Cloning in Science Fiction

Cyteen

C. J. Cherryh won the Hugo in 1988 for her novel Cyteen. (I have always considered the name unfortunate, since it implies 'cybernetic-teen' to me.) The story involves geopolitical, or in this case, galacto-political posturing of a Cold War type, between the old Earth, the Alliance and the Union, headquartered on the Cyteen system of worlds.

Ariane Emory, an ambitious, actually obnoxious woman, is a powerful and influential figure in the Union. Ariane is assassinated, but has left plans in place to have herself replicated. These plans are carried out, and Ary 2 is born. Her 'uncles' attempt to duplicate the homelife, education and childhood experiences of the original Ariane, so that the duplicate will grow up as much like Ariane as possible, ultimately taking her place in the political schemes of the Union.

Modern science rather pooh-poohs the central premise of this novel; even with exactly similar childhood sequences of events, you cannot guarantee that a genetic equivalent, whether clone or identical twin, will experience them the same. Subtle changes in brain- and body-chemistry, outside the control of manipulating short of the most intrusive (and therefore counterproductive) monitoring, mean that what might set off a tantrum in one child will be completely shrugged off by the child's clone, or even the same child on the next day. And if the child doesn't produce the behavior to be sent to their room as punishment, does the 'replicating program' punish them anyway, to make sure the child's day duplicates their original? Would unjust punishment affect the second child in a different way from the just punishment of the first child?

In any event, this hefty and complex novel follows young Ary2 as she grows and rises to power, dealing with the expectations that her creation has burdened her with.

Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang

Kate Wilhelm's 1976 novel, Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang, won the Hugo in '77.

Set in a near-future of environmental collapse, it chronicles the fate of the human race as the effects of pollution lead to massive infertility in humans and in some animal species. Scientists worried about the survival of the race rush their cloning program, and hurry into asexual reproduction to maintain humanity in the face of the threat.

The story then jumps some generations into the future. It has long been known by now that successful generations of clones are subtly different, a bad copy, of their original genotype. But with few people still able to conceive and bear children, cloning must persist. If women are able to bear, they are isolated with the 'breeders' and made to reproduce fresh genotypes for the community.

Clones are created in series; a dozen or so of a type, spaced in age so that they can teach their 'brothers' or 'sisters' and maintain a reasonable age ratio. The 'Mary' sisters, for instance, might have elder Mary, the genotype, followed by Maggie, Molly, Mirian, and so on, all spaced a year or two apart.

The clone groups live together, are psychically bonded, and the culture that thus arises is, while normal and healthy to those in it, rather creepy from the outside.

The community decides to send an exploration party out to learn what has happened to the rest of civilization; selected for their individual skills, and sent off without their siblings, most suffer severe psychological damage. Molly, however, discovers in herself a taste for individuality, in separateness from her sisters. This 'perversion' causes her to be uncomfortable at home, and, when she discovers herself able to conceive, she passes her unusualness on to her son Mark.

Not duplicated because the community doesn't want to retain his independence preferring genes, Mark grows up a solitary, in a world when everyone else has a group of identical siblings. His unique nature make him ideally suited to save humanity.