no federal statute regulating human cloning, and only 17 States ban or restrict it.
http://www.ncsl.org/research/health/human-cloning-laws.aspx