History of Human Cloning
Human cloning is an issue that sounds completely outlandish to some. The idea that an exact duplicate of any person on Earth can be created from a simple drop of their blood or strand of their hair is like something out of a sci-fi novel or movie, not something that can be accomplished in real life…right?
Few, however, are aware of the history of human cloning experiments and just how widespread the issue was in the past. While human cloning was featured in novels and movies throughout the 40s, 50s, and 60s, the issue exploded once the 1970s arrived. For nearly the entire decade, human cloning was a big, BIG deal.
The issue first gained widespread public attention in 1971, when co-discoverer of the DNA molecule James D. Watson wrote an article titled “Moving Toward the Clonal Man” for The Atlantic.
Watson warned that Human cloning was much closer to happening than the public realized. Human cloning, he wrote, is a matter far too important to be left solely in the hands of the scientific and medical communities. People needed to start paying attention to the issue before it was too late.
People paid attention. Throughout the early- and mid-1970s, articles about the feasibility and impact of human cloning started appearing EVERYWHERE.
A small sample of human cloning articles 1971-75
A massive 1974 feature on cloning in The Cincinnati Enquirer went so far as to say that human cloning would be “the most drastic biological change in all of humankind’s recorded history.”
The Cincinnati Enquirer, February 24, 1974
Most doctors and specialists featured in these articles were in agreement – given current technology (as in technology that was current back in the early 1970s), cloning a human being really wouldn’t be that difficult. It wasn’t a question of if but when the first human would be cloned – if it hadn’t been done already.
The Cincinnati Enquirer, February 24, 1974
In His Image, Rorvik, 1974
Dr. Landrum Shettles was one of the pioneers of cloning throughout the 1970s – a controversial figure who became a minor celebrity during the height of human cloning popularity. He went so far as to say that cloning was ‘easy’ to perform.
This 1978 Omni Magazine feature on Doc Shettles included a more detailed explanation of how the cloning process works.
In 1974, the issue of human cloning positively exploded when journalist David Rorvik published a book named In His Image.
The book was an instant bestseller and a national sensation. Rorvik, a journalist who had published numerous articles in the past covering human cloning and eugenics, claimed that an extremely wealthy 67-year-old man contacted him with a shocking proposition: he wanted Rorvik to help him assemble a team of scientists who could create a human clone of himself. The old man, referred to as ‘Max’ and never identified to this day, was willing to pay anything to hire the best scientists and buy the best equipment – money was no object. He would finance the construction of a medical facility in a foreign country so his dream team of scientists could perform experiments away from red tape or prying eyes of others.
Rorvik, due to his extensive background writing about cloning and his connections in the medical world, was the perfect man to assemble the team, Max insisted.
Upon its release, the book was hugely controversial. Rorvik filled the book with detailed scientific talk that explained exactly how the cloning process worked, which convinced many of the story’s authenticity.
These details fascinated some, but many people’s real interest was with Max. Who was this mysterious, rich, old man with such an ambitious goal? Rorvik was subjected to intense pressure from the media to reveal Max’s identity. When he refused, the media branded his book a hoax.
Rorvik insisted the book’s events were real and refused to reveal the identity of Max (or his cloned son).
Clone Fever Rages On
Clone fever raged on throughout the 1970s. New books about cloning and artificially creating humans were released on an almost monthly basis.
In 1978, a movie centered around human cloning was released: The Boys from Brazil. In the movie (based on an Ira Levin novel), a Nazi scientist creates hundreds of clones of Hitler in Brazil, with hopes of grooming them to become eventual leaders of a resurgence of the Nazi party. The film’s most memorable scene takes place when a scientist demonstrates the exact procedure used to create the human clones.
The film’s star, Gregory Peck, hoped the “clone fever” that was sweeping the nation would help the film.
Carson wasn’t the only one making jokes about clones. In the late 70s, a Home Cloning gag kit was released and made available to the public.
A Clone Resurgence
Clone mania died down in the 1980s but came roaring back in the early 90s. The success of Jurassic Park rekindled interest in cloning but the issue really exploded when Dolly the sheep became the first mammal to be cloned. Officially, at least.
The issue of human cloning was thrust back into the spotlight.
But many doctors and scientists were actually baffled by the attention paid to Dolly and the renewed interest in human cloning. Cloning a sheep in the 1990s, after human and mammal cloning experiments had been prevalent in the 1970s (and had even been described as ‘easy’ by leading scientists back then) wasn’t really that big of a deal to those paying attention.
Nonetheless, human cloning was once again everywhere. The legality of human cloning soon became the hot-button issue in Washington DC. A search for human cloning on C-Span’s website returns hundreds of videos from the 1990s of politicians hosting hearings and debates about human cloning. Some of the videos are interesting, some are tedious, but the sheer number of results shows just how seriously politicians were taking the issue of human cloning.
The issue became so widespread that Bill Clinton imposed a 5 year pause on the use of federal funds to clone human beings.
But a ban on using federal funds for human cloning had no effect on companies in the private sector; they could continue to research and experiment however they pleased.
“It’s now possible to clone humans,” this 1999 60 Minutes feature says, “and what’s more, there are doctors willing and able to do it.”
CLONAID
Shit started getting weird when Clonaid arrived on the scene.
Clonaid was a private company established in 1997 to make human cloning available to anyone who was willing to pay. The Clonaid website is still online as of this writing, and though it hasn’t been updated in awhile, it’s still interesting to look at. Clonaid recommends their cloning service to, among other things, families who want to create an exact replica of a family member.
One of the company’s founders, Brigitte Boisselier, was EVERYWHERE for awhile.
Here she is appearing on a C-SPAN program in 2001, where she fields call-in questions from viewers, most of whom are baffled and even outraged at the idea of Clonaid producing a human clone.
A few months after that video, Clonaid announced they’d given birth to their first cloned baby.
There are endless rumors and speculation about Clonaid. Many have claimed that Michael Jackson was a main client and was even featured on their website, but all references to him have been removed.
Rapper Kid Buu claims he is a clone who was created by Clonaid. He talks extensively about his cloning in this video and even gives his Clonaid model number.
CLONING PETS
In the past decade, cloning animals has become common for the general public. Livestock have been cloned for well over a decade. Barbara Streisand cloned her deceased dog – in fact, anyone can clone a deceased pet for around $50,000.
The cloning of horses is very common in the equestrian world, and it’s also very lucrative. A single gene from an award-winning horse can sell for upwards of $200,000. From there, an exact clone of the horse is produced — or even a couple dozen clones, if the farm has the capacity.
The issue’s proven to be very controversial -- some racing competitions have begun to outright ban cloned horses from competing.
CAMBRIAN GENOMICS
And lastly, we have Cambrian Genomics. They didn’t deal with cloning but it’s still some wild, wild stuff. It was a startup that “allowed anyone in the world to become a genetic designer.” Customers could “build a creature” by logging onto the Cambrian Genomics website and combining pieces of DNA via a drag and drop interface – when completed, Cambrian Genomics printed the DNA strand on one of their DNA printers.
The new DNA strand – which could be anything from a human, an alligator, a lion, or a mutant combination of the three – was then sent to a research organization that had the resources to create the new creature from the DNA strand, similar to the existing process used to create horses, sheep, etc.
Seriously, just watch Austen Heinz, founder of Cambrian Genomics, talk about his company at 1:00 in this video and tell me this isn’t the most insanely creepy thing you’ve ever heard.
What became of Cambrian Genomics? In 2013, Austen Heinz mysteriously died at the age of 31. The death was ruled a suicide but the story is very suspicious. After his death, Cambrian Genomics was shut down for good.
Of course, the obvious question is: if Cambrian Genomics had the ability to essentially create new species a decade ago, what happened to their technology? It didn’t just vanish into thin air, so are other companies, working outside of the public eye, doing the same thing Cambrian Genomics was?
IS THERE MORE?
Everything featured here is the OFFICIAL story. There’s undoubtedly far, far more advanced cloning technology that’s been hidden from us. But just how much?
It’s long been rumored that any technology shown to the general public is 3-4 decades behind the technology available for use in secret government projects and underground think tanks.
If that’s truly the case, there’s no telling just how advanced cloning technology has become.
There are countless rumors and reports about people in the public eye who’ve been cloned, underground cloning centers, and other stories that make Cambrian Genomics seem like a children’s tale. By some accounts, many, many people in the spotlight are clones — ranging from politicians and celebrities to newscasters and even some pro athletes.
We’ll cover that in part 2. That’s when we’ll really start to have some fun.