Five pigs pose the alarming question of whether we humans have a soul. Alasdair Palmer gives his view from London. Five identical little piggies, each cloned from a single cell of a bigger female piggy, were revealed to the world last week. Depending on how you feel about pigs, they looked either sweet or repulsive - and either terrifying or inspiring, depending on how you feel about clones.
Most people find clones terrifying, even when they come in the shape of little piggies.
For the successful cloning of pigs means scientists are one step closer to cloning people. The Boys from Brazil is actually one of the more flattering portrayals of the clone in films or books. The clone is always identified with an evil, emotionless, soulless copy, worse than the original in every way. Legislators are already gearing up to ensure that the public's will is done. The British Government rewarded the British institution which produced the world's first adult-cell clone by immediately withdrawing its grant.