Bokanovsky's Process
Bokanovsky's Process is a fictional process of human cloning depicted in Aldous Huxley's 1932 novel Brave New World. The process is described as being applied to fertilized human eggs in vitro, causing them to split into identical genetic copies of the original. The process can be repeated several times, though the maximum number of viable embryos possible is 96, with 72 being a "good average".[1]
Details
The process is described in the first chapter of the book. Humanity is divided into five social classes in the novel; the process is not applied to embryos of the elite Alpha and Beta classes, but is reserved for the Gamma, Delta, and Epsilon classes.[2]
Lower caste fetuses are created by receiving alcohol transfusions to reduce intelligence and height, thus conditioning them for simple, menial tasks. Connections between alcohol and incubating embryos are made multiple times in the novel.[3]
Bokanovsky's Process, combined with Podsnap's Technique for speeding up the maturation of unfertilized eggs from an ovary, is used to produce massive numbers of a genetic group: "Fertilize and bokanovskify ... and you get an average of nearly eleven thousand brothers and sisters in a hundred and fifty batches of identical twins, all within two years of the same age."[4]
It is thought that Huxley named the process in reference to Maurice Bokanowski, a bureaucrat who believed strongly in the idea of governmental and social efficiency.[5]
References
- ^ Huxley, Aldous; "Brave New World and Brave New World Revisited"; p. 19; HarperPerennial, 2005.
- ^ Huxley, p. 17.
- ^ Brown, Jasmine M; Bland, Roger; Jonsson, Egon; Greenshaw, Andrew J (March 2019). "A Brief History of Awareness of the Link Between Alcohol and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder". Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. 64 (3): 166. doi:10.1177/0706743718777403. PMC 6405809. PMID 29807454.
- ^ Huxley, p. 19.
- ^ "Brave New World Allusions | Shmoop".
Bibliography
- Bokanovsky's Process "The principle of mass production, at last, applied to biology." Lecture 19, History 135E, (Instructor: Dr. Barbara J. Becker), Spinning the Web of Ingenuity, An Introduction to the History of Technology, Winter Quarter, 2004, Department of History, University of California, Irvine
- Bokanovsky's Process, A very early description of cloning, Technovelgy.com
- Cloning in Brave New World, 123helpme.com
