THIS WEEK ON
 SCIENCE FRIDAY...

Science Friday > Archives > 2001 > April > April 6, 2001:

Hour One: Human Cloning

Back in 1997, a group of researchers in Scotland stunned the world by announcing that they had successfully produced a clone of a mammal - the now-famous "Dolly" the sheep. Some people were worried that the discovery of a method for cloning animals would open up a Pandora's box -- creating a world of organ farms, armies of identical people, or a race of second-class citizens. The cloning techniques developed by the researchers at the Roslin Institute have been used to produce cloned mice, cows, and other animals. However, the method is nowhere near foolproof. Hundreds, if not thousands, of attempts are necessary to produce just one viable clone. On average, just 3% of attempts succeed. And despite much talk about human clones, no researchers have yet cloned a human being -- at least, not publicly.

Dolly the sheep clone, back in 1997. Roslin Institute image.

Many researchers question whether cloning people should even be attempted using current techniques. Aside from the ethical concerns, they point to evidence that the present cloning techniques may produce less than perfect copies. The rapid fusion of donor DNA with a host egg cell may lead to errors being introduced into the genetic material, producing unpredictable and possibly serious defects, some say. Writing in the journal Science, cloning researcher Rudolf Jaenisch and Ian Wilmut, one of the scientists responsible for Dolly, said that they "believe attempts to clone human beings at a time when the scientific issues of nuclear cloning have not been clarified are dangerous and irresponsible."

However, there are still those who wish to forge ahead. Dr. Panos Zavos, a fertility doctor in Lexington, Ky., and Dr. Severino Antinori, a fertility doctor in Rome, have announced that they intend to collaborate on experiments into cloning human beings. Another group, Clonaid, calling itself "the first human cloning company," was founded by the leader of an unorthodox religious movement which claims that life on Earth was created through DNA and genetic engineering by a human extraterrestrial race. Both groups are recruiting potential patients.

We'll speak with scientists on both sides of the issue during this hour of Science Friday. Call in with your thoughts and comments at 1-800-989-8255, and share your opinions online in our Listeners' Lounge (registration required)

Listen to this program in RealAudio!

Guests:
Rudolf Jaenisch
Member, Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research
Professor, Biology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, Massachusetts

Panos Zavos
Professor Emeritus of Reproductive Physiology-Andrology
University of Kentucky
Founder, Director and Chief Andrologist
Andrology Institute of America
Lexington, KY

Jeffrey Kahn
Director, Center for Bioethics
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Mark Eibert
Patient Advocate and Lawyer
San Mateo, California

Books/Articles Discussed:

NY Times: Researchers Find Big Risk of Defect in Cloning Animals (find more SciFri books here)

Search for books on:

Related Links:
House Committee on Energy and Commerce: Cloning Hearing
NY Times: Researchers Find Big Risk of Defect in Cloning Animals
Clonaid
Human Cloning Foundation
washingtonpost.com: Cloning
Scientific American Presents:Your Bionic Future: I, Clone: September 1999
Human Cloning - latest cloning news and human cloning links
NIH Education: Creating A Cloned Sheep Named Dolly
BBC News: US politicians criticize human cloning efforts