virus: cloning news - both therapeutic and reproductive

(sorry if this is a duplicate, the first one I posted on the BBS didn't come through the Email list, so I am sending this copy through Email)

 

I heard this on the BBC and so I immediately googled it:

 

 

Stem cells taken in human cloning
Seoul study: Focus on disease treatment -- not making babies

 

By GINA KOLATA
THE NEW YORK TIMES

 

Scientists in South Korea report that they have created human embryos through cloning and have extracted embryonic stem cells, the universal cells that hold great promise for medical research.

 

Their goal, they say, is not to clone humans but to advance understanding of the causes and treatment of disease. But the work makes the birth of a cloned baby suddenly more feasible. For that reason, it probably will reignite a fierce debate over the ethics of human cloning.

 

<snip>

 

"You now have the cookbook, you have a methodology that's publicly available," said Dr. Robert Lanza, the medical director of Advanced Cell Technology in Worcester, Mass., which tried without success to do what the South Koreans did."

 

<snip>

 

[Jake] This is very big news if true.  According to the article there will be a formal scientific publication to follow in a few days. This is something that I recommend to all Virians to keep up with as the news develops.  Unfortunately here in the US we will probably not benefit from this technology as the current Religious Right presidency is dead set on banning ALL forms of cloning, both therapeutic and reproductive.

 

[Jake] Speaking of which, as if on cue:

 

 

Claims of Another Clone Birth Prompt Skepticism, Concern

 

Pacific Rim Bureau (CNSNews.com) - The Australian government Thursday dismissed claims by a controversial sect that a woman gave birth to a cloned baby boy at a Sydney hospital last week.

 

Clonaid, the human cloning group linked to the alien-worshipping Raelian sect, asserts that the alleged birth in Australia is the sixth clone it has successfully created, and the first in a "new series."

 

Another seven cloned babies in this "second generation" would be born in various countries in the next two weeks, it said.

 

In the absence of proof or independent verification, the group's claims have been widely dismissed as fraudulent.

 

<snip>

 

[Jake] The rest of the article recounts the wacky mythology and history of the Raelians and their cloning claims.

 

Love,

 

- Jake