Replicators, Transporters and Dats

[Gary 11's]

I was thinking about what limits a replicator has, which is presumably creation of life. Therefore given the correct the information could a replicator produce another Data? Could the required information come from a transporter pattern?

If this is possible it would seem the guy from The Measure Of A Man who wanted to take Data apart to pursue reproduction was going about it the wrong way. Simply take your transporter pattern and feed it into a replicator (grim thought: try this with organic life and you produce a corpse clone)

 

[e3jeremey]

An industrial replicator might be capable of producing some if not all the parts required to build an Android as we have evidence that Voyager used theirs to create the Delta Flyer. However, a replicator could not create the advance neutral network and programming. That itself is software based and would require complex programming that would in turn need to be loaded into a positronic brain.

So unfortunately I don't see a replicator doing the trick nor a transporter in this case.

 

[UnknownSample]

PWL... That sounds very good and knowledgeable... knowing nothing about computers, I wouldn't know. But what would happen if absolutely every cubic micron of Data is replicated, including every component being in an "on" state... generating or continuing whatever thoughts or processes going on in Data at the moment before replication... what would the replicator give us?

 

[e3jeremey]

PWL... That sounds very good and knowledgeable... knowing nothing about computers, I wouldn't know. But what would happen if absolutely every cubic micron of Data is replicated, including every component being in an "on" state... generating or continuing whatever thoughts or processes going on in Data at the moment before replication... what would the replicator give us?

You're referring to something ala Second Chances from TNG. I don't think it's ever stayed that there are any safeguards preventing this from happening to Data so given the right circumstances by accident or force you could end up with a scenario much like Commander Riker and Tom Riker.