I think it would. If the original statue was your product and the new statues would only have come into existence because of your original, then the criteria fo

I think it would. If the original statue was your product and the new statues would only have come into existence because of your original, then the criteria for copyright would still apply. The reason is that copyright is meant to give creators some legal control over stuff which is liable to be copied without his control. Of course, there are a lot more difficulties in copyrighted genes than in other copyrighted works, but I think that is due to the failure of the copyright system to take into account the unique nature of genes rather than the ineligibility of genes for copyright as the law stands. I suspect that what will happen is that the genes will remain copyrightable and the law will be modified to account for the unique dangers copyrighted genes present, likely through limiting the power copyright holders possess over them.