In Michel Houellebecq‘s latest novel ‘The Possibility of an Island’, the story revolves about a cult (the ‘Elohimites’) who believes in creating eternal life by cloning humans. It turns out the story is based on a real, existing cult, the Raelians. Several of the quite absurd stories in Houellebecq’s book are based on reality: for instance, the cult leader is a former race car driver who believes he was chosen by extraterrestrial beings to preach the story of the Elohim (an advanced alien lifeform who created all of the terrestrial lifeforms). Clonaid, a company owned by the Raelians, claimed to have performed the first successful human cloning in 2002 – however, no scientific evidence for the cloning has ever been presented by Clonaid.

BTW, if you are to read a book by Houellebecq start with ‘Whatever’ (‘Extension du domaine de la lutte’) – it can be strongly recommended. (Though I liked ‘The possibility of an Island’, it is not on par with ‘Whatever’, ‘Platform’ or ‘Atomicity’).