Rodent Regatta

Sharon Begley wrote a piece for the Wall Street Journal today titled ’Eve’ May Be Offspring Of Many Science Hoaxes. She describes several scenarios that might be unfolding as the Raelians go about ”proving” that ’Eve’ is indeed a clone. Look at this excerpt:

Maybe the Raelians know that Eve is not a clone, ”but believe they can deceive the world by executing a sample switch,” says Mr. Park. ”Stage magicians do this for a living.”

One of the best of those, James ”The Amazing” Randi, says it would be ”ridiculously easy” to switch samples. ”You can have a sample of the mother’s DNA in your hand or your pocket and switch it for the sample you take from the baby,” he says. ”You can make the switch if they’re laid down for even a moment, or you can make the switch by splitting a single sample in two.”

The only way to guard against that is to establish an unbreakable chain of custody. ”You would have to put the swabs from the mother and baby into containers with seals and labels that cannot be forged,” Mr. Randi says from Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Someone independent of Clonaid would have to collect the samples. A person schooled in the conjuring arts rather than in science—since magicians prey on the penchant for logical, linear thinking typical of scientists—should act as observer.