There are human clone bans in Germany and other nations, the lawmakers said. Clones are created when the genetic material from a single cell is injected into an egg cell that has had its own genes removed. The resulting baby would be like an identical twin born years later. Despite the success of Dolly, cloned cows, mice and pigs, most animal clones die during embryonic development. Others are stillborn with birth defects.
Mothers miscarry, and sometimes die, too.
Most scientists oppose human cloning because of such risks, but some infertility doctors and a religious cult plan to try human cloning within the next year. Those plans, aired at a congressional hearing last month, have spurred opponents to action. Some Congressional lawmakers tried unsuccessfully to ban cloning a couple of years ago, but lawmakers couldn't agree on whether a ban should stop disease-fighting research that uses techniques similar to cloning. During the Clinton administration, the federal government published guidelines that would permit funding of embryonic stem cell research provided the funds were not used to kill the embryo. Private researchers would extract the stem cells from fertility clinic embryos and then pass the cells along to federally funded researchers.