Monday, June 21, 2004
UK's first legal human clones on the way
Amidst bitter controversy, the UK's fertility medicine
watchdog is preparing to approve the nation's first human clones. A
Serbian scientist at Newcastle University who left Munich because of
Germany's ban on embryonic stem cell research has lodged an
application with the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority to
clone embryos for diabetes research. In the course of the
experiment, Dr Miodrag Stojkovic will create embryos using leftover
eggs from IVF treatment and then destroy them for their stem cells.
When news of the proposed experiment broke, arguments for and
against research cloning surfaced once again. One of the scientists
involved, Professor Alison Murdoch, explained: "We are not trying to
clone a baby... These embryos have no more moral status than blood
taken from a patient." And Dr Stojkovic asked, "Why put something in
the rubbish bin when it can be used in such a valuable way?"
The lobby group Human Genetics Alert has written to the HFEA urging
that Dr Stojkovic's application be rejected. "This research is a
waste of public money, and crosses important ethical lines for the
first time," said HGA's director, molecular biologist Dr David King.
"It is very unlikely to produce anything medically useful, but it
will be a great help for those who want to clone babies. It looks
like scientists trying to find a use for cloning, so the United
Nations won't ban it. We don't believe that embryos are people with
rights to life, but neither is it right to create them as mere raw
material for research."
Meanwhile, American fertility doctor Panos Zavos plans to open offices in London to counsel couples. He claims to have created a cloned human embryo and implanted it into a woman's womb, though the experiment subsequently failed. It is feared his premises in Tottenham Court Road will operate as a "travel agent" to recruit desperate couples to his clinic abroad, where he claims to be able to clone babies.
Amidst bitter controversy, the UK's fertility medicine
watchdog is preparing to approve the nation's first human clones. A
Serbian scientist at Newcastle University who left Munich because of
Germany's ban on embryonic stem cell research has lodged an
application with the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority to
clone embryos for diabetes research. In the course of the
experiment, Dr Miodrag Stojkovic will create embryos using leftover
eggs from IVF treatment and then destroy them for their stem cells.
When news of the proposed experiment broke, arguments for and
against research cloning surfaced once again. One of the scientists
involved, Professor Alison Murdoch, explained: "We are not trying to
clone a baby... These embryos have no more moral status than blood
taken from a patient." And Dr Stojkovic asked, "Why put something in
the rubbish bin when it can be used in such a valuable way?"
The lobby group Human Genetics Alert has written to the HFEA urging
that Dr Stojkovic's application be rejected. "This research is a
waste of public money, and crosses important ethical lines for the
first time," said HGA's director, molecular biologist Dr David King.
"It is very unlikely to produce anything medically useful, but it
will be a great help for those who want to clone babies. It looks
like scientists trying to find a use for cloning, so the United
Nations won't ban it. We don't believe that embryos are people with
rights to life, but neither is it right to create them as mere raw
material for research."
Meanwhile, American fertility doctor Panos Zavos plans to open offices in London to counsel couples. He claims to have created a cloned human embryo and implanted it into a woman's womb, though the experiment subsequently failed. It is feared his premises in Tottenham Court Road will operate as a "travel agent" to recruit desperate couples to his clinic abroad, where he claims to be able to clone babies.
