Someday, Aliens May Clone Stephen Colbert

Comedian Will Have His DNA Shot Into Space, Along With A Gold Medal Olympian And A Professional Wrestler

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NEW YORK, Sept. 8, 2008

(CBS/AP)  Should this world ever cease to exist, Stephen Colbert will live on.

The comedian's DNA will be digitized and sent to the International Space Station, Comedy Central was to announce Monday. In October, video game designer Richard Garriott will travel to the station and deposit Colbert's genes for an "Immortality Drive."

"I am thrilled to have my DNA shot into space, as this brings me one step closer to my lifelong dream of being the baby at the end of 2001," Colbert said in a statement, referring to the 1968 landmark science fiction film "2001: A Space Odyssey."

Garriott, one of few private citizens to travel into space, is collecting material for a time capsule of human DNA, a history of humanity's greatest achievements and personal messages.

The host of "The Colbert Report" will essentially be preserved so that aliens can clone him.

"In the unlikely event that Earth and humanity are destroyed, mankind can be resurrected with Stephen Colbert's DNA," Garriott said in a statement. "Is there a better person for us to turn to for this high-level responsibility?"

Among the other luminaries whose digitized genetic material will be sent into space are Olympic Gold Medalist Scott Johnson, "American Gladiator" champion and wrestling star Matt Morgan and television writer Melvyn Sherer, whose credits include "Married With Children" and "Laverne and Shirley."

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