WASHINGTON, D.C., OCT. 21, 2000 (ZENIT.org).- Ever since cloning produced
Dolly the sheep, fears have been raised about the possibility of human
cloning. Just recently, in fact, the leader of a fringe religious group,
who calls himself Rael, declared that his followers were prepared to offer
themselves as subjects for such an experiment.

According to The Washington Post (Oct. 10) the Raelians, as they are
called, have been promised financial backing by a wealthy American couple
who wish to clone their recently deceased 10-month-old girl. The cells
cloned from the girl would be implanted in the wombs of 50 Raelian women.
Favoring the success of this experiment is the large number of women
involved, given that data on animals portend a high rate of miscarriages in
any cloning attempt.

According to the Post, many scientists suspect that fertility specialists
in the United States and abroad, who have relatively easy access to spare
human eggs, are already toying with cloning techniques in their
laboratories, though probably not transferring cloned embryos to women's wombs.

The specter of cloning is not limited to fringe groups, but in fact is
receiving widespread support in the scientific world and by governments,
particularly in America and Britain.

Stem cell research
Related to the issue of cloning is the question of experiments using stem
cells. These are the cells produced almost immediately after conception and
they are considered very useful for medical purposes because their capacity
to develop into any type of organ or part of the body. Medical researchers
maintain that by using stem cells they will be able to cure or alleviate
many serious illnesses, from Parkinson's disease to cancer.

At the end of August, U.S. President Clinton lifted the ban on using
federal government funds for experiments involving human stem cells, though
some restrictions still apply. According to The Washington Times (Aug. 29),
the National Institutes of Health "Guidelines for Research Using Human
Pluripotent Stem Cells" state that federally funded research on such cells
obtained from embryos will only be conducted "if the cells were derived
(without federal funds) from human embryos that were created for purposes
of fertility treatment and were in excess of the clinical need of the
individuals seeking such treatment" (Section 2).

Britain opens the door to cloning
Clinton's announcement closely followed the decision by the British
government to allow both stem cell research and human cloning. According to
The Telegraph (Aug. 17), the government accepted proposals made by Chief
Medical Officer Liam Donaldson to allow research on embryonic stem cells
which can be used to repair a diseased or damaged body. These stem cells
could be taken from an early embryo made by test-tube baby methods or by
cloning.

Also approved was research to increase understanding of, and develop
treatments for, diseases using the cloning technique in human eggs, which
are subsequently fertilized by human sperm. However, these clones will not
be permitted to live beyond 14 days and their implantation in a woman's
womb is prohibited.

Britain did not remain alone in its approval of human cloning. Shortly
afterward, the Kyodo News agency said that the Japanese government will
draft separate guidelines to allow research on cloned human embryos. The
Japanese Cabinet, however, has also approved a bill making it illegal to
put a cloned human embryo into the womb of a woman or animal, Reuters
reported Oct. 6. Violators could face a 10-year prison term and 10 million
yen ($91,670) fine.

Animals and humans crossed
The opening of the door to human cloning is only the start, as recent
events demonstrated. According to the Sunday Times (Oct. 8), a team of
researchers, from Stem Cell Sciences in Australia and Biotransplant in
America, took a cell from a human fetus, extracted the nucleus and then
inserted it into a pig's egg cell. Two embryos were grown to the 32-cell
stage, which took a week.

The researchers have not revealed what happened to them, but suggest they
could have been grown further by being implanted into a womb -- and that
either a pig or a human mother would have been suitable. The matter came to
light when protests were raised against an application submitted by the
researchers to the European Patent Office for their creation.

In the face of these objections the patent application was withdrawn,
according to The Age newspaper in Australia (Oct. 9). The chief executive
officer of Stem Cell Sciences, Dr. Peter Mountford, said the company's
patents pending in Europe would not be pursued, while those pending in the
United States would be changed so they cannot be used in human research.

Are embryonic stem cells needed?
In spite of protests over the manipulation of human life in experiments
using stem cells, scientists justify the use of test-tube babies by
pointing to the medical benefits to be obtained. Recent investigations,
however, suggest that stem cells can be obtained from adults, thus avoiding
the ethical problems.

The Washington Post on Aug. 15 reported that adult bone marrow cells can be
coaxed into becoming what appear to be nerve cells, and might provide a
nearly limitless supply of replacement neurons for patients with
Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease and spinal cord injuries.

The article also mentioned other recent reports in which researchers have
turned blood cells into muscle cells, muscle cells into blood cells, and
brain cells into blood and muscle cells. According to the New Scientist
(Aug. 19), adult mammals have about 20 types of stem cell. While it was
thought these cells gave rise to only specific cell lines -- that blood
stem cells could only turn into blood cells, for instance -- scientists are
now discovering how versatile these cells are.

Angelo Vescovi of Italy's National Neurological Institute in Milan showed
in 1999 that mouse-brain stem cells could produce blood cells when injected
into mice whose bone marrow, the normal blood-making tissue, had been
largely destroyed.

Vescovi recently has made further breakthroughs in this field. The Italian
newspaper Corriere della Sera (Sept. 19) reported on experiments by an
Italian group led by Drs. Angelo Vescovi and Giulio Cossu that nerve stem
cells from an adult were more flexible than thought and could give rise to
skeletal muscle.

Opposition to cloning
While some governments are going ahead with stem cell manipulation, and
even human cloning, not all are in agreement. In September the parliament
of the European Union approved a resolution that called for the outlawing
of cloning involving human embryos. According to the Spanish paper El Mundo
(Sept. 8), such experiments are considered contrary to human dignity. The
motion was proposed in reaction to the British decision to go ahead with
the cloning of human embryos. Members of the European parliament believe
that other solutions are preferable in the search for medical cures.

Meanwhile the British Medical Journal reported on the decision by the Dutch
government to introduce a bill that would ban human cloning, sex selection
and germ-line manipulation. The bill would also forbid scientists to create
human embryos for research, but would allow them to use "surplus" embryos
from in vitro fertilization clinics under strict conditions. The Dutch
position is seen as a middle ground between the European Parliament's call
to ban nonreproductive cloning and the proposal of the United Kingdom
government's advisers to allow the creation of human embryos by cloning in
order to obtain embryonic stem cells.

A declaration by the Pontifical Academy for Life on Aug. 25 made clear the
human embryo is "a human subject with a well-defined identity." It has the
right to its own life, therefore, and experiments which damage embryos are
gravely immoral and illicit. Regarding the medical benefits of this
research, the statement observes, "A good end does not make right an action
which in itself is wrong." We can only hope that the truth contained in
these words will prevail over the desire to engineer human life regardless
of ethical concerns.
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