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Much has been said and written on the topic of human cloning. There are scientists, religious leaders, politicians, and lawyers both for and against the use of this technology. However, as usually is the case with any new technology, there is much fear surrounding it's potential mis-use, and the overwhelming public sentiment is negative. Many countries either have a ban against human cloning in place or are enacting legislation to ban it. Currently, the US congress has multiple bills in progress which propose to prohibit the cloning of humans and to prohibit the use of federal funds to support research involving human cloning (HR 1260, HR 1372, HR 2172, HR 2505, HR 2608, and S 704). The content and status of these bills can be reviewed by going to US Congress Bill Summary and Status for the 107th Congress .

On August 1, 2001, the US House of Representatives voted 265 to 162 to ban all human cloning; and 249 to 178 to ban even limited human cloning for research purposes to treat disease. The Senate has yet to vote. On the same day, Japan approved guidelines for stem cell research which would allow the use of embryos leftover from fertility procedures in research, but bans cloning of human embryos. And also on August 1, 2001, Isaeli researchers announced successful reprograming of human stem cells to functional heart cells: a therepay intended for treatment of heart disease.

On August 5, 2001, Severino Antinori, an Italian embryologist, announced plans to conduct a human cloning clinical trial. He plans to impregnate 200 women (8 from Great Britain) sometime in November. Click here for a report of this by the Sunday Times in the UK, or here for a 8/7/01 report and links from CNN news. The Italian government says it will revoke Antinori's medical license. Antinori says he will work on a ship in International waters if necessary. The National Academy of Sciences began a hearing on the issue of human cloning in Washington, D.C. on Aug.7, 2001, and Panos Zavos, Severino Antinori and others testified there.

One thing is clear, as with the in vitro fertilization (IVF) technology developed over twenty years ago, there is much fear and concern about the manipulation of human reproduction. When Louise Brown, the first baby conceived in a test-tube, was born in England (July 25, 1978), IVF was a controversial procedure with much public opposition. Today, while IVF is still controversial in many circles, the procedure is common-place, and hundreds of thousands of children have been born world-wide as a result.

In both the IVF and cloning procedures, creation of the embryo takes place outside the human body. The embryo is implanted in the mother or surrogate mother, then carried to term. However, the technology used to clone a human and the IVF procedure differ in one important respect. The IVF procedure uses whole eggs and sperm from donors to create an entirely "new" individual. Cloning procedures use genetic material from a single individual to create a "delayed twin." Thus, IVF is still a technology firmly rooted in our male/female duality, where it takes a sperm and egg to make a new individual. Cloning, on the other hand, involves a significant departure from the ancient premise that both male and female aspects are needed to create a new individual. And much of the fear surrounding the cloning process results from animal research which suggests that many of the clones created either will not be viable, or will have significant malformations, some of which may not be apparent for many years after the birth of the individual. However, without doing further research, we will never know for certain.

There are several cloning procedures, but the predominant procedure under discussion today, somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), places DNA (genetic material which essentially is the blueprint for an organism) from a non-germ cell (cell other than an egg or sperm) into a donor egg which has had it's nuclear DNA removed. The first mammal cloned in such a fashion to receive widespread attention was a sheep named "Dolly". The results of this cloning are reported by Ian Wilmut et al. in a paper published in the scientific journal, Nature (Volume 385, pages 810-813), in 1997. Since that time, several groups have announced plans to clone the first human. Two such groups are lead by Dr. Panos Zavos, an American endocrinologist and fertility expert; and Dr. Birgitte Boiselier, the director of a company called Clonaid. The funding for Zavos' research comes entirely from private sources, since federal funding for research involving human embryos is prohibited by the US Congress. Because of the controversial and proprietary nature of the work, Dr. Zavos has not published his recent key research in peer-reviewed scientific journals, and is attempting to conduct his work in countries outside the US (Italy, Israel). Clonaid is funded by a French religious leader called Rael. Clonaid and the Raelians see cloning as a divine mission and means to achieve eternal life. They are also working with an American couple who lost their young son during what should have been a routine surgical procedure, and wish to clone him (see letter from parent submitted to congress).

However, cloning with the intent to produce a viable human offspring is only one possible use of the technology. Another entails the use of cloning procedures to produce early embryonic tissue (6 to 7 day old ball of cells known as a blastocyst) for the production of embryonic stems cells, which in turn, would then be used to treat disease. On Sunday November 25, 2001, Advanced Cell Technology of Worchester, Massachusetts (www.advancedcell.com) , announced that they have successfully created human embryos from a unique procedure (see link below). This was done as the first step toward generating immune-compatible stem cells that can be used to generate tissues/cells which can be used for therapeutic regeneration in dis-eased individiuals. Go to embryonic stem cell research for more information on this.

Whether the cloning is intended for reproductive or therapeutic uses, there is much controversy on the topic. There have been numerous talk shows on television and radio. People have expressed fears about many issues, including: reproductive rights, right to privacy, fear about producing a race of slaves, fear that the cloned individual will not have a soul, fear that the cloned individual will suffer defects not obvious at birth or in ways science cannot predict, fear that we will create a precedent that allows the creation of beings which will be sacrificed for the benefit of others. There are many issues, and as many positions as there are people. One thing is clear...more public education is needed on the topic.

There are hundreds of thousands of websites which address this topic. I have tried to find the largest and most up-to-date sites which cover a range of perspectives. There are also links to the recent congressional hearings and legislation pending in the US congress. All of the books listed are available at www.amazon.com, and are probably available many other places. Once again, this is not an exhaustive list of resources. Please filter everything you read through your own discerenment. Don't give away your power to a big name or important title. Know with your heart.

As Panos Zavos said in his testimoney before the US Congress on March 28, 2001 (interestingly enough, Zavos' testimoney began at 11:11pm EST), "The genie is out of the bottle." We will not stop the development of this technology...where we go with it, for better or for worse, is up to us. We live in the midst of duality on a planet where the only rule is "choice". We can use our collective wisdom to create something technologically and spiritually balanced, or not. The only certainty is that our collective choice in this matter will be honored with the universal response: "And so it is."

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