The Raelians: Visionary Science or Quackery? A Case Study Exploring the Scientific Method and Human Cloning by Scott D. Zimmerman Biology Department University of Wisconsin—Stout

Part I—The Scientific Method and Unusual Claims

On the morning of December 13, 1973, Claude Vorilhon, a French auto racing journalist, was on his way to work in Clermont-Ferrand. On an impulse, he drove to a nearby volcano. While hiking around the crater, Mr. Vorilhon claims he was contacted by a four-foot-tall being with long dark hair, almond shaped eyes, and olive skin. This entity said he was an extraterrestrial and called himself Yahweh Elohim. Yahweh Elohim told Mr. Vorilhon, in fluent French, that people from another planet created humans in laboratories through genetic engineering. He also said that the Elohim, the people to whom Yahweh belonged, were the ones who made all life on Earth and that ancient peoples mistook them for gods (the name Elohim is an ancient Hebrew word meaning “those who came from the sky” and is used in Jewish prayers to refer to God). Mr. Vorilhon was told to spread the word of the Elohim on Earth in preparation for their return.

As a result of this experience, Mr. Vorilhon changed his name to Rael and founded the Raelian cult (http://www.rael.org/int/english/). The movement currently claims 60,000 members in 90 countries.

In 1997, Rael founded Clonaid, a genetic engineering company with the goal of cloning a human being. The Raelians’ interest in cloning stems from their belief that the human soul perishes when the body dies. They believe that the key to eternal life is not the soul but the recreation of individuals from their DNA. Raelians believe that immortality can be achieved through cloning an individual so that upon dying their “being” will pass from their old body into the new body. Clonaid claims to have produced the first cloned humans (born in December 2002 and January 2003).

Questions

1. How could you identify an extraterrestrial? What evidence would you need to be convinced that a being had extraterrestrial origins?
2. Claims—
   
   1. What steps would be involved in scientifically analyzing the claims of extraterrestrial origins for human beings? What experiments could you design to test this claim?
   2. How could you scientifically analyze the Raelian claims linking DNA to eternal life? What experiments could you design to test their claims?

Image Credit: Based on a detail of “Adam and Eve” by Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1531, Lime wood, 170 x 69,5 cm, Gemäldegalerie, Dresden.

Date Posted: 04/05/04 nas

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