Cloning Debate Should All Forms of Human Cloning Be Banned?

Researcher Published by CQ Press, a division of Congressional Quarterly Inc. CQ thecqresearcher.com Cloning Debate Should all forms of human cloning be banned?

loning became a hot issue in this year’s presidential race after scientists in South Korea announced that they had created human embryos by cloning, and former first lady Nancy Reagan urged Presi- Cdent Bush to reconsider his policies on so-called therapeutic cloning and embryonic stem-cell research. Some scientists think The mother of a child with juvenile diabetes demonstrates at the Capitol in support of embryonic stem-cell research could someday produce cures for stem-cell research. Parkinson’s disease, diabetes and other maladies that afflict millions of people, including Alzheimer’s disease, which killed President I Ronald Reagan. Others say the procedure offers more hype than N THIS REPORT hope. Still others, including President Bush, say the research is S THE ISSUES ...... 879 grossly unethical because it destroys human embryos. They also I CHRONOLOGY ...... 887 fear that therapeutic cloning could lead to human cloning and D BACKGROUND ...... 888 even the creation of human clones as organ sources. Presidential E CURRENT SITUATION ...... 891 candidate Sen. John Kerry opposes human cloning but has vowed AT ISSUE ...... 893 to quadruple federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research. OUTLOOK ...... 894 BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 897 THE NEXT STEP ...... 898 The CQ Researcher • Oct. 22, 2004 • www.thecqresearcher.com Volume 14, Number 37 • Pages 877-900

RECIPIENT OF SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTS AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION SILVER GAVEL AWARD CLONING DEBATE T H CQE Researcher Oct. 22, 2004 THE ISSUES OUTLOOK Volume 14, Number 37

• Is reproductive cloning Human Cloning? MANAGING EDITOR: Thomas J. Colin 879 unsafe? 894 The November presidential • Will therapeutic cloning election likely will affect the ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITOR: Kathy Koch and embryonic stem-cell future of cloning research. ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Kenneth Jost therapies revolutionize STAFF WRITERS: Mary H. Cooper, medicine? William Triplett • Is therapeutic cloning SIDEBARS AND GRAPHICS CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Sarah Glazer, immoral? How Reproductive and David Hatch, David Hosansky, 880 Patrick Marshall, Tom Price, Jane Tanner BACKGROUND Therapeutic Cloning Differ Up to a point, the procedures DESIGN/PRODUCTION EDITOR: Olu B. Davis are the same. Scientific Milestones ASSISTANT EDITOR: Kate Templin 888 German embryologist Hans Stem-cell Therapies Spemann articulated the prin- 881 Scientists say millions of people ciples of cloning in 1938. could be helped. Fear and Loathing 883 Human Cloning Opposed 890 The belief that the human Most say it is morally wrong. race could be improved A Division of Do Human Clones Walk Congressional Quarterly Inc. by breeding emerged in 884 Among Us? ancient Greece. Some scientists say a dozen SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT/GENERAL MANAGER: human clones already exist. John A. Jenkins Hello Dolly! DIRECTOR, LIBRARY PUBLISHING: Kathryn C. Suárez 890 In 1996, scientists in Scot- Chronology land used adult stem cells 887 Key events since 1938. DIRECTOR, EDITORIAL OPERATIONS: to clone a mammal — a Ann Davies Animal Cloning Spurs sheep named Dolly. CONGRESSIONAL QUARTERLY INC. 888 Controversy, Too Scientists have cloned livestock, CHAIRMAN: Paul C. Tash pets and endangered species. CURRENT SITUATION VICE CHAIRMAN: Andrew P. Corty At Issue PRESIDENT AND PUBLISHER: Robert W. Merry Competing Legislation 893 Should Congress ban all 891 Copyright © 2004 CQ Press, a division of Congres- Some bills would ban all forms of human cloning? cloning; others permit sional Quarterly Inc. (CQ). CQ reserves all copyright therapeutic cloning. and other rights herein, unless previously specified FOR FURTHER RESEARCH in writing. No part of this publication may be re- Global Ban? produced electronically or otherwise, without prior 891 President Bush seeks a For More Information written permission. Unauthorized reproduction or 896 Organizations to contact. transmission of CQ copyrighted material is a violation global ban on all forms of of federal law carrying civil fines of up to $100,000. human cloning. 897 Bibliography The CQ Researcher (ISSN 1056-2036) is printed on Stem-Cell Showdown Selected sources used. acid-free paper. Published weekly, except Jan. 2, April 892 9, July 2, July 9, Aug. 6, Aug. 13, Nov. 26 and Dec. Lawmakers and scientists The Next Step want Bush to fund new 31, by CQ Press, a division of Congressional Quarterly 898 Additional articles. Inc. Annual subscription rates for institutions start at embryonic stem-cell lines. $625. For pricing, call 1-800-834-9020, ext. 1906. To 899 Citing The CQ Researcher purchase a CQ Researcher report in print or elec- Action in the States Sample bibliography formats. tronic format (PDF), visit www.cqpress.com or call 894 State laws on cloning vary. 866-427-7737. A single report is $10. Bulk purchase discounts and electronic-rights licensing are also available. Periodicals postage paid at Washington, D.C., and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The CQ Researcher, 1255 22nd St., N.W., Cover: The mother of a child with juvenile diabetes demonstrates at the Capitol in support Suite 400, Washington, D.C. 20037. of embryonic stem-cell research. (Getty Images/Shawn Thew)

878 The CQ Researcher Cloning Debate BY BRIAN HANSEN

cloning — creating human embryos through cloning, not THE ISSUES to produce babies, but to har- rigitte Boisselier vest their stem cells for med- holds two Ph.D.s in ical research. Embryonic stem B chemistry and has cells are undifferentiated “mas- worked in both industry and ter” cells capable of develop- academia. ing into any type of tissue in Yet it’s easy to dismiss the body. Many scientists think Boisselier as, well . . . a crack- they could someday be used pot. After all, she belongs to to repair or “regenerate” ma- the fringe Raelian religious ture organs and tissues dam- sect, which believes that hu- aged by Parkinson’s disease, mans are descendants of diabetes and other afflictions. clones created 25,000 years In a stunning cloning break- ago by space aliens. AFP Photo through, South Korean scien- Boisselier made headlines Signs held by a protester in San Diego, Calif., and on a tists announced in February two years ago when she an- passing truck oppose all embryonic stem-cell research, 2004 that they had created which two-thirds of Americans support. President Bush nounced that the Raelians had has imposed strict funding limits on stem-cell research; human embryos by cloning facilitated the birth of the world’s Democratic presidential challenger Sen. John Kerry and had successfully harvest- first human clone. Most peo- supports more funding. Many scientists say Bush’s policy ed stem cells from them. ple scoffed, but Boisselier not is causing private investors — as well as young scientists “Our goal is not to clone only stands by her story but just starting their careers — to avoid embryonic research. humans, but to understand also claims that Clonaid — the the causes of diseases,” said Raelians’ biotechnology company — has Antinori claimed in May that at least project director Hwang Woo-suk, of produced 13 other human clones. three human clones have been born Seoul National University. “We are doing around 10 implan- with his assistance. “I confirm the facts,” Meanwhile, Harvard University’s ethi- tations a month,” says Boisselier, a na- he told a Rome news conference. “It cal review board revealed early this month tive of France and a part-time resident happened, and I am repeating it.” 1 it is considering proposals from two teams of Las Vegas. “And we’re getting thou- Many experts also scoff at Antinori’s of university scientists to conduct similar sands and thousands of requests from claims, which have not been inde- experiments. “This is cutting-edge re- people who are interested in cloning.” pendently verified. Nonetheless, the search,” says Professor Douglas Melton, Cloning is a form of asexual repro- idea of cloning humans deeply trou- the senior researcher on one of the teams. duction in which an embryo is creat- bles many experts and ethicists. We want new ways to study and hope- ed, not by the “natural” method of a They argue that so-called repro- fully cure diseases.” sperm (male) cell fertilizing an egg (fe- ductive cloning would undermine the But the scientists pursuing thera- male) cell, but by using technology to fundamental concept of humanness. peutic cloning are quick to point out replicate the genetic makeup of a sin- Moreover, they note, only about 5 per- that they oppose reproductive cloning. gle individual. (See diagram, p. 880.) cent of all mammalian cloning at- “We’d like to ask every country or na- Boisselier contends that cloning is tempts result in live births, which often tion to have a law to prohibit repro- the first step to immortality, a tenet of exhibit severe genetic abnormalities. ductive cloning,” Korean obstetrician the Raelian religion. But she also views “It would be grossly unethical to Moon Shin-yong said. 2 it as a legitimate way of helping in- try and make a human baby by cloning, The United States has not banned fertile couples and homosexuals bear given what we know about failure reproductive cloning, however, and genetically related children. Two other rates in other mammals,” says Thomas neither have most other countries. scientists — Panayiotis Zavos, a fertil- Murray, president of the Hastings Most embryonic stem cells held in re- ity clinic operator in Lexington, Ky., Center, a bioethics research center in search facilities were harvested from “nat- and Severino Antinori, an Italian gy- Garrison, N.Y. ural” (uncloned) embryos that people do- necologist — are publicly offering While scientists and policymakers nated to science, mostly unused embryos cloning services to help infertile cou- overwhelmingly oppose reproductive from fertility clinics. So far, scientists have ples and homosexuals. cloning, many support “therapeutic” Continued on p. 881

Available online: www.thecqresearcher.com Oct. 22, 2004 879 CLONING DEBATE

How Reproductive and Therapeutic Cloning Differ Therapeutic cloning creates human embryos through cloning in order to harvest their stem cells for medical research; reproductive cloning creates the embryos for human reproduction. But the two procedures are initially identical. The first step in the process — known as somatic cell nuclear transfer, or SCNT — is to remove the nucleus from a female egg cell, stripping out most of its genetic material (1). This produces a denucleated egg. Next, the nucleus is removed from a body (somatic) cell — a skin cell, for example, and inserted (2) into the denucleated egg. Then the egg is stimulated with a tiny jolt of electricity or a few drops of chemicals (3) to “trick” it into dividing, a process normally triggered by a sperm cell. Embryos created in this manner are almost — though not quite — exact genetic replicas of the body (somatic) cell donors. About 2 percent of a donor’s genetic material is not passed along because it resides in a cell’s mitochondria, not its nucleus. Cloned embryos receive this 2 percent from the mitochondria of their denucleated egg cells. Once an embryo starts to divide, the cloning process is technically complete (4). In the case of reproductive cloning, the cloned embryo is implanted into a woman’s womb in the hope that she will give birth (5). In therapeutic cloning, the cloned embryo is allowed to develop in a laboratory petri dish long enough for embryonic stem cells to be harvested, which destroys the embryo (6).

Reproductive Cloning Cloned embryo is implanted into a 5 woman's womb. Clone is born. Cloning DNA is removed 1 from an egg. A jolt of electricity (or chemicals) 3 "tricks" the egg into thinking 4 Cloned embryo DNA it has been fertilized.

DNA from a somatic 2 (body) cell, i.e., a skin Therapeutic Cloning cell, is inserted into the denucleated egg.

Laboratory petri dish After 4-5 days, the developing embryo 6 reaches the blastocyst stage (100-200 cells). Embryonic stem cells then are Source: Association of Reproductive Health Professionals; Olu Davis/CQ Press harvested, destroying the embryo.

880 The CQ Researcher Continued from p. 879 tested these cells only on animals, no Stem-Cell Therapies Could Aid Millions embryonic stem-cell therapies have been Many scientists say more than 100 million Americans could used on humans in the United States. potentially be aided by therapies developed through stem-cell But many scientists predict embryonic stem cells someday will be used research. Critics deride the figure as vastly inflated. to treat human diseases, thanks espe- Condition Number of patients cially to Hwang and Moon. “The South Korean work is staggeringly impor- Cardiovascular disease 58 million tant,” says Gerald Schatten, a cloning Autoimmune diseases 30 million expert at the University of Pittsburgh Diabetes 16 million School of Medicine. “It ushers in a new era of medical promise.” Osteoporosis 10 million “It’s a major medical milestone,” Cancers 8.2 million agrees Robert Lanza, vice president of Alzheimer’s disease 5.5 million medical and scientific development at Parkinson’s disease 5.5 million Advanced Cell Technology, in Worces- ter, Mass. “It offers hope to millions Burns (severe) 0.3 million of patients suffering from a long list Spinal-cord injuries 0.25 million 3 of diseases.” Birth defects (per year) 0.15 million Experts say creating embryonic stem cells through cloning rather than the Source: National Academies of Science, Committee on the Biological and normal method of combining egg and Biomedical Applications of Stem Cell Research, 2002 sperm cells could provide a huge medical advantage: People being treated for Parkinson’s disease, for instance, could Moreover, critics like Prentice say President Bush has a similar poli- be injected with cells bearing their exact embryonic stem-cell research and cy. Bush imposed strict limits on fed- genetic makeup, eliminating the risk of therapeutic cloning are unethical and eral funding for embryonic stem-cell immunological rejection. should be banned because they de- research in August 2001, saying it raised The late Christopher Reeve, who stroy human embryos destined to be- “profound ethical questions” because was tragically paralyzed in a 1995 come human beings. Some critics — it “destroys” an embryo’s “potential for equestrian accident, was an outspo- especially Catholics, Christians and con- life.” Bush limited federal spending on ken supporter of therapeutic cloning servative Republicans — equate the such research to the approximately 60 and embryonic stem-cell research. practice with murder. cell lines that he claimed were then Reeve, who was best known for star- But to be sure, there are exceptions available, arguing that “the life and ring in the “Superman” films of the to this rule. Nancy Reagan, for exam- death decision has already been 1970s and ’80s, died of heart failure ple, the widow of former President made” for the embryos from which this fall. Testifying before Congress two Ronald Reagan, a Republican Party icon, they were harvested. 6 years ago, Reeve said the two tech- supports both therapeutic cloning and To date, there are no federal re- nologies could help “100 million embryonic stem-cell research. The Rea- strictions on privately funded em- Americans [who] suffer from serious gans’ son, Ron, even spoke at the De- bryo research, but many scientists or currently incurable diseases.” 4 mocratic National Convention in Boston say Bush’s policy is causing private But some scientists say the promis- this summer in support of the tech- investors — as well as young sci- es of embryonic stem-cell research — nologies. On the other hand, Sen. Mary entists just starting their careers — and, by extension, therapeutic cloning Landrieu, D-La., who is “pro-choice” to avoid embryonic research. — are being oversold. “They have yet on the issue of abortion, favors ban- “People are not committing to it be- to treat one human patient, and their ning expanded therapeutic (as well as cause they don’t want to waste money success in animal models has been reproductive) cloning. Landrieu sup- or years of effort,” says Elizabeth Black- very limited,” says David Prentice, a ports federally funded embryonic stem- burn, a biology professor at the Uni- senior fellow in life sciences at the cell research, but only if it is conducted versity of California, San Francisco. Family Research Council, a pro-life or- with embryos that had already been While U.S. policymakers widely ganization in Washington, D.C. destroyed before Aug. 9, 2001. 5 view reproductive cloning as unethical,

Available online: www.thecqresearcher.com Oct. 22, 2004 881 CLONING DEBATE

Reproductive cloning is fundamen- Support Rose for Stem-Cell Research tally wrong, critics say, because it would undermine the basic concept of The number of Americans who approve of embryonic stem-cell human identity. As a result, they say, research has increased four percentage points from three years ago, clones would be seen by society — while the number who disapprove has fallen by almost half. and themselves — not as unique individuals, but as carbon copies of their Do you agree or disagree: “original” genetic twins. Cloning also would allow adults to If most scientists believe that stem-cell research will greatly “customize” their children’s genes in increase our ability to prevent or treat serious diseases, we the hope that they would look or act should trust them and let them do it: a certain way, critics say. That would lead, they argue, to the diminution of individual uniqueness: Children would Tend to Tend to Not sure/ become mere consumer goods. 11 Agree Disagree refused “Human cloning turns procreation into a manufacturing process, treating 2001 63% 29% 7% human life as a commodity made to pre- 2004 67 16 18 set specifications,” said Cardinal William Keeler, chairman of the Committee for Pro-Life Activities of the United States Source: Harris Poll, conducted online among 2,242 Americans age 18 and over, Conference of Catholic Bishops. “This is July 18-24, 2004 a sign of moral regress.” 12 Leon Kass, chairman of the Presi- Congress has not moved to ban the child clones. They note that efforts to dent’s Council on Bioethics, agrees. “It practice, because some lawmakers are clone sheep, pigs, goats and other an- is the first step toward a . . . world holding out for a ban on reproductive imals yield few live births, and that in which children become objects of but not therapeutic cloning; others want many live-born mammal clones die manipulation and products of will,” to criminalize both types. within weeks or months because of Kass told a Senate panel last year. 13 Meanwhile, some experts worry that organ abnormalities. Advocates of reproductive cloning the Koreans’ widely publicized find- “There is no such thing as a nor- acknowledge the procedure could be ings could serve as a roadmap for mal, healthy clone,” says renowned abused, but they insist that with gov- rogue doctors or mad scientists bent animal-cloning expert Rudolf Jaenisch, ernment oversight it can be carried on cloning humans. of the Massachusetts Institute of Tech- out safely and morally. “I’m afraid some nitwit is going to nology (MIT). “It would be totally ir- “Human cloning will be done whether try,” said Larry Goldstein, a cellular responsible to attempt human cloning we like it or not,” said Zavos, who runs and molecular biologist at the Uni- at this point, given what we know the fertility clinic in Kentucky, as well versity of California, San Diego. 7 about animal cloning.” as other clinics overseas. “We should “It is going to happen,” said Lee Reproductive cloning also would like- accept it, make it legal, regulate it and M. Silver, a professor of molecular bi- ly endanger the birth mothers, critics say. make sure it is done in a responsible, ology at Princeton University. “I’m not With animals, pregnancies involving scientifically correct way.” 14 saying it’s good, but I think it’s going cloned fetuses regularly result in life- As for the notion that clones would to happen.” 8 threatening complications for the moth- suffer from identity crises, Boisselier, As scientists and policymakers er. In one prominent study, nearly a of the Raelians, says they would be grapple with the South Korean cloning third of the pregnant cows died from “loved and cherished even more” be- achievement, here are some of the complications late in pregnancy. 9 cause their parents cannot have chil- questions being asked: Meanwhile, 88 percent of Ameri- dren any other way. “We are talking cans polled in May 2004 said cloning about babies, not monsters,” she says. Is reproductive cloning unsafe? humans would be “morally wrong” for “They have their own identities and Many experts say reproductive a variety of reasons, even if it could are seen as individuals.” cloning is grossly unethical because it be done safely. (See graph, p. 883.) Mark Eibert, a San Mateo, Calif., jeopardizes the health of would-be Other polls show similar results. 10 attorney who advocates for infertile

882 The CQ Researcher couples, argues that there are no such tions ranging from Parkinson’s and identity problems with identical twins, Most Americans Oppose Alzheimer’s diseases to diabetes, spinal- which he calls “naturally occurring Human Cloning cord injuries and cancer. Eventually, clones.” scientists hope, the cells can be used “They don’t seem to have any iden- Nearly 90 percent of Americans to treat the actual diseases, using stem- tity crisis,” says Eibert, the father of 4- polled in 2004 said cloning cell therapy. year-old twin boys. “There is no evi- humans is morally wrong. The So far, embryonic stem-cell thera- dence — as opposed to speculation — percentage has stayed about pies have only been tested on mice to suggest that cloned children would the same since 2001. and other animals. Most of the cells feel bad about the way they were con- used in stem-cell research have been ceived, or that they would wish they Do you personally believe harvested from “natural” embryos dis- had never been born. They are not that cloning humans is carded by clients of fertility clinics. going to be freaks leading secondhand The South Korean work announced morally acceptable or lives; they are going to be ordinary peo- in February marked the only time that ple and unique individuals with as much morally wrong? researchers have extracted stem cells of an open future as anybody has.” from cloned embryos. 88% Eibert also rejects the “designer chil- Nevertheless, many experts believe dren” argument: that people would use that therapeutic cloning and embryon- reproductive cloning to create kids who ic stem-cell research could revolution- look like movie stars or have great mu- ize medical science. The Coalition for sical talent or athletic ability. Ninety- the Advancement of Medical Research nine percent of the demand for cloning (CAMR), representing scientific societies is going to come from infertile people,” and patient organizations, estimates stem- Eibert says, “and they’re just interested 9% cell research could save the lives or ease in having normal, healthy children who the suffering of 100 million Americans are biologically related to them.” and untold millions worldwide. Eibert says cloning is needed because Morally Morally “This is an incredibly promising area,” infertility treatments, such as in vitro fer- wrong acceptable says Sean Tipton, CAMR’s vice president. tilization (IVF), can’t help people who “It looks very promising for a whole cannot produce viable eggs or sperm. Source: Gallup Poll, of 1,000 Americans host of human conditions where a new “IVF doesn’t work for everyone,” he says, age 18 and over, May 2-4, 2004 way to generate tissue is needed.” calling cloning “revolutionary” because it Researchers hope doctors eventu- is the only infertility treatment that does ing procedures to “prescreen” cloned ally will be able to repair or “regen- not require the patients to produce vi- embryos for genetic defects before they erate” damaged tissue by injecting or able eggs or viable sperm. If they can are implanted in women. But none transplanting embryonic stem cells spare a few cells scraped from the in- has disclosed details of the proce- into patients. Because the cells are so side of their cheek, they too can have dures, which sparks further suspicion biologically flexible, scientists believe biologically related children and families, and outrage among many of the world’s they can be “coaxed” into becoming just like healthy people do.” top scientists. whatever type of tissue patients need, Zavos maintains that reproductive “Zavos and the others are really such as healthy brain cells for Parkin- cloning is not only morally justifiable but renegades to science,” says MIT’s son’s patients and insulin-producing also medically safe. Testifying before Con- Jaenisch. “They’re totally ignoring all pancreatic cells for diabetics. gress in 2002, Zavos said the “poor suc- the scientific evidence, and that’s com- Supporters of so-called regenerative cess rates noted by the animal cloners” pletely unethical. There is no way to medicine cite animal studies and labo- were because of “experiments that were use cloning to create a normal baby.” ratory experiments with human embry- poorly designed, poorly executed, poor- onic stem cells as evidence the approach ly approached and poorly understood Will therapeutic cloning and em- will work. Researchers have coaxed and interpreted.” In fact, Zavos says, “it bryonic stem-cell therapies revo- mouse embryonic stem cells into be- may be technically easier and safer” to lutionize medicine? coming a wide variety of tissues, in- clone humans than animals. 15 Therapeutic cloning produces em- cluding blood, brain, bone and muscle Zavos, Boisselier and Antinori say bryonic stem cells that are used to re- cells. In an experiment at the National they have developed sophisticated test- search potential treatments for condi- Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda,

Available online: www.thecqresearcher.com Oct. 22, 2004 883 CLONING DEBATE

Are There Clones Among Us?

o far, no one has presented any hard scientific evidence, • Boisselier runs Clonaid, the Raelians’ human cloning pro- such as a DNA test, to prove that a human clone has ject. On Dec. 27, 2002, She announced that Clonaid had S been born. But some claim that — like something out facilitated the birth of the world’s first human clone. She of a science fiction movie — clones already walk among us. said the baby, nicknamed Eve, was born the previous Brigitte Boisselier, a member of the Raelian religious sect day to a 31-year-old American woman at an undisclosed (who believe humans are descendants of clones created 25,000 overseas location. Boisselier promised to provide proof years ago by space aliens) and Italian gynecologist Severino of the claim but never did, claiming that Eve’s parents Antinori both say they have facilitated the births of more than refused to allow any genetic testing. Boisselier says Eve a dozen human clones. And Kentucky-based fertility specialist is currently living in Israel, and that Clonaid has since Panayiotis Zavos says he has implanted a cloned embryo in a facilitated the births of more than a dozen other clones. woman, but that she failed to become pregnant. He plans to • Antinori became known in the 1990s for his controver- implant other women soon, he says. sial work in helping post-menopausal women have chil- Boisselier, Zavos and Antinori say they have good reasons dren. In 2001, he announced his intention to facilitate for not providing proof of their purported cloning accom- the birth of a human clone. In 2002 and 2003 he made plishments: Doing so would violate their clients’ privacy and several inconsistent claims that clonal pregnancies were could even subject them to violence by anti-cloning zealots. under way. In May 2004, he said at least three babies The three say they also fear arrest. Reproductive cloning is had been born, but that he had played only an “advi- illegal in France and Italy, Boisselier’s and Antinori’s native sory” role in their births. Although Antinori’s medical and countries, respectively. Even if Boisselier offered proof while research credentials make his claims at least somewhat in a country where reproductive cloning is still legal (such as plausible, there is no evidence to support his an- the United States), Boisselier could be extradited back to her nouncements. native France to stand trial. • Zavos runs fertility clinics in Lexington, Ky., London and “Why should I give the world the proof that will put me in Limassol, Cyprus. In May 2002, Zavos said he had assem- jail?” asks Boisselier, who says she’s currently negotiating with bled a team of scientists and had approved 12 couples for several foreign governments to allow her to take up residence participation in cloning experiments. In April 2003, he pub- without fear of extradition. “I will not give the proof unless there lished a picture said to be of a four-day-old cloned embryo, is a place I can stay, and I am very confident that no extradi- but the peer-reviewed analysis he promised did not follow. tion can happen.” If those conditions were met, she continues, In January 2004, he announced that he had implanted a “Then, of course, I will give every detail.” cloned embryo in one of his clients, but two weeks later Here are the three scientists’ claims: said the woman had failed to become pregnant.

Md., mice given diabetes regained some Scientists also have successfully in- Michigan State University biotechnol- insulin-producing ability after receiving duced human embryonic stem cells into ogy professor who collaborated on the injections of mouse embryonic stem becoming brain, liver and other types South Korean experiment. “If we can cells. In another, mouse stem cells be- of cells (in laboratory petri dishes). Al- circumvent the rejection issue, life will came brain cells that produce dopamine, though no therapies have been devel- be happy thereafter.” 17 a chemical lacking in Parkinson’s suf- oped using them, many experts believe Ron Reagan Jr., the son of the late ferers. When the dopamine-producing that if that day ever arrives, patients former president, Ronald Reagan, tout- cells were then transplanted into labo- could be treated with cells of their own ed that argument in a speech at the ratory rats inflicted with Parkinson’s, the genetic makeup, by having themselves, Democratic National Convention in rats were partially cured. in effect, “therapeutically cloned.” In the- Boston last summer. “We’re absolutely confident that we ory, this would eliminate the risk that “How’d you like to have your own, have the right type of cell, and we a person’s immune system would re- personal biological repair kit standing can clearly show it affects the behav- ject the injected cells as foreign bod- by at the hospital?” asked Reagan. ior of the animal,” said project direc- ies; thus patients wouldn’t have to take “Sound like magic? Welcome to the tor Ron McKay, an NIH biologist. While expensive immune-suppressing drugs future of medicine.” the research is far from proof of a that sometimes cause painful side ef- But critics say the potential for ther- cure, McKay added, “It’s absolutely defects, or don’t work at all. apeutic cloning and embryonic stem- finitive evidence that these cells can “That’s the hypothesis, but we still cell therapy is being oversold. This sum- work in the brain.” 16 need to prove it,” said Jose Cibelli, a mer, for example, more than 2,400

884 The CQ Researcher doctors, scientists and other profes- to changing glucose levels, as needed. sulting embryos will contain divergent sionals affiliated with the Christian Furthermore, when the Calgary re- DNA that could trigger an immune- Medical & Dental Association (CMDA) searchers transplanted the cells into mice, system rejection, they point out. wrote to Congress arguing that em- they formed tumors. 19 Even MIT’s Jaenisch concedes that bryonic stem-cell research has yielded Critics are even more skeptical that tissue rejection could be a problem. In “only very limited and/or questionable embryonic stem-cell research will pro- 2002, he created cloned mouse embryos success in animal models” and “no duce a cure for Alzheimer’s disease, and transplanted their stem cells back therapeutic application whatsoever in a brain disorder that affects as many into the same animals. Although the human beings.” The letter accused some as 5 million Americans. Because the cells were genetically identical to the re- researchers of “hyping” the science “far disease kills huge numbers of many cipients’ other cells, they were rejected. beyond scientific integrity” in order to different varieties of cells, the therapy “Our results raise the provocative pos- secure federal research funding. 18 probably will not work on it, they say. sibility that even genetically matched To be sure, groups cells derived by therapeutic like the CMDA have cloning may still face bar- strong moral objec- riers to effective trans- tions to embryonic plantation for some dis- stem-cell research. orders,” Jaenisch wrote. 21 But they also say the Critics have seized on approach has serious Jaenisch’s pronounce- scientific shortcom- ment as evidence that the ings that should be rejection problem will troubling to everyone forever hamper thera- — including those peutic cloning. But who do not share Jaenisch — and many their religious or other scientists — say it moral views. For ex- is simply too early for ample, the prospect such sweeping conclu- of treating diabetes sions. “The science is in- with embryonic stem efficient at this point, and cells is far less promis- much has to be learned,” ing than supporters he says. “Technically,

claim, according to AFP photo/Tim Sloan there are some issues that the critics. They argue Controversial human-cloning researchers, from left, Severino Antinori, need to be resolved, and that the much-touted Panayiotis Zavos and Brigitte Boisselier attend a conference they can be resolved.” at the National Academy of Sciences. 2001 experiment in Meanwhile, many op- which researchers ponents of cloning and claimed to have produced insulin-gen- “The complex architecture of the embryo research support regenerative erating pancreatic islet cells was, in fact, brain, the fact that it’s a diffuse disease medicine using adult, rather than em- a failure because all of the lab rats that with neuronal loss in numerous places bryonic, stem cells. So-called adult stem received the supposedly therapeutic cells and with synaptic loss, all this is a prob- cells have been found in many kinds died of diabetes. lem” for any approach involving cell of mature tissues, including bone mar- Moreover, they point out that in 2003 replacement, said Huntington Potter, a row, some organs and blood. Adult another team of researchers concluded brain researcher at the University of stem-cell therapies have already been that the first team had not created in- South Florida in Tampa and chief ex- used on people, with some success. And sulin-producing pancreatic cells but that ecutive of the Johnnie B. Byrd Institute the approach is not controversial like the cells had only absorbed insulin from for Alzheimer’s Research. 20 embryonic stem-cell research and ther- the culture medium and released it again. Critics are also skeptical of the claim apeutic cloning, because no embryos are Critics also note that researchers at the that therapeutic cloning will yield cells destroyed in the process. 22 University of Calgary, in Canada, found that will not be rejected by recipients’ Scientists generally agree that adult that while pancreatic cells derived from immune systems. Unless the eggs used stem cells have medical promise. But embryonic stem cells produced some in the procedure are donated by the most believe that embryonic cells have insulin, they did not do so in response transplant recipients themselves, the re- much greater potential.

Available online: www.thecqresearcher.com Oct. 22, 2004 885 CLONING DEBATE

“We are all for research into adult ple might agree to have doctors clone Others argue that therapeutic cloning stem cells,” says Tipton, of CAMR, “but their sick child and genetically modify would endanger and exploit women the overwhelming scientific opinion is the embryo so that it would develop who donate eggs for the procedure, they are not going to be nearly as good.” without a forebrain. The couple could because of the dangers inherent in the then pay a surrogate mother to carry hormone treatments and surgery en- Is therapeutic cloning immoral? the embryo to term, or at least to a dured by egg donors. And if donors Some people argue that therapeu- point where the fetus’ heart is fully de- are offered financial compensation to tic cloning is immoral because it cre- veloped. Doctors could then remove the donate their eggs, critics say, it would ates and then destroys human em- heart from the cloned, brainless fetus — result in poor women selling their body bryos, which they say are destined to which would have died anyway — and parts for financial recompense. become human beings. transplant it into the couple’s sick child. “[Therapeutic cloning would] usher “All human cloning produces anoth- Charles Krauthammer, excoriates this in an era where women will be ex- er human life,” said Sen. Sam Brown- scenario as morally reprehensible. “There ploited by experimental research cloning back, R-Kan., who advocates criminaliz- is no grosser corruption of biotechnol- by corporations in order to get their ing all forms of the practice. “The deliberate ogy than creating a human mutant and eggs. Millions of women’s eggs will be creation and destruction of young hu- disemboweling it at our pleasure for purchased for use in cloning experi- mans through the process of [therapeu- spare parts,” wrote Krauthammer, a con- ments,” said Rep. Dave Weldon, R-Fla., tic] human cloning is morally wrong.” 23 servative columnist and a medical doc- a physician. “Eventually, these compa- John Kilner, president of the Center tor, in Time. “If we flinch in the face nies will . . . exploit poor women in for Bioethics and Human Dignity, a Chris- of this high-tech barbarity, we’ll deserve Third World countries to get their eggs.” tian-oriented think tank in Bannock- to live in the hell it heralds.” 25 But proponents of therapeutic cloning burn, Ill., agrees. “So-called therapeutic Other critics argue that even if re- say it would be morally wrong not to cloning destroys embryonic human be- productive cloning were criminalized allow the procedure (as well as embry- ings,” says Kilner, a Harvard-trained re- and therapeutic cloning did not result onic stem-cell research), given the un- ligious ethicist. “It produces human em- in organ-farm practices, it would facil- told suffering that could be ameliorated. bryos for the explicit purpose of fatally itate the cloning of people. The “slip- “It is a weighing of morals,” says mining them to obtain bodily materials pery slope” argument they make goes Blackburn, of the University of Cali- for experimental purposes.” this way: If the federal government or fornia. “[Nobody] is hurt by therapeu- Some critics also argue that thera- the states embraced therapeutic cloning, tic cloning or embryonic stem-cell re- peutic cloning would not necessarily they would have to fund — or at least search, but . . . a great many people stop at the embryonic level. Clones permit — research in order for the could be harmed by banning them.” could be kept alive in laboratories for practice to be performed safely and ef- She and others reject the argument months or even years until their or- ficiently. Because therapeutic and re- that therapeutic cloning and embryonic gans could be harvested for “thera- productive cloning are procedurally stem-cell research destroy actual or peutic” purposes, they speculate. identical at the laboratory stage, the nascent human beingsbecause many “nat- Princeton’s Silver, who believes that perfected technique for therapeutic urally” fertilized eggs never develop into therapeutic and reproductive cloning cloning would inevitably be used for full-fledged fetuses. The American Soci- would be moral if they could be per- reproductive purposes, they argue. ety for Reproductive Medicine estimates formed safely, touched off a firestorm a Simply banning reproductive cloning that 40 to 50 percent of all fertilized eggs few years ago when he said, “it would could not prevent this from occurring, expire on their own accord. almost certainly be possible to produce critics say, because rogue doctors could “It is true that every human life be- human bodies without a forebrain.” Lee fly their patients to countries where gins with an embryo, but it is not at added that “these human bodies without the practice is legal. “Today, cloned all true that every embryo begins a any semblance of consciousness would [embryos] for research, tomorrow human life,” says Arthur Caplan, di- not be considered persons, and thus it cloned [embryos] for babymaking,” rector of the Center for Bioethics at would be perfectly legal to keep them White House bioethics adviser Kass the University of Pennsylvania in ‘alive’ as a future source of organs.” 24 said in response to South Korea’s ther- Philadelphia. “Scientifically, it is not cor- Critics say Silver’s “organ farm” sce- apeutic-cloning triumph. “In my opin- rect to say that every embryo has the nario is not so far-fetched: Imagine a ion . . . the only way to prevent this potential to become a person, because grief-stricken couple whose child des- from happening here is for Congress many embryos are simply miswired perately needs a heart transplant. Faced to enact a comprehensive ban or and do not develop into anything at with such a scenario, critics say, the cou- moratorium on all human cloning.” 26 Continued on p. 888

886 The CQ Researcher Chronology

January 1996 Aug. 9, 2001 1850s-1950s English scientist Ian Wilmut and President Bush says scientists may Scientists make first attempts his colleagues clone first mammal use federal funds to study human at cloning. ever created using adult stem embryonic stem-cell lines created cells. Six months later, on Feb. 22, before this date, but that the gov- 1938 1997, Wilmut announces birth of ernment will not fund the “de- German scientist Hans Spemann “Dolly” the sheep. struction” of more embryos. articulates the principles of mod- ern cloning. December 1997 Dec. 26, 2002 A furor ensues when Princeton biolo- Boisselier claims that the world’s 1952 gist Lee Silver says that cloning might first human clone, a girl nicknamed American embryologists Robert someday be used to create brainless Eve, has been born. Briggs and Thomas J. King transfer human clones as sources of organs. genetic material from frog cells to Feb. 27, 2003 denucleated frog eggs. Many of the November 1998 The House once again votes to eggs develop into juvenile frogs. Scientists at the University of Wiscon- ban all forms of human cloning, sin and Johns Hopkins University an- and the Senate once again refuses • nounce that they isolated human em- to do so. bryonic stem cells for the first time. Feb. 12, 2004 1960s-1980s • South Korean scientists create Scientists begin cloning mammals. human embryos by cloning and harvest stem cells from them to 1962 2000-Present use in therapeutic research. In the first successful cloning experi- A few scientists announce their ment using adult cells, Oxford Uni- intentions to clone humans. Other May 2004 versity zoologist John Gurdon trans- experts say cloning could be Antinori announces the birth of fers genetic material from tadpole used for “therapeutic” purposes. three human clones. He provides intestinal cells into denucleated frog Lawmakers clash over how to no proof, and most scientists eggs. The result: tadpole clones. regulate cloning. doubt the claim.

1970 Nov. 26, 2001 June 5, 2004 Theologian Paul Ramsey argues Advanced Cell Technology of Former President Ronald Reagan against cloning humans in his Worcester, Mass., clones human em- dies of Alzheimer’s disease. His book The Fabricated Man. bryos for stem-cell research, but widow rebukes Bush’s policy by none develop past the six-cell stage. calling for more federal support 1984 for embryonic stem-cell research. Danish embryologist Steen Willad- Jan. 26, 2001 Democratic presidential candidate sen clones a sheep using embry- American fertility expert Panayiotis Sen. John Kerry does the same. onic cells. Other researchers sub- Zavos announces his intentions to sequently clone cattle, pigs and clone human beings. Italian gyne- October 2004 other farm animals. cologist Severino Antinori and Harvard University’s ethical review Raelian religious cult member board reveals it is considering pro- • Brigitte Boisselier soon follow suit. posals from two teams of university scientists to conduct embryonic July 31, 2001 stem-cell research. . . . Gov. Arnold 1990s The first animal The House of Representatives Schwarzenegger, R-Calif., breaks is born cloned from adult cells. passes legislation banning all with the state Republican Party Scientists also isolate human forms of human cloning, but the and the Bush administration and embryonic stem cells, raising measure stalls in the Senate be- supports a $3 billion bond measure hopes of revolutionary new cause some members want to that would fund embryonic stem- medical treatments. allow therapeutic cloning. cell research.

Available online: www.thecqresearcher.com Oct. 22, 2004 887 CLONING DEBATE

Animal Cloning Spurs Controversy, Too cientists have cloned or are trying to clone livestock, pets, harms the animals themselves, because a large percentage of endangered species and even genetically engineered an- animal clones die before or shortly after birth, and those that S imals that could be harvested for organs or specific sub- survive often suffer from serious health problems. stances they produce. But the research has produced a pletho- Cloning transgenic animals with the desired medicinal traits is ra of ethical controversies. also controversial. Researchers have developed transgenic goats, Livestock producers say cloning would allow the unlimited for example, that produce substances in their milk that can dis- replication of animals with desired characteristics, such as abun- solve blood clots in heart attack and stroke victims. Scientists have dant muscle mass (meat), less fat or disease-resistance. “Cloning also created transgenic pigs that could someday be used as organ produces healthier animals [that] yield more nutritious food prod- donors for humans — a procedure known as xenotransplantation. ucts,” says Barbara Glenn, director of animal biotechnology at the The pigs are genetically modified at the embryonic stage so that Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), in Washington, D.C. their organs will not be rejected by the human immune system. Only a fraction of U.S. livestock has been produced through Once researchers develop the first version of an animal with cloning so far, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration the desired genetic prototype — an extremely difficult process — (FDA) has asked livestock producers to voluntarily withhold they can replicate it indefinitely through cloning. “Cloning could such products from the marketplace while the agency studies theoretically provide a limitless supply of cells and organs for xeno- the matter. But many observers expect the agency to approve transplantation,” says Michael Lanza, medical director at Advanced the sale of food products from cloned animals by the end of Cell Technology, a biotechnology company in Worcester, Mass. the year. The agency telegraphed its intentions last fall, when But critics decry such practices on both scientific and ethi- it published a draft report concluding that food products de- cal grounds. Some argue that xenotransplantation could trans- rived from animal clones and their offspring “are likely to be mit animal viruses to transplant recipients, who could in turn as safe to eat as food from their non-clone counterparts.” 1 infect others. They note that in 1918 a viral strain of influen- While critics generally do not argue that food from cloned an- za (flu) was transferred from pigs to people and swept the imals is unsafe to eat, they do argue that cloning reduces the bi- globe, killing an estimated 20-to-40 million people. Human im- ological diversity of a species, leaving it vulnerable to unanticipat- munodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus responsible for the AIDS ed disorders and diseases. Indeed, they say, this is already happening pandemic, most likely originated in chimpanzees. with conventional “selective” breeding practices and the creation of Others question the ethics of treating animals as organ fac- genetically engineered, or “transgenic,” animals. Such animals carry tories. “We don’t have the right to use pigs or any other ani- genes from other animals, bacterium or plants inserted into their mals as spare parts for people,” says Peter Wood, a research genetic codes to create entirely new species with desired traits. associate at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) “Already animals are suffering from maladies at a rate un- in Washington, D.C. “Animals are independent entities with heard of before we applied biotechnology to the barnyard,” says their own interests, not a means to an end for humans. We Michael Appleby, vice president for farm animals and sustain- have no right to create and then dismember animals at will.” able agriculture at the Humane Society of the United States. “A Cloning may not bring back extinct species, like the dinosaurs single pathogen could wipe out countless numbers of genetical- in Michael Crichton’s novel Jurassic Park, but it is keeping some ly identical animals, putting . . . the world’s food supply at risk.” endangered species from disappearing altogether. Earlier this year, Appleby and other critics also argue that livestock cloning Chinese scientists cloned a rare Siberian ibex, and they have long

Continued from p. 886 for in vitro fertilization purposes. Those all. And philosophically, it’s a terrible people should instead arrange for “em- mistake to mix up potential people bryo adoptions,” Kilner says. BACKGROUND with real people. That’s like saying Caplan, meanwhile, also rejects the acorns are the same as oak trees.” “slippery slope” argument — that ther- Some right-to-life advocates, though, apeutic cloning would inevitably lead even lament the fact that many fertil- to reproductive cloning. Scientific Milestones ized eggs die off naturally before pro- “That’s like arguing you have to ban ducing viable pregnancies. “There’s lots all uses of matches because there are erman embryologist Hans Spemann of suffering and death in the world, but arsonists,” he says. “You can certainly G articulated the principles of mod- that’s one of the great evidences of how draw a line and say you can’t use cloning ern cloning science in 1938. He won- out-of-kilter things are,” says Kilner, who to make people, and anybody who dered if animals could be replicated also believes that it’s unethical for peo- makes an embryo into a human being by transferring the genetic material of ple to discard “extra” embryos created is going to be penalized.” differentiated (somatic) body cells —

888 The CQ Researcher been trying to clone the en- Meanwhile, grief-stricken pet dangered giant panda. In Aus- owners can now clone their de- tralia, efforts are under way to parted animals. Three U.S. com- clone the endangered northern panies now clone pets: PerPET- hairy nosed wombat. uate, Lazaron and Genetic Three years ago, U.S. scien- Savings & Clone (GSC). The tists cloned an oxlike gaur, a companies may have light- rare Asian species of wild cat- hearted names, but they prac- tle. And last April, Lanza’s com- tice serious science. Their prices pany cloned two bantegs, wild are serious, too: GSC charges cowlike creatures native to $50,000 to clone a cat. Next Southeast Asia. The clones year the company plans to start were derived from the cells of cloning dogs. And the compa- a male banteng that died at the ny offers a “gene banking” ser- San Diego Zoo in 1980 with- vice — costing from $295-$1,395 out producing offspring. Tissue — that allows people to keep samples taken from the animal their pets’ genetic material were kept frozen for 23 years. frozen. In Great Britain, a much more “It’s a multibillion-dollar ambitious project — known as business waiting to happen,” Lou the “Frozen Ark” initiative — Hawthorne, the company’s aims to freeze tissue samples founder and CEO, said. 4 of thousands of endangered an- “I’m very worried that peo- imals to ensure their long-term ple are putting a piece of Fluffy AFP photo/Phil Shofield survival. This summer, the first In a scientific breakthrough, the first cloned mule, in the fridge with the hope that tissue samples — from an Idaho Gem, is born in May 2003. cloning will restore it,” says Arthur Arabian oryx, a spotted sea Caplan, director of the Center for horse and a British field cricket — were frozen. In the future, Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania. “Cloning is an echo; scientists could thaw out the samples and attempt to clone new it is not a copy. These companies border on deceiving people.” animals. 2 Critics complain that cloning does not address the real reason 1 The letter is available on the FDA’s Web site at www.fda.gov/bbs/top- animals become endangered: the destruction of their habitats. ics/NEWS/2003/NEW00968.html 2 More information about the Frozen Ark initiative is available on the British Nat- “Cloning endangered species gives a false sense that we’re sav- ural History Museum’s Web site at www.nhm.ac.uk/services/press/items/frozenark.htm ing species, when it would be better to . . . preserve species in 3 Quoted in Tim Johnson, “China Announces Cloning of Endangered Siber- the wild,” said Susan Lieberman, director of the species-preservation ian Ibex,” The San Jose Mercury News, Jan. 30, 2004. program at the World Wildlife Fund. 3 4 Television interview, “CBS Evening News,” Sept. 8, 2004. skin cells, for example — to egg cells vision by transferring genetic material transplanted nuclei are all functioning whose own nuclei had been re- taken from embryonic cells of leopard and thus can be used as genetic blue- moved. The procedure Spemann en- frogs to denucleated leopard frog eggs. prints to create new, duplicate animals. visioned was essentially identical to Many of the eggs developed into tad- With adult cells, by contrast, many genes somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), poles, and some grew into juvenile frogs. are genetically “turned off,” making the the process used today in both ther- Other scientists repeated the experiment blueprint incomplete. apeutic and — purportedly — re- with other species of frogs. Nevertheless, scientists employed the productive cloning. Spemann didn’t But these experiments were not the embryonic cell-transfer technique to repli- know how to perform the procedure, type that Spemann envisioned, because cate animals. In 1984, Steen Willadsen but he speculated it would be “some- they involved transferring genetic ma- of Denmark cloned a sheep using em- what fantastical” in nature. 27 terial from embryonic cells, not somatic bryonic cells. Other researchers subse- In 1952, American embryologists cells, which are mature or adult cells. quently cloned cattle, pigs, goats and Robert Briggs and Thomas J. King made Cloning with embryonic cells is rela- rats using the same approach. An early progress towards Spemann’s “fantastical” tively easy, because the genes in the exception to the embryonic-only pro-

Available online: www.thecqresearcher.com Oct. 22, 2004 889 CLONING DEBATE cedure occurred in 1962, when Oxford by sterilizing and ultimately murdering program, the family is obsolete and University zoologist John Gurdon trans- some 12 million Jews, Slavs, Gypsies and human beings are merely well-satis- ferred genetic material from adult tad- other “undesirable” members of society. fied animals. To this day, cloning op- pole intestinal cells into denucleated By the 1950s, most state forced-steriliza- ponents invoke Huxley’s horrors when frog eggs. The result was embryos that tion programs had been dismantled. discussing the procedure. developed into cloned tadpoles. But the eugenics rationale for cloning didn’t disappear entirely. In a controversial 1996 article, Nobel Hello Dolly! Fear and Loathing Prize-winning biologist Joshua Leder- berg outlined how cloning might be hese experiments sparked debate used to improve the human race. “If n the meantime, scientists contin- T over whether scientists could — a superior individual is identified, why I ued trying to clone animals using and should — clone humans. Some not copy it directly, rather than suf- adult cells. The goal, they said, was experts believed cloning could improve fer all the risks of recombinational to replicate animals with desired traits the human race. This belief, known disruption, including those of sex?” such as cows with more meat, less fat as eugenics, originated in ancient Lederberg asked. “The same solace and a greater resistance to disease. Greece, where the philosopher Plato is accorded the carrier of genetic dis- Cloning, in theory, would allow ranch- spoke of selectively breeding “superi- ease: Why not be sure of an exact ers to breed unlimited numbers of “ar- or” people and eliminating the “fee- copy of yourself rather than risk a chetype” cows, pigs or other animals. ble” in order to improve the quality homozygous segregant” — a baby In 1994, a team of U.S. researchers of the republic’s population. 28 born with two copies of the same found a way to “turn off” and then The eugenics movement took root in mutant gene. Such babies would like- “turn on” again the genes of embry- the United States in the early 20th cen- ly suffer from a genetic disease. 29 onic cells by putting them into a chem- tury. Many white Americans embraced Ethicist Joseph Fletcher had made ically induced state of quiescence, or the concept as a way to keep their race similar points in his 1974 book The hibernation. In January 1996, scientists from being genetically “degraded” by non- Ethics of Genetic Control: Ending Re- at the Roslin Institute in Scotland adapt- Northern European immigrants who were productive Roulette. He argued that ed the technique in a bid to clone a flooding into the country at the time. human cloning would provide a way sheep from an adult sheep cell. Eugenics was used to justify the around genetic diseases and infertility, Led by Englishman Ian Wilmut, the 1924 Immigration and Restriction Act, and would allow people to bear chil- team transplanted adult sheep nuclei which set strict immigration quotas dren that resembled them or members into 277 denucleated eggs. After sub- based on race and ethnicity. Then- of their families. jecting them to chemicals and weak President Calvin Coolidge emphasized But theologian and ethicist Paul electric shocks, 29 embryos were the eugenic underpinnings of the new Ramsey excoriated the prospect of “tricked” into thinking they had been law: “America must be kept American. human cloning in his 1970 book Fab- fertilized and were then implanted into Biological laws show that Nordics de- ricated Man: The Ethics of Genetic Con- surrogate mother sheep. teriorate when mixed with other races.” trol. He argued that human cloning On July 5, 1996, one of the ewes About that time, several states would violate the ethical responsibili- gave birth, marking the first mammal launched forced-sterilization programs ties of both science and parenthood ever cloned from an adult cell. The to prevent “defective people” from breed- because it would involve experiments cloned sheep was named Dolly, after ing. By the early 1930s, 27 states had on nascent children, it would transform the popular country-western singer, sterilization laws, and tens of thousands parenthood into a manufacturing process, Dolly Parton. 30 of Americans had been sterilized. The and it would deny children their indi- When Wilmut announced Dolly’s U.S. Supreme Court upheld the laws viduality. Human cloning, Ramsey wrote, birth six months later, on Feb. 22, on the basis of eugenics. In a famous would result in a “vast technological 1997, speculation ran wild that the 1927 case, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes alienation of man” and the “abolition technology that produced Dolly could applauded the forced sterilization of a of man’s embodied personhood.” lead to human cloning. In the United mentally retarded plaintiff, writing: “Three British author Aldous Huxley had States, Congress held hearings on the generations of imbeciles is enough.” painted a similarly chilling picture in subject, and in early 1998 the Senate But such ideas horrified society in the his 1931 novel Brave New World, where considered legislation, proposed by a aftermath of World War II and the Nazis’ babies are produced in identical batch- trio of Republican lawmakers, to per- attempt to create an Aryan master race es through a government-run cloning manently ban all human cloning.

890 The CQ Researcher Nearly all senators denounced human therapeutic cloning. The House has productive cloning. Much to the cha- cloning, but many argued that the pro- twice passed legislation that would grin of the ban-all-cloning camp, Sen. posed ban would undermine potential- ban all cloning, most recently in Feb- Orrin G. Hatch — the staunchly con- ly valuable scientific research. Democ- ruary 2003. The legislation, sponsored servative, anti-abortion Utah Republi- ratic Sens. Edward M. Kennedy of by Reps. Dave Weldon, R-Fla., and can — is sponsoring the bill that would Massachusetts and Tom Harkin of Iowa Bart Stupak, D-Mich., would make permit therapeutic cloning to continue. led the effort to kill the bill, which was cloning punishable by up to 10 years “In our attempt to ban human re- also opposed by patient-advocacy groups, in prison and a $1 million fine. productive cloning, we should not close scientific and medical organizations and The Senate version of the bill is the door on a form of scientific research the biotechnology industry. sponsored by Sens. Brownback, the (therapeutic cloning) that has the po- “Congress can and should act to ban Kansas Republican, and Landrieu, a tential of curing millions of debilitating cloning of human beings during this Democrat from Louisiana. “All cloning and life-threatening diseases,” Hatch session,” Kennedy said in February 1998. is reproductive,” Brownback maintains. said in introducing the bill in 2003. “As “But it should not act in haste, and it “So-called ‘therapeutic’ cloning is the a right-to-life senator, I believe that a should not pass legislation that goes process by which an embryo is cre- critical part of a pro-life, pro-family phi- far beyond what the American people ated for the purpose of subsequently losophy is helping the living.” want or what the scientific and med- killing it for its parts . . . and [that] is ical community understands is neces- certainly not ‘therapeutic’ for the clone sary or appropriate.” 31 who has been created and then dis- Although Harkin and Kennedy in- emboweled for the purported benefit Global Ban? troduced their own version of the bill, of its adult twin.” 32 banning reproductive cloning but al- President Bush says he will sign the tymied by the Senate, Bush has lowing therapeutic cloning, the mea- Brownback-Landrieu legislation into law S been pushing the United Nations sure died, and Congress remains stale- if it reaches his desk. He cites three to enact an international treaty ban- mated on the issue. main reasons for his support. Like ning all forms of human cloning The stakes of the cloning debate Brownback and others in the anti- worldwide. changed again just nine months later, in cloning camp, Bush views the promised Last fall, the United States was the November 1998, when researchers at the medical benefits of therapeutic cloning driving force behind a draft U.N. treaty, University of Wisconsin and Johns Hop- — Bush calls it “research” cloning — introduced by Costa Rica, to ban the kins University announced that they had as “highly speculative.” He also argues creation of cloned human embryos isolated human embryonic stem cells, that anything other than a total ban “for any purpose whatsoever” — in- the undifferentiated “master” cells that would be “virtually impossible to en- cluding therapeutic uses. The proposal can become any type of tissue in the force.” Cloned human embryos creat- described human cloning as “moral- body. The discovery sparked enduring ed for research, he says, would in- ly repugnant, unethical and . . . a scientific and ethical questions. evitably find their way into the hands grave violation of fundamental human of rogue scientists who would use them rights.” 33 It was tabled last Novem- for reproductive purposes. ber without an up-or-down vote, and But the president’s main concern is was scheduled to be reconsidered on CURRENT that all cloning is unethical. “Research Oct. 21. The United States will once cloning would contradict the most fun- again vigorously lobby for it. But a damental principle of medical ethics: that host of countries, led by the United SITUATION no human life should be exploited or Kingdom, oppose the U.S. approach extinguished for the benefit of another,” for the same reason Bush’s critics do Bush said. “Yet a law permitting research at home: They do not want to ban cloning, while forbidding the birth of a therapeutic cloning. Competing Legislation cloned child, would require the destruction The United Kingdom, Singapore, South of nascent human life.” Korea, Japan and China have all banned n Washington, policymakers are tak- But Bush probably won’t get a chance reproductive cloning but allow thera- I ing two general approaches to to sign the Brownback-Landrieu bill. peutic cloning. The five countries — cloning. Some want to outlaw the Several influential senators — includ- along with other countries with thriving practice entirely, while others want to ing some Republicans — back a com- biotechnology industries — support a ban reproductive cloning but allow peting bill that would prohibit only re- Belgium-authored U.N. proposal that

Available online: www.thecqresearcher.com Oct. 22, 2004 891 CLONING DEBATE would ban reproduc- prohibited federal tive cloning but per- spending on research mit therapeutic cloning. using other, newer “It would be inde- lines. fensible to stop this Critics have long research and deny mil- maintained that Bush lions of people — and greatly overestimated their families — the the number of useable opportunity to save lines that existed at the their lives,” Adam time of his announce- Thomson, a British ment. Indeed, the Na- representative to the tional Institutes of U.N., told the Gener- Health, a division of al Assembly in De- the U.S. Department of cember. 34 Health and Human Genetics Policy In- Services, estimated in stitute, a think tank in March that only 19 lines Coral Gables, Fla., that were available for fed- supports therapeutic eral funding, far fewer cloning, lobbied for the than Bush originally in- Belgium proposal last dicated. Consequently, year. Bernard Siegel, the federal government the institute’s executive doled out only $24.8 director, says the U.S. million for embryonic delegation worked vig- stem-cell research in orously behind the 2003. scenes to dissuade In June, more than other countries from 140 scientific societies, backing it. “It was hard- patient organizations ball politics,” he says. and other groups sent

But Siegel and Bucci Getty Images/Vince a letter to Bush urging others familiar with Actor Michael J. Fox presents an award to former first lady Nancy Reagan him to expand his pol- the issue say politics at a May 2004 fund-raising event in Beverly Hills, Calif., for stem-cell icy and allow federal and juvenile diabetes research. Fox has Parkinson’s disease; the late is behind the Bush ad- President Ronald Reagan had advanced Alzheimer’s disease, which some funds to be spent on ministration’s actions. scientists say might be cured with the help of stem-cell research. additional embryonic Even if the U.N. stem-cell lines (more adopts a comprehensive cloning treaty, than 100 have been created with pri- they note, it would not be binding on Stem-Cell Showdown vate funds and in other countries since the United States without Senate rati- Bush announced his policy). fication — a highly unlikely prospect. “[F]or the full potential of embry- The same goes for other countries: ush is also facing pressure to lift onic stem-cell research to be reached, Thompson stated flatly last year that B the restrictions that he placed the number of stem-cell lines readily the U.K. would “not apply” such a ban on federal spending for embryonic available to scientists must increase,” to its national law. stem-cell research in August 2001. the letter stated. “For those of us with Nevertheless, a U.N. treaty “would Bush said at the time that there were a personal stake in the possibilities of be a tremendous propaganda victory “more than 60” embryonic stem-cell embryonic stem-cell research, this re- for the foes of therapeutic cloning,” lines existing in laboratories around ally is a race against time. In the past Siegel says. “Bush could then say that the world. Reasoning that the em- three years, more than 4 million the world’s greatest international body bryos that had given rise to them had Americans have died from diseases had condemned it as morally indefen- already been destroyed, Bush made that embryonic stem cells have the sible, and that they [the Senate] had to federal funds available to researchers potential to treat.” 35 follow suit.” who wanted to study them. But he Continued on p. 894

892 The CQ Researcher At Issue:

ShouldYes Congress ban all forms of human cloning?

DAVID PRENTICE DANIEL PERRY SENIOR FELLOW FOR LIFE SCIENCES, PRESIDENT, COALITION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT FAMILY RESEARCH COUNCIL OF MEDICAL RESEARCH

WRITTEN FOR THE CQ RESEARCHER, OCTOBER 2004 WRITTEN FOR THE CQ RESEARCHER, OCTOBER 2004

uman cloning starts with construction of an embryo. anning all forms of cloning would slam the door on In a technique called somatic cell nuclear transfer hope for up to 100 million Americans by outlawing h (SCNT), the chromosomes of an egg cell are re- b vital research on some of the most debilitating dis- placed with the nucleus of a somatic (body) cell. If the result- eases known to humankind. ing embryo is then inserted into a womb in hopes of a live There are very different kinds of “cloning,” which simply birth, it is called “reproductive cloning.” If the embryo is de- means making copies of a single molecule, cell, virus or bac- stroyed to harvest its stem cells for experiments, it is called terium. Reproductive cloning — creating babies that are genet- “therapeutic cloning.” But these are not two separate types of ically identical to a parent — is unsafe and morally repug- cloning: The same embryo — produced by the same technique nant. I agree with the vast majority of Americans and virtually — is the starting point for both uses. all responsible scientists that it should be banned. While most are opposed to reproductive cloning, some favor Therapeutic cloning, or somatic cell nuclear transfer tech- therapeutic cloning. The premise is that embryonic stem cells nology (SCNT), as scientists call it) is fundamentally different. from a cloned embryo will produce matched transplant tissue for SCNT involves removing the nucleus of an egg cell, replacing the patient whose cells were cloned. Yet, even proponents of it with the material from the nucleus of a skin, heart, nerve therapeutic cloning have disputed this supposed transplant match, or any other non-germ cell, then stimulating this cell to begin and when testedyes in mice, the cells were indeed rejected. Embry- dividing. It is importantno to remember that this tiny batch of onic stem-cell researchers have noted that therapeutic cloning is cells — smaller than the period at the end of this sentence — unlikely to be of clinical significance. On the other hand, re- never leaves the lab, nor is it transplanted into a womb. No search using adult stem cells — which does not destroy any em- sperm is used. Instead, researchers store the unfertilized egg bryos — continues to show success at treating human patients. cells in a lab, where they are used to produce stem cells. However, any use of human cloning poses a health risk to Leading medical researchers say these cells may be able to women. A tremendous number of eggs are required for cre- treat or even cure several debilitating diseases. They also say ation of just one cloned embryo, with minimal estimates of the clear differences between reproductive and therapeutic 50-100 (the South Koreans required 242 eggs to produce one cloning would make it easy to devise a ban that prevents the embryonic stem-cell line.) A simple calculation shows that to former while allowing the latter. treat just one disease group in the U.S. — the 17 million dia- Therapeutic cloning could produce patient-specific embry- betes patients — would require a minimum of 850 million-1.7 onic stem cells that could be used to cure certain conditions billion human eggs, requiring the “harvest” of eggs from without being rejected by the patient’s immune system. It women on a global basis. might also provide scientists with cells or tissues carrying cer- Allowing therapeutic cloning will likely lead to reproductive tain diseases, which researchers could analyze for insights into cloning. The same embryo is used for both procedures, and what causes certain diseases and why they develop in certain practice with the technique to produce embryos for research ways. This type of cloning could also bring new hope to would refine the technique for producing embryos for implan- people suffering from cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, spinal cord tation in a womb, as noted by the American Society for Re- injury and many other now-incurable conditions. productive Medicine Ethics Committee in November 2000. The This is why pro-life Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch, former lead author of the Korean study admitted at a news confer- Presidents Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford and Nancy Reagan ence that the technique developed in his lab “cannot be sepa- support therapeutic cloning. Two years ago, 40 U.S. Nobel rated from reproductive cloning.” laureates, including pioneers in research on cancer and Creating human embryos for research raises grave ethical other life-threatening diseases, released a joint statement concerns. It instrumentalizes human life and creates a caste of strongly supporting therapeutic cloning. They warned that humans only to serve the needs of others. There is no evi- legislation then before Congress to ban this vital research, dence that cloning is necessary or useful for medical science, “would have a chilling effect on all scientific research in it poses a risk to women’s health and crosses an ethical line the United States.”

in creationNo of human beings. Those words are even more true today.

Available online: www.thecqresearcher.com Oct. 22, 2004 893 CLONING DEBATE

Continued from p. 892 peutic cloning — than California. In No- Lawmakers, too, are hounding Action in the States vember, Californians will vote on a bal- Bush to expand the policy. And the lot proposal that would authorize the state pressure is coming not just from De- ine states ban reproductive to spend $3 billion on the two research mocrats, but conservative, right-to-life N cloning: Arkansas, California, areas over the next decade. That aver- Republicans as well. Earlier this year, Iowa, Michigan, New Jersey, North ages out to $300 million per year — 12 206 House members and 58 senators Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota times what the federal government spent signed letters calling on Bush to ex- and Virginia. Five of these — Arkansas, on embryonic stem-cell research in 2003. pand federal funding for embryonic Iowa, Michigan and the Dakotas — The funds would be spent for research stem-cell research. Three-dozen Re- criminalize therapeutic cloning as well. conducted at the state’s medical schools publicans signed the House letter, State laws on embryonic stem-cell re- and other nonprofit scientific institutions. and 14 Republicans signed the Sen- search vary widely. A few states — “We have more than 50 percent of ate letter. Louisiana, Illinois, Michigan, Arkansas, the biotech capacity in the United States Bush is even getting heat from Mrs. Iowa and the Dakotas — specifically pro- and more than most other countries,” Reagan, a GOP luminary. Reagan died hibit research on embryos created in cer- said Robert Klein, a real estate devel- this summer after a long struggle with tain ways, such as therapeutic cloning. oper in Palo Alto, Calif., who is a lead- Alzheimer’s disease, a condition that Louisiana is the only state that specifi- ing backer of the proposal. “We can some scientists say could be addressed cally prohibits the research on the largest run a substitute national program.” 37 with embryonic stem cell and thera- source of embryos — those discarded Joseph Lacob, an investment banker peutic cloning therapies. by clients of in vitro fertilization clinics. in Menlo Park, Calif., who voted for In May, a month before her hus- The majority of the states place no Bush in 2000, agrees. Lacob says he’s band died, Mrs. Reagan described restrictions on embryonic stem-cell re- angry with Bush for limiting federal how the devastating brain-wasting search. But some states are going much funding on the research, which he con- disease had “taken him to a distant further, in a clear rebuke of the re- siders to be medically promising. place where I can no longer reach strictions imposed by the Bush White “This country is falling behind be- him.” She expressed hope that stem- House, by committing public monies cause of an administration directive that cell research and therapeutic cloning for the research. I think is totally in error,” Lacob said. might provide new treatments for In May, Gov. James E. McGreevey, D- “I felt something had to be done to many diseases. N.J., signed legislation establishing the na- send a message to the Bush adminis- “I just don’t see how we can turn tion’s first state-funded stem-cell research tration and the world that the United our backs on this,” she said at a fund- institute, which is to be built in down- States and particularly California is going raiser for the Juvenile Diabetes Re- town New Brunswick and run jointly by to take a leadership role.” 38 search Foundation. “We have lost so Rutgers University and the University of much time already, and I just really Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. can’t bear to lose any more.” The bill allocates $6.5 million in state Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, funds for equipment and to help recruit OUTLOOK the Democratic Party’s presidential top researchers to the facility. McGreevey candidate, says he’d quadruple fed- expects that the seed money will attract eral funding for embryonic stem-cell more than $20 million in public and pri- research to at least $100 million an- vate investments in the first five years. Human Cloning? nually if elected in November. Kerry He says the facility could find cures for says Bush’s position on the issue people suffering from conditions such as amounts to “sacrificing science for heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease, dia- he future of U.S. cloning and em- ideology.” betes, cancer and spinal cord injuries. T bryonic stem-cell research hinges “We’re going to listen to our scien- “People are suffering today, and what in part on who wins the presidential tists and stand up for science,” Kerry we offer them is hope,” McGreevey election in November. Bush, despite said at a campaign event this summer. said in dedicating the facility last spring. the criticism he’s receiving over em- “We’re going to say ‘yes’ to knowledge, “We have the opportunity to change bryonic stem-cell research, has not in- ‘yes’ to discovery and ‘yes’ to a new lives throughout the world. We have dicated he would change positions on era of hope for all Americans.” no higher calling.” the issue if he wins; Kerry has promised A solid majority of Americans sup- But no state is doing more to pro- to quadruple federal funding for the port embryonic stem-cell research. 36 mote stem-cell research — and thera- research if elected. Bush supporters

894 The CQ Researcher say Kerry’s policy would cause untold 025.htm. numbers of nascent human beings to Notes 13 Kass testified before the Senate Judiciary be slaughtered; Kerry supporters say Committee on March 19, 2003. 14 Quoted in Panos Zavos, “Should Human Bush is letting his personal religious 1 Quoted in Joanne Laucius, “‘It Happened,’ beliefs block research that could help Beings be Cloned?” The New York Times Up- Doctor Says of Three Cloned Babies,” The front, April 30, 2001, p. 26. millions of those already living. Ottawa Citizen [Canada], May 6, 2004, p. A9. 15 Zavos testified before the House Gov- 2 Bush and Kerry also differ on Quoted in John von Radowitz, “Cloned Em- ernment Reform Subcommittee on Criminal cloning policy. Bush wants to crimi- bryo Pioneers Say Duplicating of Humans Justice, Drug Policy and Human Resources nalize all forms of cloning. Kerry wants Must be Outlawed,” The Press Association on May 15, 2002. to ban only reproductive cloning. Limited, Feb. 12, 2004. 16 Quoted in Michele Grygotis, “New Studies 3 But, realistically, neither is likely to Quoted in Steve Mitchell, “Human Embry- Bolster Promise of Both Adult and Em- prevail unless there’s a major reshuf- onic Stem Cells Cloned,” United Press Inter- bryonic Stem Cells,” Transplant News, June fling of Congress. Thus, Washington’s national, Feb. 12, 2004. 30, 2002. 4 Reeve testified before the Senate Health, 17 cloning stalemate will undoubtedly Quoted in Jonathan Bor, “Stem cells: A Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on continue for the foreseeable future — Long Road Ahead,” The Baltimore Sun, March 5, 2002. March 8, 2004, p. A12. leaving both types of cloning legal 5 For more information on Landrieu’s posi- 18 The letter was sent to every member of except where prohibited by state law. tions on stem cell and embryo research, see the House and Senate on July 30, 2004. Meanwhile, will human cloning be- Bruce Alpert, “Senators Urge More Stem Cell 19 See “Fact Sheet: Juvenile Diabetes Patients come a verifiable reality? Opinions vary. Research,” The Times-Picayune (New Orleans), Need Real Hope, Not Hype, Embryonic Stem “Never,” says the University of Penn- June 9, 2004, p. A6. Cells, Cloning, Are Not Path To Cures,” March 6 sylvania’s Caplan. “If you look at the A transcript of Bush’s remarks is available 2, 2004, www.stemcellresearch.org/facts/fact- animal data, the outcomes are so poor on the White House Web site at www.white- sheet-04-03-02.htm#_ftn2. that I’m suspicious that cloning may house.gov/news/releases/2001/08/20010809- 20 Quoted in Rick Weiss, “Stem Cells An Un- not work in people.” 2.html. likely Therapy for Alzheimer’s,” The Wash- 7 Quoted in Michael D. Lemonick, “Cloning Kilner, of the Center for Bioethics ington Post, June 10, 2004, p. A3. Gets Closer,” Time, Feb. 23, 2004, p. 48. 21 William M. Rideout III and Rudolf Jaenisch, and Human Dignity, isn’t so sure. “I 8 Laurie Goodstein and Denise Grady, “Split wouldn’t be surprised if it were an- et al., “Correction of a Genetic Defect by on Clones of Embryos: Research vs. Re- Nuclear Transplantation and Combined Cell nounced tomorrow that a clone had production,” The New York Times, Feb. 13, and Gene Therapy,” Cell, Vol. 109, No. 1, been born,” he says. “It’s conceivable 2004, p. A1. p. 17. 9 to me that whatever obstacles there See J. R. Hill, et al., “Clinical and Pathologic 22 For more information on adult stem cells, are can be bypassed or overcome.” Features of Cloned Transgenic Calves and see the National Institutes of Health, online Some experts — even those op- Fetuses,” Theriogenology, Vol. 8, pp. 1451- at http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/basics/ba- posed to reproductive cloning — say 1465, 1999. sics4.asp. See also “Do No Harm,” The Coali- 10 the therapeutic-cloning experiment car- See, for example, CNN/USA Today/Gallup tion of Americans for Research Ethics, on- ried out by South Korean researchers Poll, Jan. 3-5, 2003, of 1,000 adults nation- line at www.stemcellresearch.org. (The wide. earlier this year went a long way in coalition is an advocacy group that oppos- 11 For background, see David Masci, “De- overcoming those obstacles. es embryo research for ethical reasons.) signer Humans,” The CQ Researcher, May 18, 23 “It would be naive to say we aren’t Testimony before the U.S. Senate Sub- 2001, pp. 425-448. committee on Science, Technology and Space, a step closer to irresponsible people 12 www.usccb.org/comm/archives/2004/04- Jan. 29, 2003. attempting reproductive cloning,” says Schatten, of the University of Pitts- burgh School of Medicine. About the Author Only a “worldwide, enforceable ban” Brian Hansen, a freelance writer in Boulder, Colo., spe- on any attempts at human reproduc- cializes in educational and environmental issues. He pre- tive cloning will prevent someone viously was a staff writer for The CQ Researcher and a re- from cloning humans, he says. porter for the Colorado Daily in Boulder and Environment Zavos, the controversial fertility spe- News Service in Washington. His awards include the Scripps cialist, says it’s too late for that. He vows Howard Foundation award for public service reporting and to push ahead with his effort to clone the Education Writers Association award for investigative a human being. “Ban it?” he asks wryly, reporting. He holds a B.A. in political science and an M.A. “That time has passed a long time ago. in education from the University of Colorado. The genie is out of the bottle.” 39

Available online: www.thecqresearcher.com Oct. 22, 2004 895 CLONING DEBATE

24 Quoted in Steve Connor, “Cloners Hatch Headless Embryos of Mice — and Men?” The Australian, Dec. 22, 1997, p. 7. FOR MORE INFORMATION 25 Charles Krauthammer, “Of Headless Mice Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity, 2065 Half Day Road, Bannockburn, . . . And Men; The Ultimate Cloning Horror: IL 60015; (847) 317-8180; www.cbhd.org. Christian-oriented think tank that ap- Human Organ Farms,” Time, Feb. 19, 1998, proaches cloning, embryonic stem-cell research and other bioethics issues from p. 76. the perspective of “biblical values.” 26 Quoted in Gina Kolata, “Cloning Creates Human Embryos,” The New York Times, Feb. The Reprogen Organization, 17 Gr. Xenopoulou St., Suite 2A, P.O. Box 53117, 12, 2004, p. A1. 3300 Limassol, Cyprus; 357-5-866300; www.reprogen.org. Company run by American 27 See Hans Spemann, Embryonic Develop- embryologist Panayiotis Zavos that calls itself the “international center for the study ment and Induction (1938). As quoted in G. of reproductive DNA cloning technology.” Kolata, Clone: The Road to Dolly and the Path Christian Medical and Dental Association, P.O. Box 7500, Bristol, TN 37621; Ahead (1998), p. 61. 28 (423) 844-1000; www.cmdahome.org. Membership organization representing more Unless otherwise noted, this material than 17,000 Christian medical professionals that opposes all forms of cloning and comes from Masci, op. cit. embryonic stem-cell research. 29 Quoted in Joshua Lederberg, “Experi- mental Genetics and Human Evolution,” The Clonaid, www.clonaid.com. Company affiliated with the Raelian religious sect American Naturalist, September-October 1966, that calls itself the “world’s first human cloning company.” p. 527. 30 See Michael Specter and Gina Kolata, “A Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research, 2021 K St., N.W., Suite New Creation: The Path to Cloning — A Spe- 305, Washington, DC 20006; (202) 833-0355; www.camradvocacy.org. An association cial Report.; After Decades of Missteps, How of scientific societies, patient organizations and other institutions that works to pro- mote therapeutic cloning and embryonic stem-cell research. Cloning Succeeded,” The New York Times, March 3, 1997, p. A1. Do No Harm, The Coalition of Americans for Research Ethics, 1101 Pennsyl- 31 Congressional Record, Feb. 9, 1998, pp. vania Ave., N.W., Suite 600, Washington, DC 20004; (202) 756-4947; www.stem- S513-514. cellresearch.org. An association of doctors, ethicists and theologians opposed to 32 Brownback originally made this comment cloning and embryonic stem-cell research. on Jan. 29, 2003, during a Senate subcommittee hearing. He has subsequently repeat- Family Research Council, 801 G Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20001; (202) ed it in a number of different venues. 393-2100; www.frc.org. Think tank that “promotes the Judeo-Christian worldview 33 Quoted in Asif Ismail, “Dim Chance for as the basis for a just, free and stable society.” Maintains that the “right to life is Global Cloning Ban,” The Center for Public the most fundamental of political rights.” Opposes all forms of cloning and embryonic stem-cell research. Integrity, June 4, 2004. Online at www.publicintegrity.org/genetics/report.aspx?aid=276&sid Genetics Policy Institute, 4000 Ponce De Leon Blvd., Coral Gables, FL 33146; =200. (305) 777-0268; www.genpol.org. International nonprofit organization dedicated to 34 Remarks before the U.N. General Assem- establishing a legal framework to advance therapeutic cloning and embryonic bly, Dec. 9, 2003. stem-cell research. 35 The letter is available on the Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research’s Web site at The Hastings Center, 21 Malcolm Gordon Rd., Garrison NY 10524; (845) 424-4040; www.camradvocacy.org/fastaction/Change6-17- www.thehastingscenter.org. Nonpartisan research institute devoted to ethical issues in 20042.pdf. health and medicine, the life sciences and the environment. Its president supports 36 Quoted in “Scientists, Patients Fight U.N. therapeutic cloning and embryonic stem-cell research. Stem-Cell Study Ban,” CNN.com, Oct. 14, National Institutes of Health, 1 Center Dr., Building 1, Suite 126, Bethesda, MD 2004. 20892; (301) 496-2433; www.nih.gov. The federal government’s leading biomedical 37 Quoted in John M. Broder and Andrew research organization; funds research on human embryonic stem cells in keeping Pollack, “Californians to Vote on Spending with the restrictions imposed by President Bush in August 2001. $3 Billion on Stem Cell Research,” The New York Times, Sept. 20, 2004, p. A1. President’s Council on Bioethics, 1801 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Suite 700, 38 Ibid. Washington, DC 20006; (202) 296-4669; www.bioethics.gov. Advises the president 39 Quoted in Nell Boyce, “The Clone is Out on cloning, embryonic stem-cell research and other bioethics issues; most mem- of the Bottle,” U.S. News & World Report, Feb. bers oppose both reproductive and therapeutic cloning. 23, 2004, p. 40.

896 The CQ Researcher Bibliography Selected Sources

Books Ismail, Asif M., “Dim Chance for Global Cloning Ban,” The Center for Public Integrity, June 4, 2004 (online at Bonnicksen, Andrea L., Crafting a Cloning Policy: From www.publicintegrity.org/genetics). Dolly to Stem Cells, Georgetown University Press, 2002. A journalist describes why there is only a slim chance the A Northern Illinois University political science professor ex- international community will ban all forms of cloning. amines the political responses to advances in cloning and embryonic stem-cell research as well as proposed federal and state Kolata, Gina, “Cloning Creates Human Embryos,” The laws, research funding and other countries’ cloning policies. New York Times, Feb. 12, 2004, p. A1. A science writer describes how a team of researchers from Kolata, Gina, Clone: The Road to Dolly and the Path South Korea created human embryos by cloning and har- Ahead, Morrow and Company, 1998. vested embryonic stem cells from them. An acclaimed science journalist documents the story behind Dolly, the first mammal to be cloned from an adult Lemonick, Michael D., “Cloning Gets Closer,” Time, Feb. cell; she chronicles the history of cloning and how the Dolly 23, 2004, p. 48. breakthrough could relate to the cloning of humans. This easy-to-read feature story explores how the South Korean therapeutic cloning achievement could revolution- Kunich, John Charles, The Naked Clone: How Cloning Bans ize medical science and/or lead to the cloning of human Threaten Our Personal Rights, Praeger Publishers, 2003. beings. A law professor at Roger Williams University in Bristol, R.I., argues that banning therapeutic and reproductive cloning Weiss, Rick, “Stem Cells An Unlikely Therapy for would violate Americans’ rights to personal autonomy, pri- Alzheimer’s,” The Washington Post, June 10, 2004, p. A3. vacy, reproduction and freedom of expression. A veteran journalist, citing some of the top Alzheimer’s researchers in the nation, casts doubt on the claim that em- Maienschein, Jane, Whose View of Life? Embryos, Cloning, bryonic stem-cell research could lead to a cure for the dev- and Stem Cells, Harvard University Press, 2003. astating condition. The director of the Center for Biology and Society at Ari- zona State University examines developments in stem-cell re- Reports search, cloning and embryology from both scientific and philosophical viewpoints. “Human Cloning and Human Dignity: An Ethical In- quiry,” The President’s Council on Bioethics, July 2002. Silver, Lee, Remaking Eden: How Genetic Engineering and This comprehensive report on both reproductive and ther- Cloning Will Transform the American Family, Avon, 1998. apeutic cloning concludes that reproductive cloning should A biology professor at Princeton University looks at how be banned outright, and calls for a four-year moratorium on cloning and other forms of genetic engineering could be therapeutic cloning. used to reshape the human race. “Scientific and Medical Aspects of Human Reproductive Articles Cloning,” National Academy of Sciences, Committee on Science, Engineering and Public Policy, National Acade- Broder, John M., and Andrew Pollack, “Californians to mies Press, 2002. Vote on Spending $3 Billion on Stem Cell Research,” The Human reproductive cloning should “not now” be prac- New York Times, Sept. 20, 2004, p. A1. ticed because “it is dangerous and likely to fail,” but the sci- Some Californians, frustrated by President Bush’s policy on em- entific and medical aspects should be reviewed again in five bryonic stem-cell research, are backing a ballot initiative that years, the national science panel recommends. would pump billions of dollars of state funds into the research. “Stem Cells and the Future of Regenerative Medicine,” Goodstein, Laurie, and Denise Grady, “Split on Clones National Academy of Sciences, Committee on the Bio- of Embryos: Research vs. Reproduction,” The New York logical and Biomedical Applications of Stem Cell Re- Times, Feb. 13, 2004, p. 22. search, National Academies Press, 2002. This overview chronicles recent scientific developments in A federal scientific advisory panel describes the promise of cloning and stem-cell research and outlines the main argu- embryonic and adult stem-cell research, as well as the bar- ments for and against the technologies. riers to accomplishing it.

Available online: www.thecqresearcher.com Oct. 22, 2004 897 The Next Step: Additional Articles from Current Periodicals

Animal Cloning Semple, Kirk, “U.N. to Consider Whether to Ban Some, or All, Forms of Cloning of Human Embryos,” The New Monaghan, Peter, “Meet Idaho Gem and His Siblings, Triplet York Times, Nov. 3, 2003, p. A1. Stars of Science,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, Aug. The United Nations will consider two competing resolutions 6, 2004, p. 32. that propose bans on human cloning and seek to establish Students at the University of Idaho and Utah State Univer- international legal boundaries in the field of life sciences. sity have become experts in the science of cloning, working with three identical, cloned horses — the first of their kind. President’s Council on Bioethics

Pollack, Andrew, “F.D.A. Finds Cloned Animals Safe for Blackburn, Elizabeth, “A ‘Full Range’ of Bioethical Views Food,” The New York Times, Oct. 31, 2003, p. A20. Just Got Narrower,” The Washington Post, March 7, 2004, According to the Food and Drug Administration, milk and p. B2. meat from cloned animals are safe to consume, a finding that An ex-member of the bioethics council explains how her could eventually clear the way for such products to reach removal from the council represents a narrowing of views supermarkets and for cloning to be used to breed livestock. on the embryonic stem-cell research debate.

Said, Carolyn, “$10 Million Bengal Kittens Pave Way for Pet Brainard, Jeffrey, “A New Kind of Bioethics,” The Chron- Cloning,” The San Francisco Chronicle, Aug. 6, 2004, p. A1. icle of Higher Education, May 21, 2004, p. 22. A Sausalito, Calif., firm that wants to clone pets says it has Some academics say the bioethics council is driven by con- created two cloned cats and is now ready to start filling servative ideology, rushing to alarmist conclusions and ig- customers’ orders. noring relevant topics like access to medical care.

Politics and Science Hall, Stephen, “U.S. Panel About to Weigh In On Rules for Assisted Fertility,” The New York Times, March 30, Cohen, Eric, “The Party of Cloning: The Democrats Embrace 2004, p. F1. the Gospel of Stem Cells,” The Weekly Standard, Aug. 30, 2004. The Council on Bioethics plans to release a report that Democrats are poised to cross an ethical and political recommends regulations that affect the research and prac- boundary — federal funding for the creation, study and de- tice of in vitro fertilization and embryo research. struction of cloned human embryos. Lamb, Gregory, “In Cloning Debate, a Compromise,” The Cohen, Eric, “Sen. Kerry’s Stem-Cell Fairy Tales,” Los Christian Science Monitor, April 8, 2004, p. 14. Angeles Times, Aug. 22, 2004, p. M3. The council offered liberals and conservatives a way out Democrats make the powerful, but false claims that Bush in their debate over human cloning by recommending a ban has banned stem-cell research and that cures for everything on reproductive cloning but not cloning research. from AIDS to Alzheimer’s are just around the corner. Rothstein, Edward, “The Meaning of ‘Human’ In Embryonic Graham, Judith, “Key Issue: Stem Cell Research,” Chica- Research,” The New York Times, March 13, 2004, p. B9. go Tribune, July 27, 2004, p. C16. An unusual 628-page publication of the bioethics council tries Stem-cell research is a major issue in the November 2004 to address “the human and moral significance of developments presidential race between George W. Bush and Sen. John in biomedical and behavioral science and technology.” Kerry, even causing some voters to change parties. Stem-Cell Research Lawrence, Jill, “Kerry’s Scientific Approach,” USA Today, Oct. 5, 2004, p. 20A. “Baby Steps,” The Economist, Jan. 3, 2004. Science is a hot issue in the presidential election, with Sen. Researchers at the U.S. biotechnology firm Advanced Cell Tech- John Kerry arguing that President Bush favors special interests nology reportedly have created human embryos healthy enough over science and made the wrong choices on stem-cell research. to make it through at least the earliest stages of development.

Niedowski, Erika, and David Kohn, “Stem Cell Dispute Hall, Stephen, “Specter of Cloning May Prove A Mirage,” Pulls Science Into Political Arena,” The Baltimore Sun, The New York Times, Feb. 17, 2004, p. F1. Aug. 15, 2004, p. 1A. The future of human therapeutic cloning — the laws gov- Scientists say President Bush’s stem-cell research policy has erning it, the knowledge gained from it and the ethical costs hindered their work, and Sen. John Kerry says he will lift of doing it — may hinge on the biological and moral sub- the restrictions if he wins in November. tleties of a tiny dot of tissue.

898 The CQ Researcher Kolata, Gina, “Stem Cell Science Gets Limelight; Now It than 200 embryos by cloning human cells in an effort to Needs a Cure,” The New York Times, Aug. 24, 2004, p. F1. fight disease with the slow-moving technology. The challenge for scientists studying stem cells in the midst of a fierce political debate, many say, is to be realistic about State Cloning Laws how hard it is to develop treatments. Broder, John, and Andrew Pollack, “Californians to Vote Munro, Neil, and Mark Kukis, “A Brave New World?” The on Spending $3 Billion on Stem Cell Research,” The New National Journal, May 22, 2004. York Times, Sept. 20, 2004, p. A1. Critics argue that while they share the goal of developing Proposition 71, an initiative on the Nov. 2 ballot, would new therapies, bioengineering will change and fragment peo- authorize the state to issue $3 billion in bonds to pay for ple’s understanding of nature and humanity. a range of stem-cell research now severely limited by the Bush administration’s policy. Pollack, Andrew, “Cloning and Stem Cells: The Research,” The New York Times, Feb. 13, 2004, p. A22. Davidson, Keay, “Stem Cell Initiative Leads by Small In cloning human embryos and extracting stem cells, sci- Margin,” The San Francisco Chronicle, Aug. 15, 2004, entists have taken a big step, but significant scientific and p. B1. ethical barriers still lie between this feat and actual therapy. A close race in the campaign to pass a California initiative for stem-cell research appears to have become a microcosm South Korean Breakthrough of the equally polarized presidential race.

Faiola, Anthony, “Dr. Clone: Creating Life or Trying to Roosevelt, Margot, “Stem-Cell Rebels,” Time, May 17, Save It?” The Washington Post, Feb. 29, 2004, p. A1. 2004, p. 49. Woo Suk Hwang, leader of a South Korean team of sci- Given the nature of the stem-cell debate, the Bush admin- entists who created the world’s first cloned human embryos, istration is unlikely to make any moves before the election, views cloning as essential for the chronically ill. but several states are filling the vacuum.

Kolata, Gina, “Cloning Creates Human Embryos,” The Smith, Wesley, “California’s Other Senator; Jon Corzine New York Times, Feb. 12, 2004, p. A1. Wants to Help California Lure Biotech Cloning Com- South Korean scientists report they have created human panies Away from New Jersey,” The Daily Standard, embryos through cloning embryonic stem cells, reigniting Aug. 26, 2004. the debate over the ethics of human cloning. Jon Corzine, a senator from New Jersey, donated $100,000 to help pass Proposition 71, which would force Californians Lee, B. J., “Cloning College,” Newsweek, March 1, 2004, p. 48. to borrow billions for embryonic stem-cell research. While well-endowed labs in the United States, Britain and France are constrained by a political backlash against cloning Vregano, Dan, “States Dive into Stem Cell Debates,” USA research, South Korea has quietly filled the void. Today, April 21, 2004, p. 1D. An annual Senate debate has hit the road, moving to 33 Lemonick, Michael, “Cloning Gets Closer,” Time, Feb. 23, 2004. state legislatures considering 100 bills that alternately con- Two South Korean scientists announced they created more demn, condone or fund embryonic stem-cell research.

CITING THE CQ RESEARCHER Sample formats for citing these reports in a bibliography include the ones listed below. Preferred styles and formats vary, so please check with your instructor or professor.

MLA STYLE Jost, Kenneth. “Rethinking the Death Penalty.” The CQ Researcher 16 Nov. 2001: 945-68.

APA STYLE Jost, K. (2001, November 16). Rethinking the death penalty. The CQ Researcher, 11, 945-968.

CHICAGO STYLE Jost, Kenneth. “Rethinking the Death Penalty.” CQ Researcher, November 16, 2001, 945-968.

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