Copyright 2002 The Houston Chronicle Publishing Company The Houston Chronicle
December 29, 2002, Sunday 4 STAR EDITION
SECTION: A; Pg. 2
LENGTH: 421
words
HEADLINE: Experts, lawmakers blast cloning
claim ; Critics: Backlash may cripple research
SOURCE: Houston Chronicle News Services
BODY: A religious sect's claim to have cloned a
human baby has provoked fierce criticism from scientists and lawmakers who said
that public outrage might stifle research aimed not at making humans, but at
curing diseases.
The claim also drew condemnation by
the Vatican.
Many scientists are skeptical of the
claim, announced on Friday by a private company linked to the Raelians, a sect
that believes space travelers created the human race by cloning. But other
experts, along with members of Congress on both sides of the debate over human cloning, said that true or not, the claim could have
immense implications.
"What a sad day for science,"
said Dr. Robert Lanza, medical director of Advanced Cell Technology of
Worcester, Mass., a company that has cloned human embryos to provide cells for
research but not to create babies. "What they've claimed to have done is both
appalling and scientifically irresponsible, and whether or not it's true, they
have done a tremendous disservice to all of us in the scientific community. The
backlash could cripple an area of medical research that could cure millions of
people, and it would be tragic if this announcement results in a ban on all
forms of cloning."
Scientists also warned that human
cloning carries a high risk of creating children with genetic defects.
Both houses of Congress have been battling over the issue
for more than a year. In July 2001, the House voted 265-162 to ban all forms of
human cloning. Rival bills have been introduced in the Senate, one seeking to
ban all human cloning and the other seeking to ban cloning for reproduction but
not for research.
Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., who was
just chosen Senate majority leader and favors a ban on all forms of cloning,
called the announcement "disturbing."
Lanza and other
researchers said it was important to distinguish between two types of cloning.
One, reproductive cloning, is used to duplicate a person; the other, therapeutic
cloning, is used only to create cells needed for research.
The Vatican joined leading Muslim clerics and Jewish rabbis Saturday in
denouncing the cloning claim as immoral, "brutal" and unnatural.
A Vatican statement Saturday noted that the announcement came with no
scientific proof and that it "has already given rise to the skepticism and moral
condemnation of a great part of the international scientific community." But
"the announcement in itself is an expression of a brutal mentality, devoid of
any ethical and human consideration," said the statement.
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