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Ledford, who works at WNC Eye Care, is a certified ophthalmic medical technologist and quite experienced in medical research. She's written several books in the field of eye care, including a manual.
"When I tell people my COMT medical title, they say, 'What's that?' So the easiest way I explain it is tell them that I am an eye nurse, even though I am not really a nurse. But that brief explanation seems to help," said Ledford, who heads her own Eye Write Productions company.
If you don't know a thing about cloning, that's OK, because Ledford will take you through the process, step by step.
Every cell contains a genetic code. That code is contained within chromosomes and written in the form of genes. Each person has 46 chromosomes, 23 from the mother and 23 from the father.
The mother's contribution comes by way of the egg cell. That's where the chromosomes are contained in the nucleus. In cloning, the nucleus is removed, leaving an empty egg shell. A nucleus is taken from a body cell and placed into an egg. It already has a full chromosome count of 46. The cloned embryo then incubates, growing to a certain size, and then it is placed inside a woman to develop.
That's the medical version. Ledford's novel, however, addresses another issue the spiritual aspect of cloning.
"Is God doing such a poor job of creation, that man has to take over?" one of the characters in her books asks.
With great fairness and medical perspective, Ledford presents both the pros and cons of human cloning. She illustrates how cloning could defeat disease, end fertility and ensure that the best of human life is continued.
On the other hand, she points out that children should be conceived by acts of love and that God is the source of all life, cloned or otherwise, but a spirit can't be cloned.
So, personally, what does Ledford believe?
"I'm not against tissue and organ cloning, but I am against full-term cloning," she said. "There's a lot of identity crisis. Will the clone child feel like a replacement, rather than an individual person?"
In some societies, woman are still considered property, Ledford said, raising the possibility that cloned children will be considered "as something manufactured."
Ledford talked about expectations a parent might have. For instance, scientists could clone Mother Teresa. The clone may look like her, but what if she wants to be a punk rocker instead?
"It scares me having people decide who should and shouldn't be cloned. How do we determine who makes the choice? Look at the Holocaust?" Ledford said. "As a Christian, I don't think the buck should stop with human judgment."
Writing the book gave her "more of a big-picture concept," said Ledford, who admits to being high-detail.
"In writing, planning is the hardest part for me. I am so structured that I need a road map; I tend to get lost without one."
Cloning people is not so farfetched. Last month Dr. Severino Antinori of Italy announced that a woman is eight weeks pregnant with a human clone.
A procedure called nuclear transplantation is pending before the Senate and may end up for a vote in the next several weeks. The National Academy of Sciences says nuclear transplantation is the first and essential step in all human cloning, including reproductive cloning. The U.S. House has passed a bill banning human cloning, but the Senate has not acted on it yet.
One of Ledford's main characters in this page-turning plot is a U.S. Senator running for re-election on a human cloning platform for the first time in history. Just for an added dash of intrigue the Senator is Gambrel's mother.
"Human cloning is on the cutting edge of technology and legislation," said Ledford. "Fifteen years ago would you have thought we would even be talking about the possibility?"
Aside from cloning, Ledford's novel is a whirlwind of clandestine adventures, political schemes, legal battles and attempted murder.
Ledford will read selections from "The Cloning" during a book signing Saturday, June 15, at 7:30 p.m. at City Lights. Copies of her book are also available at The Christian Shop and on-line.
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