REPRODUCTIVE CLONING:
Developments during 2001.
Sponsored link.
Note:
The following news items relate to reproductive cloning: the
creation of a newborn human or other animal who is an exact duplication of
an existing person. They do not describe therapeutic cloning: the creation
of pre-embryos in order to extract their stem cells and create a human
organ.
See another essay for information on U.S. legislation at the Federal and State levels
which have attempted to regulate human therapeutic and reproductive cloning.
News items on therapeutic (a.k.a. research) cloning is described
elsewhere.
News items during 2001:
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2001-MAR-29: USA: Reproductive cloning unethical: Scientists
told a congressional panel that reproductive cloning experiments are
ethically treacherous and likely to produce deformed babies. Rep. James
Greenwood (R-PA) chairman of the House Energy and Commerce
oversight subcommittee said: "We're dealing with the most profound of
human responsibilities - the future of our species." FDA
representatives said that cloning experiments in the U.S. would require
prior approval from them, and that they would not issue applications at
this time. 1 |
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2001-MAY-10: Australia: First cloned
pig in Australia produced: An Australian biotech company, BresaGen
Limited, in association with the Immunology Research Center at
St. Vincent's Hospital in Melbourne, announced that they had
produced the first cloned pig. It was five weeks old at the time of the
announcement, has been weaned and is healthy.
2 |
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2001-JUN-20: UK: Scientists call for international ban on human
reproductive cloning: The Royal Society in London released a report
which calls on all national governments to ban reproductive cloning of
humans. The UK banned such cloning earlier in 2001. Professor Richard
Gardner chaired the committee who prepared the report. He said: "Our
experience with animals suggests that there would be a very real danger
of creating seriously handicapped individuals if anybody tries to
implant cloned human embryos into the womb.''
3 |
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2001-JUN-8: Australia: Nine governments (six states, two
territories and one national) in Australia reached a consensus on
uniform legislation to ban human reproductive cloning. Prime Minister
John Howard said at a news conference: "The states, everybody has
committed themselves to having uniform legislation banning cloning. That
is a major advance.'' Additional discussions will be undertaken to
develop a uniform approach to therapeutic cloning. Howard said: "You
have to try to strike a balance between the legitimate ethical concerns
people have, particularly in relation to the destruction of embryos, and
the desire to gather and harness all the benefits available from medical
science of these advances.'' 4 |
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2001-AUG-1: Canada: Proposal to ban reproductive cloning: The
Canadian government is proposing that reproductive cloning be
crimnialized, while stem cell research and therapeutic cloning continue.
Catherine Lappe, spokeswoman for Health Minister Allan Rock, said: "We've
put forward what we think is the appropriate balance, on the one hand
allowing for regulated stem cell research but on the other hand not
allowing for the cloning of embryos." Research will be permitted on
embryos which are less than 14 days from conception, but only spare
embryos from fertility clinics will be usable. Embryos will not be
allowed to be created specifically for research. The proposed
legislation will allow the creation of mixed species embryos, through
the adding of non-human cells to existing human embryos. But they will
have to be destroyed within 14 days. 5 |
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2001-AUG-13: China: Giant Panda cloning project underway: A
laboratory in Beijing is studying cloning as a way to speed up breeding
of giant pandas. "The 2-year-old project run by the official Chinese
Academy of Sciences refused visits by reporters. But administrator Shen
Chuangli said scientists there have succeeded in extracting DNA from a
bear's egg and replacing it with that of a panda. The genetically
altered ovum was then placed in a bear's womb but failed to grow. Shen
said China is years away from producing a healthy panda clone. 'The
current technology is far from mature,' he said."
6 |
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2001-OCT-28: USA: First reproductive cloning of primate achieved:
Professor Don Wolf, of the Oregon Regional Primate Research
Center, successfully cloned embryos using DNA from a rhesus monkey.
He said: "We have been working with somatic cells and believe that
success is just around the corner as the cloned embryos created from
them are growing well in vitro." Because of the close genetic
similarity between humans and rhesus monkeys, this achievement is the
first major indicator that human reproduction cloning is possible. 7 |
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2001-NOV: Scotland: Anglican bishop supports human reproductive
cloning: Richard Holloway, a former Bishop of Edinburgh and leader
of the Scottish Episcopal Church, was a guest speaker at a meeting of
the Royal Society of Edinburgh. He is reported as stating that he
supports, in principle, the concept of human reproductive cloning in
cases where the couple is infertile. However, he feels that the required
scientific expertise does not exist to do it safely. He is quoted as
saying: "Cloning of this sort does not produce copies of the same
person - it produces unique individuals who have the same genotype.
Clones of this sort are no more ethically problematic than identical
twins....Left to the pure processes of nature, many of us would be dead
by now. Indeed, it could be argued that it is our nature to re-order
nature."
8 |
More detailed and comprehensive media accounts on reproductive and therapeutic cloning
are available at:
|
BioExchange, at:
http://www.bioexchange.com/ It "is a science network of specialized
e-marketplaces, value-added information & resources, and industry-specific
e-business services." |
|
Americans to Ban Cloning, at:
http://www.cloninginformation.org/
This group "promote a global, comprehensive ban on human [therapeutic
and reproductive] cloning."
|
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Laura Meckler, "Bill Planned To Ban Human Cloning," Associated
Press, 2001-MAR-29. Online at:
http://www.bioexchange.com/
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"BresaGen Limited Clones Australia's First Pig; Pig Five Weeks Old
and Healthy; Patent Application Filed For Cloning Technology,"
PRNewswire, 2001-MAY-10, at:
http://www.bioexchange.com/
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"UK Scientists Urge Global Ban on Cloning," 2001-JUN-20, at:
http://www.bioexchange.com/
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Andrea Hopkins, "Australia Agrees National Ban on Human Cloning,"
BioExchange, 2001-JUN-8, at:
http://www.bioexchange.com/
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"Canada Asks Ban on Cloning, Not Stem Cell
Research," Reuters, 2001-AUG-1, at:
http://www.bioexchange.com/
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"China Looks at Technology for Panda," BioExchange, 2001-AUG-13,
at:
http://www.bioexchange.com/
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Stuart F. Hill, "Primate research brings human cloning one step closer,"
The Reproductive Cloning Network at:
http://www.reproductivecloning.net/
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Stuart F. Hill, "Bishop Supports Human Cloning," The Reproductive
Cloning Network at:
http://www.reproductivecloning.net/
Copyright ©2001 to 2004 incl. by Ontario Consultants on
Religious Tolerance
Last updated 2004-FEB-16
Author: Bruce A Robinson
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