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The few instances of clones being used in the Star Trek series have been seen to have usually negative implications. And the artificial heart used to replace Picard's original organ (which was injured in a bar fight while he was in Star Fleet Academy decades before) is a bionic organ which seems to be what he still has been using well into his captaincy.

This raises the question as to why a new biological organ wasn't replicated. It could be that the bionic organs were simply seen as more efficient... but I suspect it may be possible that cloning organs alone may be frowned upon, let alone cloning a whole person. This may at least be the case within the Federation.

Is there any information to confirm this?

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    There's really no good evidence that the Federation frown on cloning per se. Individuals like Riker don't seem to like it on a personal basis; memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Clone
    – Valorum
    Commented Sep 29, 2019 at 15:17
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    @Valorum: ironic since he was cloned, kind of.
    – Reinstate Monica - Goodbye SE
    Commented Sep 29, 2019 at 15:21
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    @RussRainford While cloning per se might be ok, making clones to harvest them for organs probably is ethically reprehensible as the clones will be sentient beings. Cloning organs on the other hand should be ok, but it's never discussed as far as I remember.
    – Hans Olo
    Commented Sep 29, 2019 at 16:46
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    They used some form of organ cloning to replace Worf's entire spine at one point, so obviously they're okay with that. (Although Worf himself took some convincing.)
    – Darrel Hoffman
    Commented Sep 30, 2019 at 13:31
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    Excellent point. Remember, though, that artificial hearts were a Big Thing in the 1980s when the story was written.
    – RonJohn
    Commented Sep 30, 2019 at 15:10

1 Answer 1

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Bajor is a (potential) member of the Federation. Ibudan, a Bajora, makes a clone in his quarters. Sisko and Bashir don't seem to have any problem with this whatsoever, nor do they seem intent on charging him with 'Felony Clonemaking' along with his murder rap.

ODO: (re: the new clone) What happens to this one?

BASHIR: In about two days, he becomes a living, breathing member of Bajoran society.

DS9: A Man Alone

The Federation is comprised of lots of planets, all with their own laws. From what I can recall, nobody ever raises a complaint about clones or cloning per se, only that they personally don't want to be cloned (as in TNG: Up the Long Ladder). Similarly, an incomplete clone doesn't appear to have any legal rights until it's activated, but once it gains consciousness it has all the rights of a Federation (or in this case, Bajoran) citizen.

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    Also the entire crew of Voyager agreed to be sort-of-cloned in VOY: Demon.
    – Jane S
    Commented Sep 30, 2019 at 6:11
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    Don't forget ENT: Similitude too - which deals with the issue of cloning a replacement organ donor...
    – Chronocidal
    Commented Sep 30, 2019 at 7:29
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    @KeithMorrison: Thomas Riker doesn't have legal issues. He definitely has issues, given his eventual fate.
    – Kevin
    Commented Sep 30, 2019 at 17:09
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    Bajor is not a member of the Federation during the events of A Man Alone, so Federation law is irrelevant. Bashir is, and no doubt has his own opinions about cloning quite separate from its legal status (possibly related to his being the product of Federation-illegal genetic manipulation), but he doesn't express an opinion one way or the other, presumably because it wouldn't be professional.
    – Ross Thompson
    Commented Sep 30, 2019 at 19:42
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    @RossThompson - Given that Bajor is applying for Federation membership, them breaking a Federation-wide law would be a huge deal. It most certainly is relevant to the discussion, not least because of Bashir's total lack of concern
    – Valorum
    Commented Sep 30, 2019 at 19:58

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