U.S. cloning advance shocks world

LONDON, England -- Political and religious leaders around the world have condemned the latest breakthrough in cloning research in which a U.S. company said it had cloned a human embryo for the first time.

The private U.S. research company -- Advanced Cell Technology (ACT), based in Worcester, Massachusetts -- said on Sunday it had cloned embryos by removing the DNA from human egg cells.

The DNA from an adult human body cell was then implanted into the egg cell, which was then stimulated to grow into a six-cell embryo.

VIDEO President George W. Bush speaks out against cloning of human beings. CNN's Kelly Wallace reports (November 26) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)   MORE STORIES The company behind the clones: Advanced Cell Technology  CNN Access: "I'm just trying to help people who are sick"  An interview with Michael West, ACT's president   RESOURCES • In-Depth: The stem cell debate  • Message board: Human embryo use    How it was done The technique used by Advanced Cell Technology scientists is called somatic cell nuclear transfer, also referred to as human therapeutic cloning. A cell from a patient's body is combined with an egg cell that has had its DNA removed. This reprograms the body cell's DNA back to an embryonic state, and stem cells identical to the patient's are produced. Stem cells can form any cell or tissue in the human body. Of eight eggs, two divided to form early embryos composed of four cells. One progressed to a six-cell stage before it stopped dividing. This breakthrough occurred October 13, 2001. Source: Advanced Cell Technology Inc.  QUICKVOTE Will cloning human embryos benefit mankind? Yes No View Results

British genetics expert Dr. Patrick Dixon told the UK's Independent Television News: "The news is hugely significant because it shows that it's possible to take a cell from an adult, combine it with an egg and create an identical cloned embryo. if you implant it, you'll get a cloned baby."

"There are enormous ethical questions raised by this technology.

"Over 170 nations of the world have no legislation whatsoever preventing the birth of human clones. (Sunday's) announcement draws that step ever closer.

"We need global agreement and we need it urgently, or we will see clones born in many countries of the world."

The breakthrough was condemned by President George W. Bush.

"The president is 100 percent opposed to any cloning of human embryos," a White House aide told CNN.

The U.S. Congress has moved to outlaw all human cloning. A proposed new law is under consideration by the Senate.

Roman Catholic leaders condemned what they called the loss of innocent human life involved in the research.

"Cloning violates the dignity and the identity of human life," the influential Archbishop Tarcisio Bertone told Italy's Corriere della Sera daily.

Bertone later told Italian state television: "Therapeutic aims are excellent, they are praiseworthy. However, it is the means used that raise the questions."

He said if the process involves "production and destruction of human beings to treat other human beings," then "the end doesn't justify the means."

Raymond Flynn, president of the National Catholic Alliance and a former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, said in a statement: "Some may call it a medical breakthrough. I believe it is a moral breakdown."

"Human reproduction is now in the hands of men, when it rightfully belongs in the hands of God," Flynn said.

In London, emergency legislation banning human cloning was being introduced on Monday to close a legal loophole after the High Court ruled that cloning humans was not illegal.

The legislation allows for a ban on cloned embryos being implanted into wombs but does not ban therapeutic cloning using cell nuclear replacement for research -- the technique used by the American firm and to produce Dolly the sheep.

Dr Ian Wilmut, who led the team which produced the Dolly the sheep clone at the Roslin Institute, Edinburgh, told the Press Association the ACT report was a "very preliminary observation."

"It's almost impossible to know how far off they could be (from creating usable stem cells) but there's nothing in this report to suggest that the technique could be made to work immediately."

Dr Patrick Dixon, an authority on the ethics of human cloning, warned the breakthrough could open the door to producing full-scale human clones.

"It is now only a matter of time before a clone human is born," he told PA. "There are huge potential risks in that process, including grotesque mutations and hidden disabilities.

"It will undoubtedly result in the creation of a significant number of mutated human embryos and may be the birth of some clones, which will probably die later."

Australian Senator Brian Harradine accused ACT of "tinkering with the very essence of human life."

"Urgent action is needed to ban cloning of human embryos for any purpose and to cut off funding for any scientist or company involved," Harradine said in a statement.

A parliamentary committee recommended last month that Australia should ban all cloning to produce humans and creating embryos for experimentation but favoured using surplus human embryos from fertility programmes for research.

French bioethics specialist and President of the Liberal Democratic party Jean-Francois Mattei said on Monday: "It is extremely serious. In nine months we will be in a position to have a cloned baby."

In India, Reliance Life Sciences, one of two Indian firms whose stem cell work is eligible for U.S. funding, said the development "was inevitable."

"ACT's success could drive people into panic mode because of the impression that reproductive cloning is around the corner, but the fact is that if we use cloning for therapeutic purposes, this is a major advance," said Firuza Parikh, the company's founder and director.