http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43082-2002Dec27.html Group Claims Creation of First Human Clone Reuters Friday, December 27, 2002; 7:48 AM HOLLYWOOD, Florida (Reuters) - A company associated with a group that believes extraterrestrials created mankind was set to announce Friday that it had produced the first clone of a human being. The company, Clonaid, was to announce at a news conference later Friday that it had cloned a baby girl who appeared to have been born healthy. The company said it would hold a news conference in Hollywood, north of Miami, at 9:00 a.m. EST. Clonaid is viewed skeptically by most scientists, who doubt the group's technical ability to clone a human being. A Clonaid spokeswoman said an independent expert will confirm the baby is a clone through DNA testing. Cattle, mice, sheep and other animals have been cloned with mixed success. Some animals have displayed defects later in life. Scientists fear the same could happen with cloned humans. Clonaid is led by Brigitte Boisselier, a former deputy director of research at the Air Liquide Group, a French producer of industrial and medical gases. Clonaid is linked to a sect called the Raelians, whose founder, Claude Vorihon, describes himself as a prophet and calls himself Rael. The group believes cloning could extend human life for hundreds of years. Clonaid has been racing the Italian fertility doctor Severion Antinori to produce the first cloned baby. Antinori said last month he expected one of his patients to give birth to a cloned baby in January. President Bush has asked Congress to ban the creation of cloned babies as well as the cloning of human embryos for medical research. The U.S. House of Representatives passed a ban, but a similar bill in the Senate stalled after scientists argued such a law would hinder medical advances. The Clonaid spokeswoman, Nadine Gary, said the baby had been born outside the United States, but she declined to say exactly where. Non-profit and public interest groups have lined up on both sides of the controversy. Early Friday morning, anticipating the announcement from Clonaid, a Chicago-based organization called the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity said it condemned the Clonaid effort. "Regardless of the accuracy of the claim, the fact that renegade scientists are apparently continuing to work to clone human beings despite the proven dangers of mammalian cloning shows that the United States and the rest of the world need to pass a complete ban on this dangerous and unethical procedure as soon as possible," said C. Ben Mitchell, a senior fellow at the center. The Raelians, who claim 55,000 followers around the world, believe life on Earth was sparked by extraterrestrials who arrived 25,000 years ago and created humans through cloning.
Great. Something tells me that when you mix cults, cloning, extraterrestrials, questionable bioethics and the French, you're going to end up with something pretty frightening.
In what way? Do we borrow our clone's organs or something? If you have inoperable cancer, do you have a brain transplant into your 20 year old clone's body? Cool. If you started going bald, you could scalp your younger clone and glue the skin to your own head.
i read that with some concern and curiousity too, achebe....that's where the ethics really get thrown out of the window...using someone else's life as a stepping stone for extending my own seems pretty perverse.
Oh definitely. I strongly suggest that we delve deeper into stem cell research rather than foster up a farm of humans. We'd never have gotten agriculture off of the ground if the cows had started objecting in english.
This story is disgusting. Scientists can't even keep a cloned sheep healthy. These people are just creating humans that will endure tortured and shortened lives. Where is the Court of the Star Chamber when we really need it?
Would it have to be drafted again, or do the Rockets have rights? If so, we could put in a lineup of Dream, Big E, Moses, Francis, and Drexler. Of course when we played the Sixers, Moses would have to guard himself... same with the Blazers and Drexler. Seriously though, this is disturbing. This kind of thing should be a decision made by society, not by a group of cultists or company scientists.
Though I agree it is freakin dangerous and really scary, I don't know if society is the best decision maker, for I'm of the belief that individuals have impacted history to the most. Maybe what the scientist do will be the catalyst for society to go this way or that...but without the scientist doing their dangerous/morally objectable research, there would never be much attention given to the subject...I'm not making sense...I guess I'm just trying to say only time will tell.
This ought to be even less comforting for you. I must unfortunately admit that this is a largely Canadian based group that used to be known primarily for its group nude meditation and free-love practices. For the past few weeks, sect followers have gathered in front of high schools and colleges in Quebec, urging students to renounce their Catholicism and get "de-baptized." They hand out pamphlets illustrated with a burning cross. At times, they have handed out wooden crosses, too. http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/printarticle/gam/20021015/URAELN (CEGEP, btw, is sort of like a junior college system in Quebec only. It also includes what would be grade 12 elsewhere, so it starts after grade 11 and runs for 3 years, IIRC) also, http://www.rickross.com/reference/raelians/raelians23.html
