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LAWS OF SCIENCE
Should Congress ban cloning through legislation? February 24, 1998 |
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NewsHour Backgrounders
January 8, 1998
Dr. Richard Seed announced he will go ahead with human cloning experiments.
December 29, 1997
A year-end report on remarkable changes in reproductive technology.
March 5, 1997
First a sheep was cloned, then a monkey, but if President Clinton has his way a human isn't next.
February 24, 1997:
Elizabeth Farnsworth leads a discussion of the science that lead to Dolly, the Scottish sheep cloned from another.
February 24, 1997:
Jim Lehrer discusses the ethics of cloning with a panel of bioethicists.
February 24, 1997:
A NewsHour background report on Dolly and cloning.
Browse the NewsHour's coverage of science
OUTSIDE LINKS:
Roslin Institute, Edinburgh, Scotland report on cloning sheep.
The Genetics and Public Issues Program at The National Center for Genome Resources (NCGR) discusses cloning.
Discussion of Ethics and Social Issues in Gene Research at the Human Genome Project.
University of Pennsylvania Center for Bioethics
Marion Angell of Henderson, NV, asks: How can we realistically ban cloning of humans when the process is so easily done in thousands of laboratories worldwide by doctors or scientists eager to find their names in the news?
Prof. Alta Charo responds:
We cannot do it easily. The NBAC recommended joint action by all nations to put into place a common rule, in order to facilitate regulation of this area. But no amount of regulation can ensure compliance. It can only deter most experiments, by virtue of threat of civil or criminal penalties should one violate the moratorium.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein responds:
In reality, the process of actually cloning a human being is far from a reality. The furor over human cloning was stirred last month by Chicago-area physicist Dr. Richard Seed when he told the media that he intends to clone human beings. He said there were ten clinics in the U.S. interested in offering cloning services and that he believes the demand will be for over 200,000 cases per year, according to the American Medical News. Additionally, some 65,000 scientists and physicians are opposed to human cloning and have agreed to a five-year moratorium on human cloning. This comprises, for all practical purposes, the major scientists who would have the capability of actually cloning a human being at the current time.
But the scientific community has said that Dr. Richard Seed's claims are implausible at the moment given the rudimentary state of cloning technology. Our bill prohibits attempt to clone human beings at this time, in part because the technology is so new that it is unsafe even in animals. Dolly, the famous cloned sheep, was the only success out of 277 attempts, and the procedure has not been repeated successfully. And in recent weeks, there has been news accounts questioning whether Dr. Wilmut actually created Dolly using cloning technology.
Sen. Kit Bond responds:
The fact is, while many scientists may be working on the technique, no one has yet cloned a human being. This is the time to say, through legislation, that science should not pursue human cloning.
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