Fear of Setting in the American Cultural Imaginary or “You Are Never Alone with a Clone”

Abstract

Recently the New York Times reported that scientists had “cloned” a human embryo. The alarmed response of journalists, bioethicists, and the general public focused a spotlight on the ethics of human embryo research. The popular debate reiterated the critiques of cultural theorists that humans not be figured as (marketable) products. But the debate's attribution of an unproblematic value for individual personhood illustrates the importance of a more powerful engagement by anthropology.