ROME: The international scientific community expressed skepticism and irritation on Wednesday over claims by a controversial Italian fertility expert that the first cloned human will be born in January.

Ian Wilmut, the British scientist who cloned the first mammal, Dolly the sheep, said he did not believe the claim.

“He has claimed to have cloned very large numbers of pigs, but nobody has ever seen them or the facilities where this was done,” Wilmut told British media.

But according to Wilmut, “nobody has actually succeeded in doing that and again nobody has seen those animals or the facilities, nor has he submitted a paper to a journal.”

According to Doctor Ermanno Greco of the Centre for Reproductive Medicine of Rome’s European Hospital, no judgments can be made until scientific evidence is produced.—DPA