The Canadian dentist who bought John Lennon’s rotten molar for nearly £20,000 has claimed that the tooth can now be used to clone the former Beatle and supposedly bring him back to life. Dr Michael Zuk bought the tooth in 2011 and he also says that a similar method could be used to clone Elvis; the two clones could be walking the earth as early as 2040, in his opinion.
In an interview with dentistry site Teethwise, Dr Zuk suggested that the same process used to clone Dolly the Sheep back in 1996 could be used to bring the two singing legends back; he seemed unconcerned about the legal complications, saying ‘Legally, it is not a problem. If something is illegal in one country it’s a matter of crossing a border. Animal cloning still has some glitches they are working out but they are already cloning species. Once the glitches are worked out humans will follow.’
Regarding Lennon’s tooth, Dr Zuk explains that ‘collecting celebrity DNA will be insane in the future as it creates a risk for celebs to have surprise offspring.’ The dentist also seems to have overlooked the moral and ethical complications related to such a task and is more concerned with the media scrutiny that the new ‘John’ would have to endure, saying ‘It could be a little unfair. Whilst some elements of the cloning process would be publicised, it is likely the identity of the child would not initially be disclosed publicly.’