[RS]

"What do you suppose is common to the embryo age of an indivudal and the toddler age of that same individual, for instance?"
I don't suppose - enlighten me - and please take it from the single cell stage.


"How many attributes do you require?"
I don't require - If you have any, let me know

"Human parentage" - I suppose that follows the DNA, but DNA is not "alive"

[RS]

We have mapped the human genome, and can cut and paste DNA -Is it so far fetched that in the future we will be able to construct DNA from the ground up ?

If we build one that duplicates a human, will it BE human ?

How close to human does it have to get before we allow testing on it ?
A being with no higher brain functions perhaps ?

Will the US refuse to use the fruits of these experiments and become the 22nd century equivalent of the Christian Scientists ?

[hocndoc]

Human parentage or origin is the only fact that I require of an organism to qualify as human. The DNA is a functioning component of the organism, but it is not *the* organism. Even if the DNA is manipulated, the organism would still be of human origin, and is human.