20 Movie Scientists Who Played God

Splice (2009)

Scientists: Clive Nicoli (Adrien Brody) and Elsa Kast (Sarah Polley)

Contribution To Science: Geneticists (and lovers) Clive and Elsa (named for the Bride of Frankenstein actors) create hybrid animals by splicing together DNA from different sources. They come a cropper when they go off brief and start using human DNA in their experiments, resulting in bizarre creature Dren, who seems to be maturing at a much faster rate than they had anticipated...

If Their Creation Was Real: A cat-dog would almost certainly be the gift for Christmas 2010.

Frankenstein (1931)

Scientist: Henry Frankenstein (Colin Clive)

Contribution To Science: Frankenstein becomes obsessed with creating life (and not in the usual, horizontal way). Locking himself away in his laboratory watch-tower, he pieces together body parts from various sources to create his monster (Boris Karloff). The patchwork brute shows shreds of humanity, but it didn't help that he was accidentally fitted with an evil brain.

If His Creation Was Real: Society's elite would all have their own corpse-conglomerates as bodyguards.

The Fly (1986)

Scientist: Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum)

Contribution To Science: Telepods. Brundle has been working alone in his appartment-cum-laboratory, designing and building the device which can transport matter from one pod to another. After preliminary testing with hosiery and steaks, Brundle successfully transports a live baboon. It's only when he himself uses the device, that he discovers a potential flaw.

If His Creation Was Real: The commute to work would be considerably more convenient.

The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996)

Scientist: Dr Moreau (Marlon Brando).

Contribution To Science: More human-animal splicing here. In this third film adaption of HG Wells novel, a plane-crash survivor washes up on the titular island, to discover that the doc has been treating animals with human DNA to temper their natural instincts, and create pure 'beings'. Naturally the beasts rebel and turn on their human masters.

If His Creation Was Real: We'd be pretty close to having a Wizard of Oz style army of 'pretties' to fight our battles.

Re-Animator (1985)

Scientist: Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs)

Contribution To Science: Aspiring medical student West has formulated a serum that can bring the dead back to life, though it's not without its side effects. West struggles to continue his studies with opposition from various faculty members, but as the body count rises, West has plenty of opportunities to experiment.

If His Creation Was Real: You'd never have to say goodbye to your beloved kitty.

I Am Legend (2007)

Scientist: Dr. Alice Krippin (an uncredited Emma Thompson).

Contribution To Science: Krippin developed a man-made virus (a fresh spin on the classic measles) that was used to tackle cancer, with suspiciously successful results (as espoused in the prologue interview). Cut to three years later, and the virus has mutated and wiped out most of the globe's population. The majority of the survivors have become vampiric 'Darkseekers', preying on the few immune humans.

If Her Creation Was Real: We'd have probably asked for a bit more research when she presented her dodgy measles/car chase analogy.

Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)

Scientist: Doctor Catheter (Christopher Lee)

Contribution To Science: Based in the Donald Trump-parodying super-skyscraper of Clamp Enterprises, Dr Catheter does bizarre experiments that lead to the distillation of chemical potions from an assortment of random things (including certain animals, vegetables, intelligence and electricity). It's unknown what Catheter's ultimate aim was, but his potions offer the opportunity for any number of bizarre gremlin hybrids.

If His Creation Was Real: You would only need to drink a small beaker of liquid to become more intelligent, half-spider or a being of pure electricity.

The Prestige (2006)

Scientist: Nikola Tesla (David Bowie)

Contribution To Science: As well as his real-life achievements in electromagnetism, the movie Tesla helps to construct a teleportation machine for ambitious stage magician Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman). Initially it seems as if the machine is unsuccessful, but Angier discovers that the machine actually teleports a duplicate of the original subject, and he finds a way to incorporate this into his stage show.

If His Creation Was Real: You could simply step inside the machine and double your productivity at work.

Deep Blue Sea (1999)

Scientist: Dr Susan McCallister (Saffron Burrows), who leads the team at Aquatica.

Contribution To Science: In an attempt to discover a cure for Alzheimer's, McCallister genetically engineers three sharks so that they have larger brains (the tissue of which she plans to harvest). Before you can say ' Jaws on steroids' the super-intelligent killer fish have broken free from their enclosure, and begin stalking the facility.

If Her Creation Was Real: SeaWorld would be a hell of a lot more interesting…

Moon (2009)

Scientists: The faceless Lunar Industries

Contribution To Science: Lunar Industries uses clones to carry out mining missions on the moon. All is going well, until Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) discovers a duplicate of himself in a crashed moon rover. The clones only last for three years (hence the length of Bell's contract), so the nefarious corporation have to trick the clones into believing that Bell's young family are still waiting for him back on Earth.

If Their Creation Was Real: If you were happy to accept the moral consequences, you could literally slash your production overheads in half, and treble productivity.