Cloning Archival Materials

BUSH ADMINISTRATION FIGHTS FOR UN TO OPPOSE ALL HUMAN CLONING & has derailed for at least a year a proposal for a global ban on human cloning that the U.S. pro-life movement says rejects only human cloning, not human cloning for “research” purposes that involves the destruction of human embryos. “We very strongly feel that no decision is better than a bad decision.” France & Germany initially claimed support for their approach from the vast majority of the UN’s 191 member-states. But, with the help of the U.S. pro-life movement, the Bush administration began pushing hard earlier this year for a treaty that would ban both types of cloning. U.S. officials recently claimed support for their rival initiative from more than 30 other countries, led by Spain and the Philippines. The General Assembly first voted to draft a treaty last year, after Italian fertility specialist Severino Antinori announced his intention to become the first scientist to clone a human being. Numerous researchers have since claimed progress in research into the mechanics of cloning a variety of animals as well as humans, their organs and cells. But none so far has boasted of fashioning human clones in a laboratory. [Reuters; 8Nov02; [email protected]]

Unconfirmed Reports Suggest Italian Researcher Antinori Has Helped Woman Become Pregnant With First Human Clone – Antinori told Rome’s Il Tempo newspaper, that the pregnancy is real and that he has a “limitless supply of money” for his cloning experiment. He also said that Dr. Zavos in his group, a reproductive scientist/former Univ of KY professor, was working in an undisclosed Islamic nation, and he stated that the fetus is the “clone of an important, wealthy [Arab] personality.”[Johnston, London Sunday Telegraph/Washington Times, 4/8,Wash Post] “It is totally outrageous and irresponsible to attempt cloning of humans when we know there is a very high probability of several abnormalities, even if the baby survived to birth, which is extremely doubtful,” Jaenisch stated (O’Hanlon, Reuters/Boston Globe, 4/7). Simon Best, CEO of Ardana, a biotech company, said that this “threatens a growing success story in stem cell research” and “won’t help” win favor in an already close Senate vote (Blitz et al., Financial Times, 4/8). Antinori’s story may also bring about a continent-wide ban of human cloning in Europe (Financial Times). France and Germany, with the support of the European Commission, have already called on the international community to bar the procedure (Financial Times, 4/8; Kaiser Report, 8April02]

FIRST HUMAN EMBRYO IS CLONED/ HEALTHY COW CLONES/ CRITICS –pro-lifers described the human experiments as horrific and said cloning research that intentionally creates then destroys human embryos is abhorrent. Advanced Cell Technology also announced their cow cloning work, saying they
have created 24 cloned cows that are normal in every way. Last spring, leading scientists testified before Congress that cloned animals had so many defects that most died before birth or at it and that the survivors had a variety of problems. Given the high risk of serious defects, they said, it would be immoral to think about cloning humans. Most of the cloning efforts resulted in miscarriages or stillbirths and medical problems after birth; the study actually confirms that cloning is dangerous. The company created nearly 500 embryos by cloning; 30 survived to birth, of which 24 grew to adulthood. The scientists described their results at the National Academy of Sciences. Another company, Infigen, in WI, reported similar results at the meeting Nov. 27 to 29, called “Defining Science-Based Concerns Associated With Animal Biotechnology.” Dr. Rudolph Jaenisch, a biology professor at the Whitehead Institute at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said, “You have to define what normal is.” Another critic of human cloning, Dr. Mark E. Westhusin, a cloning researcher at Texas A&M University, said the question was not whether clones that survive to adulthood are normal — it was what happens to those that do not survive or that survive only after a rocky start. With cows, Dr. Westhusin said, the data on clones are consistent. “Ninety percent will abort,” he said. “Most others will have respiratory problems or the early onset of cardiovascular problems. The concerns of pregnancy and the first few days or weeks of life are the concerns at hand.” These problems could cost extravagant amounts of money to correct.
     Critics are calling the human cloning announcement a shameless cry for funding. “I think they’re mainly trying to bring attention to the company and break down certain barriers so (embryonic cloning) can occur in the future with less public attention and outrage,” said Stuart Newman, a member of the Council for Responsible Genetics. The research was published in the Journal of Regenerative Medicine. Despite the positive pitch of the company’s press release, several researchers have called the work a failure. Professor Ian Wilmut, of the Roslin Institute near Edinburgh, Scotland, dismissed ACT’s research as “irrelevant,” in The Independent newspaper of London. “Frankly, the fact that the company is announcing this now suggests it needs the publicity for refinancing,” he was quoted as saying. The researchers at Advanced Cell used two techniques similar to the “nuclear transfer” technology Wilmut used to clone Dolly the sheep. Nuclear transfer involves taking the nucleus of an adult cell and placing it inside an egg from which the nucleus has been removed. Advanced Cell’s embryo developed into only six cells. Wilmut said that even an unfertilized egg could develop into the six-cell stage without adding the nucleus of an adult cell. “The fact that it did not develop beyond six cells suggests it is fairly lightweight research,” he said. Glenn McGee, who once sat on the company’s ethics board called the announcement “nothing but hype.” He said the company’s report lacks any significant details, including what cells company scientists actually grew from the cloned embryo. “They are doing science by press release,” he said.[http://www.portal.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2001/11/26/wclon26.xml&sSheet=/portal/2001/11/26/ixport.html; By David Derbyshire, Science Nov26/01; Electronic Telegraph; Pro-Life E-News; NYT:23Nov01; 30Nov01 Science; 26Nov01Wired Magazine www.wired.com/news/medtech/0,1286,48629,00.html]

HORRORS PREDICTED FOR HUMAN CLONING EFFORTS– The news that an international team, including an American, is moving ahead with its plans to attempt human cloning in a Mediterranean country has distressed scientists in the field. Researchers who have tried to clone animals report that 95 to 97% of such efforts end in disaster. Rudolf Jaenisch of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, MA, says, “Serious problems have happened in all five species cloned so far, and all are mammals, so of course it’s going to happen in humans. No question.” Researchers voiced their concerns: “If human cloning is attempted, almost all of the first 100 clones will abort spontaneously because of genetic/physical abnormalities, putting the health and lives of the surrogate mothers at risk. Of the handful of clones that make it to term, most will have grossly enlarged placentas and fatty livers. And of the three or four fetuses that may survive their birth, most will be monstrously big — perhaps 15 pounds — and will likely die in the first week or two from heart and blood vessel problems, underdeveloped lungs, diabetes or immune system deficiencies. …If one survives, it, like most animal clones, will likely have a huge naval, because of the oversized umbilical cord that develops during pregnancies involving clones. Most cloned cows are born with head deformities. Some carry abnormalities not obvious to the eye, such as one calf whose hyperventilating could not be stopped…You can dispose of these animals, but tell me, what do you do with abnormal humans?” asks Jaenisch. [Washington Post 3-7-01;EF, 16Mar01]

Britain Approves Cloning of Unborn Children for Stem Cell Research – Peers in parliament’s upper chamber voted by 212 to 92 to allow the cloning and research. Prime Minister Tony Blair argues the move would allow Britain to stay at the forefront of the booming biotechnology industry. But right-to-life groups & religious leaders see it as the first step down a slippery slope to full human cloning. The European Parliament has urged Britain to stop its plans. Blair has courted controversy by strongly backing the technology. [ AP, Reuters; January 22, 2001; Infonet]

The British Patent office has granted Wilmut’s Roslin Institute patents on its cloning process & all animals cloned using the process. The patents have been licensed to Geron Corp., a CA based biotech company. The patent ALSO includes all intellectual property, all cloned human embryos up to the blastocyst stage. This means that “for the first time, a national government has declared that a human being created through cloning is, at its earliest phase of development, to be considered an invention in the eyes of the patent office. The implications are profound and far-reaching.“ [Los Angeles Times, 3 Feb00 by Jeremy Rifkin, author of The Biotech Century: Harvesting the Gene and Remaking the World; from HLA Action News, Spring 00, from Crusade for Life Report, vol.14, no.2]