生物科技和基因工程的迅速發展以衍生出倫理和法律的爭議，其中尤以複製生物引起的爭議最多，對社會及倫理的衝擊最大，可能產生的後遺症也最令人憂慮. 桃莉羊是全球第一個被複製成功的哺乳動物，桃莉羊的複製成功難免讓人對複製人的可能到來產生恐慌心理. 一個值得探尋的問題是：複製人是與本尊完全一樣的人嗎? 只要基因相同，兩個人就完全相同嗎? 基因是個人之所以為人的最終決定者嗎? 複製人引起的騷動還是得從複製羊來尋求解答，而複製羊也確實給了我們初步解答. 理論上，如果複製完全成功，四頭羊即使行為不完全一樣，其外觀應完全一樣，但事實上羅斯林學院裡的四頭複製羊，雖基因一模一樣，牠們的外觀和行為卻截然不同. 四頭羊外觀與行為都不相同的事實告訴我們，即使希特勒被複製出來，複製希特勒的外觀與行為也不必然與原來的希特勒一樣. 同卵雙胞胎是基因完全相同的個體，只不過同卵雙胞胎是自然發生，而複製人是利用生物技術完成而已. 如果基因是一切生命的藍圖，則理論上同卵雙胞胎長大成人後應完全相同才對，因同卵雙胞胎的基因完全相同. 但研究顯示實際情形並非如此. 研究顯示有10%左右的同卵雙胞胎在身材及臉部外觀上並不完全相同，以致於被誤認為異卵雙胞胎. 指紋是辨識一個人的重要特徵，每個人都有與生俱來的獨特指紋. 理論上同卵雙胞胎的指紋應完全相同才對，但指紋研究顯示，即使是同卵雙胞胎，其指紋也是相似而非相同. 在疾病方面，同卵雙胞胎同時罹患某些癌症的機率雖大於異卵雙胞胎，但機率只有10-20%而已，並不是很大. 從以上各項種觀察可知，同卵雙胞胎的身體特徵及罹患疾病的種類都會受到基因的影響，但沒一樣特質受基因影響的程度是百分之百的. 同卵雙胞胎的研究顯示，基因完全相同的同卵雙胞胎長大後並不會完全相同，因此，基因並不是生物之所以為生物的真正決定者. 佛教的[十二因緣依序是：[無明]，[行]，[識]，[名色]，[六入]，[觸]，[受]，[愛]，[取]，[有]，[生]，[老死]. 從[十二因緣]來看，基因的位階只是[六入]而已,[六入]以上還有[名色]，[識]，[行]，[無明]及[本明]，所以基因並不是人及所有生物的真正決定者. 因[本明]是無分別的，只有[無明]因生命之不同而不同，所以[無明]才是生命之所以為生命，且異於其他生命的決定者. 但[無明]畢竟只是無明，不是究竟，[無明]的背後還有[本明]，所以[本明]才是生命的主人. The rapid development of biotechnology and genetic engineering has brought about many debates and dilemmas in ethics and law. The successful cloning of a mammal，which is an identical copy of another adult mammal and has no father，has intensified such conflicts between science and ethics. Dolly lamb，which is the first cloned mammal，inevitably raises the turmoil and panic that a cloned human might come into life in the very near future. Some rational questions are：Is the cloned human identical to the original human? Are two human beings the same as each other so long as they have identical genes? Is gene the final determinant of a human being? The answer to the resolution of the turmoil raised by the cloned lambs must be sought from the cloned lambs themselves, and the cloned lambs indeed give us the answer.Theoretically，those four cloned lambs must have the same stature and appearance even though their behaviors might not be identical so long as they have identical genes. Though the genes of those four cloned lambs in the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh are identical to one another，their appearances and behaviors are very different. This fact tells us that even though Hitler is successfully cloned，the appearances and behaviors of the cloned Hitler will be different to the original Hitler. Monozygotic twins have identical genes. The monozygotic twin differs from the cloned human in that the former is formed naturally whereas the latter is formed by biotechnological means. If gene is the blueprint of all kinds of beings, then the grown-up monozygotic twins must be identical to each other theoretically. However，this is not true. Researches have shown that about 10% monozygotic twins are not identical with regard to their stature and facial appearance to the extent that they are often mistaken as dizygotic twins. The fingerprint is unique and long-lasting till the end of the life for every person. Theoretically the monozygotic twins should have the same fingerprint because of their identical gene. However，the finger- prints of monozygotic twins are only similar，rather than identical，to each other. In the case of disease，though the monozygotic twins have greater chance of being affected by the same kind of cancer than the dizygotic twins, the incidence of being affected by the same kind of cancer is less than 20% in the monozygotic twins. This result is contradictory to our common belief that monozygotic twins should be affected by the same kind of cancer. From the above observations, it is evident that the genes can influence the body features and the affection of diseases in the monozygotic twins, but the influence is not 100%. The studies of monozygotic twins tell us that the monozygotic twins who have identical genes will not be identical and that the genes .are not the final determinant of life for all beings. The twelve dependent originations or Dvadasanga pratityasamutpada of Buddhism are ignorance (Avidya)， volitional
