In February 1997, Ian Wilmut and his colleagues at the Roslin Institute in Scotland announced that they had cloned a sheep named Dolly. In March 1997, President Clinton imposed a ban on federal funds for human cloning experiments and asked for a voluntary moratorium on such experiments anywhere in the United States. In 1998, cows were cloned. In January 2000, Geron Corporation won the first patent covering cloned human embryos from the British government. A number of advances were made in 2000, including the cloning of pigs.
Researchers hope to use cloned pigs for replacement human organs in the future.
Most recently, in March 2001, researchers gathered in Italy for the first serious scientific meeting on human cloning. Experts say they will clone a human within two years. Have students read the article and list on a sheet of paper three things they felt were the most important issues raised by the story, as well as three questions raised. When students have finished, ask them to immediately write down their reactions to the article. Then discuss with students what points from the article they highlighted.