Wearing white and black sheep's noses, actors Steve Auger and Catherine Hughes set the stage for The Clone Show with the true story of the cloning of Dolly.
Photo: Stanley Rowin

Wrap it up in any fancy words you please, but you want to make a copy of yourself..., actress Catherine Hughes tells actor Steve Auger in the one-act play, The Living Will, part of The Clone Show trilogy.
Photo: Stanley Rowin

By Beth Schachter

Imagine a future when human cloning and other genetic manipulation of people is not only possible, but practiced. What ethical problems might these brave new technologies pose? As the house lights dim and the stage comes alive at the Boston Museum of Science, professional actors Steve Auger and Catherine Hughes invite Fenway High School students to confront some tough questions. "If you had died as an infant, would you want your parents to have cloned you? If you could design your kids to be stronger, smarter, more beautiful, would you do it? If you could give yourself immortality by having yourself cloned, would you? Should you?"

The Clone Show is a trilogy of one-act plays written by Boston playwright Jon Lipsky. In "A New Life," a couple is mourning the death of their infant daughter Lili. The wife wants to create a genetic clone "to give our baby another chance at life." The husband objects; creating a genetic copy of Lili does not ensure that the new baby would have their departed daughter's spirit or soul, he says. He also argues that the cloned child would bear an unreasonable burden—fulfilling the expectations her parents had for Lili. (See accompanying excerpt.)

Two other plays pose different dilemmas. "The Body Shop" considers the ethical challenges that accompany the ability to cut and paste embryonic DNA to give babies a predetermined helping of beauty, brains or brawn. "The Living Will" presents a man who seeks to continue his bloodline by cloning himself—not once, but many times.

With support from HHMI, the museum has developed a novel strategy for complementing and enhancing the science classroom experience: commissioning professional playwrights and actors to write and perform plays on ethical issues of modern science. A previous production examined ethical questions raised by the Human Genome Project. The actors stage the plays in individual high school science classes, at the museum or at their schools.

Participating school groups study the scientific topics covered in the plays before attending the performance, preparing themselves for an informed discussion, explains Mike Alexander, the museum's program manager for science theater. A spirited exchange among audience and actors follows each performance.

"A clone of a person wouldn't be that person," one Fenway student observed after a recent performance of The Clone Show. "Cloning isn't for the child; it's for the parents," said another.

The idea of genetic enhancement of unborn children appealed to a few of the students. "Why not help them feel good about themselves?" one asked. But another objected, "It wouldn't really be my child; it would be an ideal creation." The museum selects actors who are eager to lead teen discussions on science and ethical issues, and science advisors help prepare the actors for their unusual roles. If someone asks a question that the actors cannot answer on the spot, they research it and e-mail a response to the teacher.

Reprinted from the September 2000 HHMI Bulletin, Vol. 13, No. 3, pp. 34-37.

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