LONDON, April 6: Scientists reacted with skepticism and shock on Saturday to a report that a woman taking part in a controversial human cloning programme for infertile couples was eight weeks pregnant.
Italian fertility specialist Severino Antinori, who last year announced his intention to create the world’s first human clone, has been quoted as saying one woman in his programme was pregnant — but he has since refused to confirm or deny this.
“Our project is at a very advanced stage. One woman among the thousands of infertile couples in the programme is eight weeks pregnant,” Gulf News, an English-language newspaper in the United Arab Emirates, on Wednesday reported Antinori as saying.
It said Antinori, who did not give any further details, had been responding to a question at a lecture at the Zayed Center for Follow-up and Coordination, an Abu Dhabi think tank.
It was unclear if Antinori had clearly stated that the woman’s pregnancy was a result of cloning.
Contacted by telephone on Saturday, Antinori told Reuters “I am not talking to journalists” before hanging up.
There was no information as to where the woman was, or from whom the alleged foetus was cloned, if it was. Cloning and fertility experts expressed strong doubts over the report.
Dr Ehab Kelada, clinical director at the London Fertility Centre, said Antinori must clarify the report immediately.
“The scientific community will be very alarmed,” he said.
“If this report is true, it is shocking. We don’t know how safe cloning is for humans and it is dangerous to embark on this path without proper regulations or guidelines.”
“DEATH BEST OUTCOME”: Rudolf Jaenisch, professor of biology and a leading cloning scientist based at the Whitehead Institute at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said he was extremely angry at the news but very skeptical.
He said the scientific community would have no way of verifying whether the baby, if it existed, was a clone or a normal child.
“I do not trust these people to tell us the truth,” he said.
“It is totally outrageous and irresponsible to attempt cloning of humans when we know there is a very high probability of severe abnormalities, even if the baby survived to birth, which is extremely doubtful. In fact, death before birth would be the best outcome.”
Richard Nicholson, editor of the Bulletin of Medical Ethics in Britain, said he was skeptical about the report because of the technical difficulties which had to be overcome.
But he believed it was only a matter of time before a woman was implanted with a cloned embryo.
The idea of a human clone has met outrage around the world, despite the promised benefits of some avenues of research.
Antinori’s plans have been condemned by the scientists who produced the world’s first successfully cloned mammal, Dolly the sheep — after a series of failed attempts.—Reuters
