 |
 |
Britain says global cloning ban would wreck research Reid seeks to convince US of need for stem-cell experiments Jo Revill, health editor Sunday October 19, 2003 The Observer Moves to bring in a global ban on human cloning could jeopardise research that would save lives and prevent disability, Health Secretary John Reid will tell his American counterpart this week. A UN committee is to vote on Tuesday on whether there should be an international convention outlawing all forms of cloning. Reid will argue the case for allowing therapeutic cloning, used by researchers developing stem-cell treatments for a range of diseases. He is firmly against reproductive cloning to create a baby. President George Bush is opposed to all forms of cloning on religious and moral grounds, and his administration has indicated that it will back a UN ban. But tomorrow in Washington Reid will tell US Health Secretary Tommy Thompson that each country should be free to take its own view about controlling cloning, whether through outright bans, moratoriums or regulation. A resolution backing the British position has been submitted by Belgium with the support of 24 other countries. There were reports last week that the maverick doctor Panayiotis Zavos was on the verge of cloning a human. Zavos boasts that he has a cloned embryo stored in a laboratory somewhere in the Middle East, though there is no independent corroboration. Reid said last night: 'Dr Zavos cannot clone a baby here in the UK because the Government has already acted to make it illegal. We are one of the few countries in the world to have passed legislation to ban this possibility, and I want that ban extended worldwide.' He added: 'I will be discussing with my US counterpart ways in which we can extend the ban against cloning babies across the globe without destroying potentially life-saving medical research programmes in which UK and US scientists lead the world.' Attempts to introduce an international ban on cloning have so far failed because of the controversy over stem-cell research, which uses young embryos and then destroys them before they develop further. Research is strictly limited to specific areas and no research is allowed on embryos more than 14 days old. The UN meets in New York this week to consider the various resolutions. It may issue a statement outlining its overall position on the issue, or delay a decision pending further talks, or vote for one of the resolutions, which might lead to an international convention on cloning to which countries could become signatories. Many scientists have called for a ban on reproductive cloning. Apart from the ethical arguments, they have warned that children created using the technique might be born with serious health problems. Many of the pregnancies in animal cloning experiments have gone badly wrong, resulting in a number of deformities. Special report Ethics of genetics http://politics.guardian.co.uk/Guardian/genes/0,2759,395698,00.html Explained 18.01.2002: Human cloning http://politics.guardian.co.uk/Guardian/theissues/article/0,6512,606430,00.html Useful links: How to clone a human - BioFact http://www.biofact.com/cloning/human.html Clonaid.com http://www.clonaid.com/ Humancloning.org http://www.humancloning.org/ Human cloning - University of Virginia http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~jones/tmp352/projects98/group1/how.html SOURCE: The Observer / The Guardian, UK http://politics.guardian.co.uk/publicservices/story/0,11032,1066377,00.html * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn