Who's interested in human cloning?

 

IVF clinics, Richard Seed, and Clonaid

 

IVF clinics-

Cloning would be another alternative for infertile couples. As such, it has been suggested that IVF clinics would be one of the first parties interested in using cloning to clone humans.

 

Richard Seed- Mad Scientist or the Galileo of our times?

Remember Galileo?

He proposed that the Earth rotated around the sun, contradictory to the popular opinion in his days that the sun rotated around the Earth. His views were regarded as being against the Church so that his views were blasted as being heretical .

Of course, now we know that Galileo was just much more enlightened than the people of his times. Similarly, in several centuries to come,

could Richard Seed, a man widely regarded as having eccentric views with little importance, be viewed as a person who was willing to look beyond the public prejudices against human cloning and go against the popular opinion? 

 

So who is this man who has caused much controversary since making his debut in newspapers around the globe in Jan 1998? Dr. Richard Seed is a Chicago scientist holding a doctorate in physics who had wanted to open a human cloning clinic within the year 1998 to help infertile couples. He had aimed to produce the first human clone by mid-1999.

Okay, so how does a doctorate in physics translate to genetics? Indeed, Dr. Seed does not have the medical qualifications to carry out human cloning, but he does have experience in reproductive genetics. In fact, he was involved in first introducing the process of in vitro embryo transfer from farm animals to humans.

So is anyone taking this guy seriously? Yes. Dr. Seed's announcement of his plans to open a human cloning clinic sparked an emergency meeting of the National Bioethics Committee. In response to Dr. Seed's announcemnet, the White House press secretary, Mike McCurry said that "the scientific community and President Clinton should make it clear to him that should he carry through his course of action, he has elected to become irresponsible, unethical, and unprofessional." At the time of Dr Seed's announcement, legislation had yet to be enacted and the initial stages of review had not yet been cleared by Congress. Regardless of this, Donna Shalala, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, has said that the Food and Drug Administration has the authority to regulate human cloning (click here for an update on the regulation of human cloning).

But this isn't going to stop Dr. Seed... Dr Seed's cloning clinic may well beat the timetable for action by Congress. Even if the FDA stops Dr. Seed in the United States, Dr. Seed has said that he would have no problems opening his clinic and that he has in fact already spoken to officials in Mexico. In addition, he claims that four anonymous infertile couples have already signed up for the procedure and that he has already assembled a team of anonymous doctors and laboratory researchers. The only thing that he is lacking is another US $2m to fund the opening of his clinic.

What are the motivations behind Dr. Seed's plans? Here are several quotes from Dr. Seed's interview on CNN: 

"Any new technology creates fear and horror ... but eventually receives enthusiastic endorsement ... and that's what I dunk will happen with human cloning."

Dr Seed also said that moral concerns were not enough to stop science and contended that cloning will enable humanity to become "closer to God."

Dr. Seed has spoken in the past of his intention to clone him and his post-menopausal wife.

It's the year 2000. Does this mean that there are several human clones walking around this world at this point... Well, right from the start, few scientists have believed Dr. Seed would be successful. Yury Verlinsky, director of reproductive genetics at Illinois Masonic Medical Center, does not doubt the potential to clone human beings: "Practically anyone able to do intracytoplasmic sperm injection is able to do cloning. Any good biological lab that can do preimplantation genetic analysis and manipulation of cells can do cloning." However, considering the limitations on human cloning at this present point, his aim of producing a human clone may have been over-ambitious.(click here for an explanation on the limitations on human cloning at this point). There is also the question of his ability to obtain ample funds. As of December 1998, Dr. Seed had announced his intention to set up an experiment lab in Hokkaido, Japan, starting work on cloning animals, before moving on to humans. He claims to have 3/4s of the US$20 million he needs to set up his laboratory.

Clonaid- an alternative point of view

So who are the people behind Clonaid, "the world's first cloning agency"? Clonaid is a service provided by Valiant Venture Ltd., a branch off the religious organization called the Raelian Movement, a religious organization that believes that human life was created by aliens.

But what is Clonaid? Clonaid offers anyone with $200, 000 the chance to clone themselves once Valiant Venture builds a laboratory in a country allowing human cloning. It also provides a service, Insuraclone, costing $50, 000, in which people can store the cells of a loved one under cryogenic temperatures in the case that the person dies. The cells can be preserved until a cure is found for the disease that the person died, at which point a healthy clone can then be produced.

So who would be interested in Clonaid? Infertile parents and homosexual couples, and anyone who wants to clone themselves or their loved ones, especially those of the Raelian religion.

Is this organization to be taken seriously? Rael has said: "Cloning will enable mankind to reach eternal life. The next step... will be to directly clone an adult person without having to go through the growth process and to transfer memory and personality in this person. Then, we wake up after death in a brand new body just like after a good night sleep!"

Could this company succeed in cloning humans? Click here for reasons why Clonaid's claims are potentially misleading.