Russia bans human cloning

MOSCOW, Russia -- Russia is to introduce a ban on human cloning and the import of cloned embryos.

The parliament's lower house voted unanimously on Friday to forbid the procedure and the import of cloned embryos for a period of five years.

The State Duma voted by 365 to 0, with no abstentions.

In the bill, the legislature said it was moved by ethical concerns and "the insufficiently researched biological and social consequences of human cloning."

It now needs to be approved by the upper house as well as President Vladimir Putin before it becomes law.

The politicians allowed the ban to be negotiated as scientific research expanded and ethnical standards were developed.

President Putin must approve ban on human cloning before it becomes law

In previous readings, only the party of ultra-nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky had opposed the bill. His supporters did not vote on Friday.

Human cloning has been opposed by U.S. President George Bush who has criticised the creation of human embryos through cloning as "morally wrong" and "bad public policy."

Britain, which has the world's most liberal policy on stem-cell research, has said the cloning of human embryos for research can be allowed to proceed under strict conditions.

The British team of scientists who cloned Dolly the sheep recently applied for a license to experiment on human embryos for medical purposes.