TOKYO, NOV. 30, 2000 (ZENIT.org).- Japan's parliament has passed a measure
making the cloning of humans a crime, punishable by up to 10 years in
prison or a fine of $90,000, the Associated Press reported.

The law, which prohibits creating human embryos by inserting somatic cells
into an unfertilized egg, is the first in Japan that penalizes a specific
kind of research, a parliament spokesman said today.

The legislation, which also calls on the government to draft regulations
governing cloning technology, passed the upper house by a 229-11 vote, AP
said. It passed the more powerful lower house earlier in November, the news
agency noted.

The spokesman said the law also bans mixing human and animal cells to
create hybrid embryos and forbids implanting hybrid embryos into human or
animal mothers, AP said.

It was unclear when the law might take effect. Legislation or guidelines to
ban human cloning are pending in dozens of nations. Britain, Israel and
Germany already have banned it. In many others no laws specifically ban the
practice, but ethical guidelines would appear to prohibit it, AP said.
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