You may want to bookmark this site for future reference. . Cloning Advances Outrace Regulators Rapid advances in the fields of embryology, genomics, and in-vitro fertilization and genetic screening have increased chances that a human clone will be born in the coming months. American and Italian fertility specialists announced from Kentucky that they and several other scientists are actively seeking to clone a human being in the next 12 to 24 months. The procedure will most likely take place in the Mediterranean region. On Feb. 4, the New York Times Magazine will run a cover story about a Canadian-based cult, the Raelians, seeking to do the same.
Human cloning can refer to either reproductive or therapeutic cloning.
The process is known as nuclear transfer. The resulting embryo may be implanted in a woman and carried to birth. Proponents say the process is a logical extension of infertility treatments. Critics say it is an unproven and potentially unsafe procedure that could place the first cloned children at serious risk of birth defects. Therapeutic cloning produces human embryos for purposes of extracting stem cells, primordial cells capable of becoming any type of tissue in the body such as blood or nerve tissue.