There's been discussion recently in my Shadowrun game about the PCs getting cloned duplicates stored away in case something horrible happens. One thing I had commented off-handedly was having a human in the group become an elf. But is that possible? Do scientists and doctors know enough about the genetics of the various races that they can 'swap' a person's race?

It could be as simple as 'clone someone else, upload memories and personality' perhaps, but I'm more wondering 'elf variant of person, dwarf variant of person', etc.

Hmm, makes me wonder if they can artificially produce changelings, too. I'm fairly certain drakes would be out of the question for now.

Yes, in SR4, Humans Can Become Elves and Trolls can become Dwarves through Genetic Reassignment Technologies. Cloning is also a thing.
The only real hurdle for "Sleeving" ala Eclipse Phase is the transfer of Mind/Memory to the new "Downloaded Body."

I never figured that changelings were identifiable by DNA, and IIRC the entry on drakes says their DNA returns based on their metatype and nothing more.

And there's always PAB units (Unwired, 189-190) to act as a downloading method to the new body. The NuYou body will only be as good as the last sample and brain recording.

Yep, a PAB should work pretty well... Assuming you have some really good recordings, that are updated regularly.

You can build a hybrid cyborg/clone human who grows like a normal human child desipte being made on a cyborg frame, to become the teenage singstar sensation of the decade. In your basement. With gear stolen from MCT. (See: Anarchy Subsidized).

The problem with Wimps is that they don't develop neurologically, so uploading information to their brains probably won't work. Since the lack of brain development is, to my understanding, a side affect of the accelerated growth rate of the clone, you may as well just brainwash SINless instead - it's faster, cheaper, and easier.

~Umi

But then you have to take what you can get... And spend lots of money fixing them and making them beautiful.
I am sure there would be a workaround for the Wimp problem, as the technology is likely taking off by leaps and bounds in Shadowrun.

I would say it is primary a meta decision, clones being "born" without a brain prevents all kinds of things which would otherwise have to be explained. And IC, it ensures that clones can be seen as property and harvested when necessary, no need to get people worked up with the idea of sapient clones

I can definitely agree with that one.
"Why is my insurance policy sitting in my living room?"

Don't forget that magic can't be cloned. ;D

Hmm. How does that work? For example, if you clone yourself, and your memories can transfer over, don't you get to keep your magic attribute and spells known, or adept abilities?

I would say that it works like Burnout. You still remember those things (how to activate them, etc. etc.) it just doesn't work any more.

(Note: clones can also end up with a magic attribute when the originals didn't have one, because of the way the "magic gene" works)

Yeah, a similar problem arises when figuring out if clones are ghoul kosher. The answer turns out to be "sometimes", but there's no real official explanation as to when all of those times are, and what the determining factor between specific cases really is. (It's almost like handwaving this stuff is a trend!)

My personal working theory revolves around metahuman auras, and I think it adequately explains why some clonal tissue counts toward the dietary requirement while other clonal tissue does not, but ultimately there are still a few gray spaces that I think need explained officially.

~Umi

Which they cannot. The best that can be done is feeding the subject false memories, but even then, wimps do not have a brain to program...

While true, wimps are the most often seen form of cloning, they aren't the ONLY kind of cloning. Wimps are intentionally forced-grown to be viable as spare parts as fast as possible.

But other kinds of cloning are totally viable, and the dolly method to duplicate a sheep/person still works. Heck, designer babies are still a thing, and medical technology has advanced to the point where a child can be created from the genetic material of two people - without sex. From shadowbeat, i believe - two lesbians had a biological kid.
So yeah. Its totally possible to clone a person and have them grow up normally.

Its just not possible in a few weeks like a wimp is.

Well if you're such a Black Trenchcoat badass that you got yourself cloned when you were an infant, so that your new body isn't much different in age than your current one, and you have absolutely no moral qualms about essentially murdering an independent and unique individual with their own experiences, personality, and everything else except for genetic makeup, just so you can steal their body for your own nefarious ends, then yeah, sure, why not?

That or the Metal Gear Solid Les Enfants Terribles style setup, I guess.

Speaking in general, however, this idea is not terribly feasible.

~Umi

Obviously if you didn't powergame yourself a clone at birth, you're not doing it right!

Pfft. Only one? Amateur.

~Umi

Hey man, I know 'had a happy childhood' doesn't give me any mechanical benefits, but it's about the flavour!

It sounds like the "clone as a backup" plan is possible, but the technology is expensive and difficult enough to get that probably only one person can afford it. And it isn't without its downsides.

And he's the type to have been planning and growing that clone for a long time.

"Implants. Those aren't your memories, they're somebody else's."

Its not that bad. Rules for growing clone parts are in Augmentation, and generally require a Facility's investment.

In terms of feasibility , I would say there is a middle ground between a birth-clone and a wimp. You should be able to force-grow a viable brain and neural pattern, just nowhere near as quickly as a wimp.
Cyborg Clonal Brains in augmentation are direct proof of this. So yeah.
You can clone a body and make a viable person out of it. Doesn't mean its easy, just possible.

And yet every time the topic comes up, everyone goes 'call the waaaaaaahmbulance no it's not possible wimps don't work that way the escaped clone quality is bad fluff and shouldn't exist' time and time again.

The closest to resleeving/bioshells in Shadowrun is a combination of full-body cloning (Augmentation, p. 127 for costs and time needed) and your brain in a cranial containment unit (Augmentation, p. 163). You're still stuck with Essence 0.1 and Magic/Resonance 0 though, which is a problem on top of the monthly Sanity Tests! I think this is a bit out of line considering the baby step this seems to be versus stacking neuralware, but whatever.

The cyborg clonal brains in Augmentation are called out as being grown at a normal metabolic rate. Seems pretty gimmicky, I'm not sure what the practical application is. Unless you are seeking some very specific genetic traits there isn't much ethical difference from raising a bunch of normal babies in creches for specific reasons (like harvesting their brains for robots or whatever).

I don't think a PAB is very useful. It's not a braintape, it's just memories you trick someone else into believing are their own. And the penalties get very high if you want to imprint lots of them.