Cloning is getting a lot of press these days. First it was stem cell cloning from people wannabes on their way to the delete folder. Then it was the argument over whether it would be legal to clone organs, or for that matter whole humans (sans brains and other vital "peoply" bits). And now it's all about cloned meat.

So now the breach has been jumped into by the FDA and it's officially legal to clone animals for food. Which simply encourages my sick little mind to combine two recent cloning arguments to come up with the following ethical humdinger:

Assuming human cloning (say, for organs) ever becomes legal, would it be legal to eat the "leftovers?"

I mean, at the near, more realistic end, we're talking personalized liver pate and at the far, fairly sci-fi end, we're talking brainless meat-puppets. But in either case, they're not people. Never were, never would be. They're just a spare-parts bag with a handy white-meat carrying case. And yet...it's still human flesh.

Sort of.

And does it make any difference if it's your own clone? I mean, there's nothing illegal about lopping off your own arm and popping it on the barbie for a quick sear. Unsettling, definitely, and probably grounds for a sudden techtonic shift in the structure of the familial power of attorney arrangements. But not illegal. So would eating the leftover nibbles from your own clone, or maybe even setting up a meat farm based on your own DNA, be any different?

(Suddenly, I'm seeing a huge market for choice custom bits bred from celebrity samples - fresh, tender loin of AnJolie, anyone?)

Hey, I'm not saying I would. But I'm not saying I wouldn't either, just for the sheer wtf factor. But you gotta admit, it makes for a fine late-night, after-dinner-and-a-few-bottles-of-wine discussion with your wackiest friends. Not to mention being a serious legal game of ethical twister.