Columnist Susan Snyder: This news is bad to the clone

Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2002 | 9:02 a.m.

Susan Snyder's column appears Fridays Sundays and Tuesdays. Reach her at snyder@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4082.

Las Vegas almost made it.

We almost got out of 2002 without looking like a freak show one last time.

The biggest fireworks contractor in the world will help us ring in 2003, as we still try to make up for Y2K. Remember 2000? Even backwater towns in Indiana had fireworks, while the Las Vegas Strip had confetti and footage of a buffoon electrocuted on a light pole.

This year we were listed in The New York Times as one of the places to be on New Year's Eve. Yet, another Eve has stolen the spotlight.

Four days before the year ended, members of a religious sect with ties to Las Vegas announced they had created "Eve," the world's first human clone.

The Raelians, who have no known ties to Gene Roddenberry, believe humans are clones made from race of space aliens. Their founder Rael, once named Claude Vorilhon, has said he made this discovery when taken aboard a UFO in 1973.

In 1997 he founded Clonaid. It is a biotech company not to be confused with a relief concert for down-and-out Trekkies. Contrary to early reports, Clonaid isn't based in Las Vegas. It only has a public relations office here. We simply promote it.

That's a relief.

If you need to know more check out clonaid.com. And you need to know more. If you don't know how to look up a website, this is the reason to learn.

In addition to creating humans, Clonaid also offers a service called Insuraclone, in which your cells are preserved for a lifetime. Its QVC network-type claims say, "You can benefit from a new organ generation and transplant thanks to your own genetic repair kit."

For $5,000, Clonaid's Ovulaid service will give infertile women eggs with which to conceive.

Humans, I am assuming.

They also offer Clonapet, which clones a favorite family pet or racehorse.

As news spread that cloned baby Eve would arrive at an undisclosed U.S. location Monday debate spread among those in medical circles. Aside from the healthy -- almost obligatory -- skepticism, the news has professionals raging in debate over the ethics of creating human copies.

I think it should be considered case by case.

The world probably could do all right with another Mark Twain, Mother Teresa or Leonardo da Vinci. Seabiscuit could race again.

But be honest. Do we need another Celene Dion? Shouldn't there be only one?

Please?

And what about Michael Jackson? Granted, it would be interesting to clone him just to see what we'd get. DNA material likely holds the only clue as to who or what he was originally. He could indeed turn out to be Elizabeth Taylor.

We could clone President Dubya -- make three or four of him, in fact. Maybe we could eventually raise one that cared about the environment and could make a sentence all by himself.

Anyway, as we leave this year and embark on another the world is once again looking at Las Vegas.

This time they're seeing Raelians.

And laughing.

We may want to start telling people we live in Henderson.

Of course.