why was cloning of humans banned
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Since Scottish scientists succeeded in cloning the sheep known as Dolly, the prospect of human cloning has catapulted its way into the public consciousness. In early 2000, an Italian and a U.S. scientist announced their intention to clone human babies for infertile couples. The duo recently announced their plans to begin implanting cloned human embryos into women--a step they may have already taken by the time this article is published. On July 31, 2001, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the "Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2001" (H.R. 2505) by a bi-partisan margin of 265-162 with support from liberal, progressive, conservative, pro-life, and pro-abortion members. This bill, which Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI) and I wrote, is designed to ban human cloning for both "research" and "reproductive" purposes. Despite the fact that President Bush said he would sign this bill into law, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) prevented the bill from even being considered in the Senate. On Sunday, November 25, 2001, scientists at Advanced Cell Technology of Worcester, Massachusetts announced that they had created the first human embryo clones for the purpose of destructive research. It is now more important than ever to ban human cloning.
H.R. 2505 specifically bans "asexual reproduction" which is accomplished by "somatic cell nuclear transfer" technology, the technique that was used to produce Dolly. The bill does not ban scientifically and medically useful cloning practices such as the cloning of DNA fragments (molecular cloning), the duplication of tissue or cells in culture (cell cloning), or whole-organism or embryo cloning of non-human animals. Nor does the bill ban laboratory practices such as parthenogenesis or "twinning."
While most cloning advocates want to create cloned embryos for embryonic stem cell research (and oppose the creation of clones who would be implanted and carried to term), others are racing to produce the world's first cloned human baby. Indeed, scientists such as Panos Zavos and Severino Antinori stated in mid-2000 that they expected to begin implanting cloned human embryos into women within the next several months. They were enthusiastic about pursuing such a feat despite the serious genetic problems encountered in animal cloning, the known risks to the mother, and the great potential for serious birth defects. Ninety-five to ninety-seven percent of animal cloning attempts still end in failure, and the scientists who cloned Dolly failed 276 times before they succeeded in producing a single live-born clone of an adult sheep. Most scientific experts believe that attempts to clone humans will result in even higher failure rates. Scientists such as Ian Wilmut (who produced Dolly) and Rudolf Jaenisch (of MIT) have concluded that the most likely cause of abnormal development in cloned animals is faulty reprogramming of the genome. When the nucleus of a somatic cell is introduced into an enucleated egg, the DNA in the nucleus has to be "reprogrammed" in order for a human being to develop fully. If this reprogramming of the nuclear DNA does not go exactly right, abnormal gene expression of one or some of the more than
H.R. 2505 specifically bans "asexual reproduction" which is accomplished by "somatic cell nuclear transfer" technology, the technique that was used to produce Dolly. The bill does not ban scientifically and medically useful cloning practices such as the cloning of DNA fragments (molecular cloning), the duplication of tissue or cells in culture (cell cloning), or whole-organism or embryo cloning of non-human animals. Nor does the bill ban laboratory practices such as parthenogenesis or "twinning."
While most cloning advocates want to create cloned embryos for embryonic stem cell research (and oppose the creation of clones who would be implanted and carried to term), others are racing to produce the world's first cloned human baby. Indeed, scientists such as Panos Zavos and Severino Antinori stated in mid-2000 that they expected to begin implanting cloned human embryos into women within the next several months. They were enthusiastic about pursuing such a feat despite the serious genetic problems encountered in animal cloning, the known risks to the mother, and the great potential for serious birth defects. Ninety-five to ninety-seven percent of animal cloning attempts still end in failure, and the scientists who cloned Dolly failed 276 times before they succeeded in producing a single live-born clone of an adult sheep. Most scientific experts believe that attempts to clone humans will result in even higher failure rates. Scientists such as Ian Wilmut (who produced Dolly) and Rudolf Jaenisch (of MIT) have concluded that the most likely cause of abnormal development in cloned animals is faulty reprogramming of the genome. When the nucleus of a somatic cell is introduced into an enucleated egg, the DNA in the nucleus has to be "reprogrammed" in order for a human being to develop fully. If this reprogramming of the nuclear DNA does not go exactly right, abnormal gene expression of one or some of the more than
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