Predicted Impact of Environment on Psychological and Social Development of a Human Clone

Debates continue to haunt the subject of human cloning, and will continue to do so for some time. Among the debates: How will the clones’ personalities develop? Would it be humane to create clones if they are going to be considered inferior, or if they are going to have a difficult time acclimating to society? Identical twins are essentially clones because they share indistinguishable copies of the same DNA. Due to the similarity between the two genetic situations, it has been suggested that clones will develop much as twins do. By looking at psychological studies that have been conducted on identical twins, scientists can predict how a clone will mature and how they will react to their world.

Controversy and science have walked hand-in-hand through many discoveries and inventions. Cloning is no exception, as debates whirl around the various ethics, risks, and possibilities of creating human clones. Philosophers, religious leaders, scientists, and politicians continue to argue amongst each other, trying to determine how cloning will affect future generations of society and medicine. A few psychiatrists, sociologists, and other developmental scientists have focused less on the effects of cloning on modern society, and become more concerned with the effects cloning will have on the psychological development of the clones that may be created. These social scientists worry that clones might experience difficulties developing a healthy personality or functioning happily in society. In order to accurately project possible conflicts, scientists have resorted to the study of today’s natural clones: identical twins. Identical twins possess exact copies of each other’s DNA, and are essentially clones of each other. As such [clones], they may help us to understand some aspects of human clones (Levick, 2004). Trends in the psychological development of twins suggest that a person’s environment influences an individual and can alter their personal

growth. By further exploring the psychological impact of having an identical twin, scientists hope to discover how clones will mature.

Multiple studies and observations have indicated that the varying genes and environments of each twin can influence many aspects of psychological development such as falling in love, aging, personality development, talents and abilities, body characteristics, health, and physiological responses (University of Minnesota). If an identical twin is so affected by their environment, it is possible that clones will be just as influenced by their surroundings, perhaps even more so than twins if clones are subjected to discrimination. How a clone is regarded, treated, and taught will affect changes in the manner that the clone reacts to their world.