REPRODUCTIVE CLONING:
Developments during 2002.
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 2002:
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2002-JAN-4: UK: Cloned sheep has developed arthritis: Dolly,
the world's first cloned mammal, has developed arthritis at age
five-and-a-half years. It is not clear whether the arthritis is related
to the cloning process. Professor Ian Wilmut, head of the team at
Roslin Institute which created Dolly, said: "She has arthritis in
her left hind leg at the hip and the knee....There is no way of
knowing if this is down to cloning or whether it is a coincidence. We
will never know the answer to that question. We are very disappointed
and we will have to keep a careful eye on her. In every other way she is
perfectly healthy and she has given birth to six healthy lambs."
1 | |
2002-JAN-7: US: Human embryos created: Scientists at
Advanced Cell Technology Inc. (ACT) published the results of their
project to create human pre-embryos via somatic cell nuclear transfer.
Although this conceivably could have been used for reproductive cloning
leading to its development into a newborn, the intent of these
experiments is to produce and harvest stem cells for use in therapeutic
cloning. None of the pre-embryos developed past the six-cell stage. 2 | |
2002-JAN-11: CA: California panel opposes reproductive cloning:
A 12-person advisory board appointed by the California legislature
was set to announce its unanimous recommendations that therapeutic
cloning be permitted....To ban such research would, in our view, be
itself unethical." Citing physical, psychological safety, ethical
and social concerns, the report states: "The Committee unanimously
agrees that California should ban human reproductive cloning." Most
committee members felt that reproductive cloning should be banned even
if it were proved to be physically safe.
3 | |
2002-JAN-18: USA: National Academy of
Sciences opposes reproductive cloning: A panel of the National
Academy of Scientists (NAS) issued a 113 page report on cloning. It
was based purely on scientific factors, and not moral or ethical
concerns. It concluded that reproductive cloning should be illegal
because of the risk to both the clones and to their mothers. The
report said, in part: "The panel, therefore, unanimously supports the
proposal that there should be a legally enforceable ban on the practice
of human reproductive cloning." They also recommended that Congress
should not interfere with therapeutic cloning research.
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A coalition of patient advocates and medical research groups is
promoting legislation that would follow the NAS recommendations.
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Douglas Johnson, of the National Right to Life Committee,
a pro-life group, said: "This little group is just flying cover
for the biotech industry's plans to set up human embryo farms."
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Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) commented: "It is vital that the
hands of the scientific community must not be tied if people who
suffer from Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and many other diseases are to
receive the benefits of stem cells and transplants." 4 |
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2002-FEB-14: TX: Cloned house cat produced: Scientists at
Texas A&M University revealed that a cloned kitten was born in mid
2001-DEC. This brings to six the number of animals which have been
reproductively cloned: sheep, mice, pigs, goats, cattle and cats. Mark
Westhusin said that: "This process is absolutely not ready for prime
time." The kitten is named "cc" short for copy cat. It was really
cute. 5 | |
2002-MAR-23: FL: Anti-cloning bills not
expected to pass: House Bill HB 805 and Senate Bill SB 1164 were not
expected to be voted upon as the legislature concluded its session. They
would have banned all human cloning, both reproductive and therapeutic.
Cloning activity could have resulted in a 10-year jail sentence and a
one million dollar fine. Kenneth Goodman, a University of Miami
professor and co-director of the Florida Bioethics Network said
that a ban "is like telling the Wright brothers they needed to rely
on springs and rubber bands....We need to be sensitive to all sorts of
constituencies. But scientists are looking for guidance, not a door
slammed in their faces."
6 | |
2002-MAR-30: KY: Bill to ban reproductive
cloning killed: According to John Cheves of the Herald-Leader: "The
[Kentucky] Senate voted 22-16 for an amendment that nullified the
controversial House Bill 138, a human cloning ban. The Senate then laid
the bill on the clerk's desk indefinitely, a move that stops the bill
for the rest of this legislative session." The bill would have
banned both reproductive and therapeutic cloning.
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Jane Chiles, of the Catholic
Conference of Kentucky said: "The mad scientist approach --
no limits, let me move full steam ahead, no matter what -- is what
the universities want here." |
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Sen. Robert Stivers, (R) said nobody
knows what the potential of stem-cell research will achieve. He
said: "What this bill does without the amendment is close a door.
A hope. An opportunity."
7 |
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2002-APR-3: Italy: Dr. Antinori claims woman pregnant with 8 week
old cloned fetus: Dr. Antinori, director of
an Infertility unit at the International Center for the Study of
Physiopathology of Human Reproduction in Rome announced at a
conference that a woman is carrying a cloned fetus. He noted that there
is some risk that the fetus will be born with a defect. "Terming the
U.S. ban as a violation of human rights, he stated that everyone had the
right to transmit their particular characteristics to their progeny, or
to use cloning to reduce infertility."
8 This appears to have been a hoax. As of 2004-FEB,
no human newborn has been proven to be a clone. | |
2002-APR-9:
USA: Failures in cloning monkeys casts doubts on human reproductive
cloning: Gerald Schatten, deputy director, Magee-Womens Research
Institute, Pittsburgh, PA and his team unsuccessfully tried to clone
a monkey. He said that this casts doubts on attempts to clone humans.
Richard Paulson, chief of the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology
and Infertility at the University of Southern California said:
"Based on recent data from attempts to clone monkeys, it is extremely
unlikely that human reproductive cloning is going to happen any time
soon." 9 | |
2002-APR-10:
USA: Women who carry cloned fetuses may be at risk for cancer:
Professor Richard Gardner said that the woman carrying a cloned fetus
could be at risk of choriocarcinoma -- a rare and uniquely human cancer.
BBC News states that: "The cancer develops from the trophoblast, the
part of an embryo that invades the womb wall and develops into the
placenta....Animal experiments have shown these genes remain switched on
in cloned embryos when they should be silenced by a chemical masking
process called 'imprinting'." 10 | |
2002-APR-23:
USA: Rare pig breed cloned: "Princess," is the last American female
from one of four bloodlines of Gloucestershire Old Spot
pigs in North America. Two cloned were successfully produced. Earlier
attempts at natural breeding and artificial insemination had been
unsuccessful.
11 | |
2002-AUG-29:
Australia: House passes ban on human reproductive cloning: The House
voted 89 to 43 to split an anti-cloning bill into two components -- to
cover reproductive and therapeutic cloning. They then unanimously passed
the bill which bans reproductive cloning. 12
| |
2002-SEP-25: CA: Temporary ban made permanent: Governor Gray
Davis signed a bill that places a permanent ban on reproductive cloning.
The previous law was due to expire at the start of 2003. Davis said: "There
is no other place in the nation where science and high-tech better
compliment each other. But we have to draw a clear line on the ethics of
this cutting-edge biotechnology. We are not ready to experiment with
human or reproductive cloning."
13 | |
2002-NOV-8:
World: U.S. defeats world ban on human reproductive cloning: A
United Nations committee was poised to vote on a Franco-German proposal
to ban all human reproductive cloning. The U.S. with the support of over
30 other nations successfully delayed further discussion for a year. The
U.S. wants the proposal extended to ban therapeutic cloning as well.
George Annas, professor of public health and bioethics at Boston
University called the decision "a shame." He said: "The
delay will give France and Germany another year to persuade people that
there is something worthwhile in research cloning, and that you can
conduct such research without making babies. As research cloning is now
already under way in many parts of the world including the United
States, the delay means that scientists everywhere including in the
United States can continue such research for at least another year."
14 | |
2002-DEC-26: Bermuda: Probable hoax: first human clone born:
Clonaid, a private company linked to the Raelian religious group,
states that a healthy, 7-pound girl, "Eve" was born. The cloning was
allegedly done because the woman's husband was infertile. The DNA came
from the baby's mother, a 31 year old American woman. Clonaid hopes to
have twenty more births during 2003. Most observers were either outraged
at the news, or very skeptical that it was more than a publicity stunt.
No proof that the event actually happened has ever been released. 15 |
More detailed and comprehensive media accounts on reproductive and therapeutic cloning
are available at:
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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." |
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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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"Cloned Dolly has arthritis," CNN.com, 2002-JAN-4, at:
http://edition.cnn.com/
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Ted Agres & Eugene Russo, "Cloning Controversy Re-emerges in US.
Announced creation of human embryos sparks debate among scientists and
lawmakers," The Scientist, 2002-JAN-7. at:
http://www.the-scientist.com/
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Tom Abate, "State panel backs cloning for research, but not babies," San
Francisco Chronicle, 2002-JAN-11, at:
http://www.sfgate.com/
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Rick Weiss & Ceci Connolly, "Experts Urge Ban On Cloned Babies. But
Panel Backs Embryo Research," Washington Post, 2002-JAN-19, Page A01,
at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
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Dan Vergano, "Clone scientists produce copy cat," USA Today,
2002-FEB-14, at:
http://www.usatoday.com/
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John Pain, "Cloning ban not likely to pass," The Associated
Press, 2002-MAR-23, at:
http://www.tallahassee.com/
- John Cheves, "Senate vote goes against cloning
ban. Threat to research ends as bill dies for this session,"
Herald-Leader, 2002-MAR-30, at:
http://www.aberdeennews.com/
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Kavitha S Daniel, "Human cloning project
claims progress," Gulf News, 2002-APR-3, at:
http://www.gulfnews.com/
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Amanda Onion, "Unlikely Story? Failed Monkey
Clonings Cast Doubt on Human Cloning Claim," ABC News, 2002-APR-9, at:
http://abcnews.go.com/
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"Cloned baby cancer warning," BBC News, 2002-APR-10, at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/
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"Rare pig cloned in single cycle," New Scientists, 2002-APR-23,
at: http://www.newscientist.com/
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"Cloning ban passes through House of Representatives," Australian
Broadcast Corporation News, 2002-AUG-29, at:
http://www.abc.net.au/
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"New law makes permanent a ban on human cloning," Sacramento
Business Journal, 2002-SEP-25, at:
http://www.bizjournals.com/
- "World cloning ban delayed," ONE
News, 2002-NOV-8,
http://onenews.nzoom.com/
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"First Human Clone," The Reproductive Cloning Network at:
http://www.reproductivecloning.net/
Copyright ©2002 to 2004 incl. by Ontario Consultants on
Religious Tolerance
Last updated 2004-FEB-16
Author: Bruce A Robinson
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