A few years ago, Hollywood’s imagination brought the notion of using scientific advances to bring extinct dinosaurs to life. At the time, the film &uot;Jurassic Park&uot; seemed like only a wild, scientific dream. It was great fun. Imagine the thrill of going to a theme park filled with long-extinct creatures.

Soon after, news broke that scientists in Europe had used similar genetics technology to clone a sheep named Dolly.

And the knowledge that brought the world the first cloned animal has been racing ever since.

Last week an American company unveiled its latest genetics experiment: an endangered ox growing inside a surrogate cow.

The implications, the scientists say, may be endless. Their latest discovery opens the way for scientists to clone endangered and recently extinct species from only a portion of their genetic code.

When will it stop?

Probably never.

Man’s rush to learn more and more about our world began with Adams and Eve and has continued on for centuries.

Now we’re on the verge of being able to recreate exact duplicates — genetically at least — of human beings.

The implications of cloning are phenomenal:

— Just because we can duplicate a human being, should we?

— Would a cloned creature have a soul?

— What laws should be in place to protect society from potential harm if such science falls in the hands of terrorists — which it inevitably will.

What we, as a society, need to do is begin talking about the potential consequences of such medical knowledge now, before it gets out of hand and before cloning can’t be stopped.