CONTRIBUTORS

PHILIP ELMER-DEWITT, TIME's science editor, knows firsthand how quickly technology can race ahead of those who think or write about it. While putting together the package of stories for this week's special report on the first cloning of an adult mammal, he was reminded that just four years ago, in another TIME cover story--one he wrote--we said the possibility of replicating an animal from the dna of fully developed cells is "far beyond the reach of today's science." The next technological step, he notes, might not be too far off. "Suddenly the possibility of cloning a new human from a dictator's nose, as in Woody Allen's Sleeper, is no longer strictly in the realm of fantasy," he says. "If these techniques worked for Dolly the sheep, they will probably work for humans too."

JOELLE ATTINGER, an executive editor of Time Inc., works to find ways to get stories developed by the company's magazines onto television, specifically CNN. The first result of her efforts is a weekly newsmagazine show called IMPACT (Sundays at 9 p.m.). Anchored by CNN's BERNARD SHAW, the program will include a weekly feature produced with TIME journalists. For the premiere, Attinger introduces a segment on cloning. The collaboration between the two staffs, she hopes, "will enrich both the magazine and CNN."

DOUGLAS COUPLAND wrote the short story Clone, Clone on the Range for us with less than three days' notice--a particularly tight deadline for a novelist. The subject matter, however, sparked his creativity, and he produced his satirical tale well ahead of schedule. "Massive scientific ruptures like this one are so rare and powerful and alluring," says Coupland, whose previous books, including Generation X and Microserfs, often explored science issues. "A good jolt is good for the brain, and the news is so jolting--it's a good match." As for the technology, Coupland says, since it's new, "I'm willing to give it a chance--but it has such a profound capacity for abuse." He's quick to add that that has never stopped us before.

DAN GOODGAME, our Washington bureau chief, grew up in Pascagoula, Mississippi, the only son of a shipyard machinist. So we thought he might be well suited to report and write this week's profile of Senate majority leader Trent Lott, who also grew up in Pascagoula, the only son of a shipyard pipe fitter. Goodgame is so familiar with Lott's milieu that many sources he interviewed began by asking him "So how's your mama?" When one source wasn't in, he was found at a meeting with Goodgame's uncle. "Everyone back home is so proud of Trent Lott," Goodgame says, "that they're willing to overlook the fact that he's about the only person they know who doesn't care about eating, drinking or fishing."