>From The Independent,
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/UK/Science/2000-08/cloning300800.shtml
-
Human cloning is now 'inevitable'
Independent survey reveals Britain's leading medical scientists predict
'reproductive cloning' within 20 years despite public opposition
By Steve Connor, Science Editor
30 August 2000
Many of Britain's most eminent medical scientists believe the birth of a
cloned baby is inevitable despite society's current aversion to the idea.
More than half of a panel of 32 scientists surveyed by The Independent said
"reproductive cloning" would be attempted within 20 years if the technical
and safety issues could be overcome. Their views stand in stark contrast to
the public's vehement opposition to human cloning, which many people
associate with fictional visions of armies of identical dictators.
A majority of the scientists interviewed, who included Lord Winston and
Professor Richard Dawkins, also believe that if the use of limited
"therapeutic cloning" for embryonic stem cells is successful, it will lead
to a re-evaluation of the present law banning reproductive cloning of an
adult.
A significant minority of those who took part in the survey - more than one
in five - felt that reproductive cloning could also be justified on medical
grounds, if for instance it was the only way for a couple to have a child of
their own.
Later this year, MPs will be given a free vote on whether to allow limited
therapeutic cloning. Opposition groups are expected to argue that to allow
limited cloning of human embryos is "playing God" and will create a
"slippery slope" leading to the cloning of an adult.
The results of the survey confirm what many medical scientists have said
privately about the inevitability of someone, somewhere attempting the
cloning of a human being even though it is banned in Britain and outlawed in
many other countries.
One medical director of a London fertility unit, who did not wish to be
named, went as far as to say: "The equipment needed for cloning is simple
and cheap, and, whether it is approved of or not, it will happen. It is
unstoppable."
In our survey of doctors and scientists, many of whom have acted as
government advisers, it was the in vitro fertilisation (IVF) specialists who
took the most sympatheticline towards human reproductive cloning.
Peter Brinsden, medical director of the Bourn Hall Clinic in Cambridge,
said: "Reproductive cloning for ethically approved, very limited indications
would now be acceptable to a large portion of society if explained properly.
"Society's views on these difficult issues will change over the next 10 to
20 years, in the same way they have over the past 20 years with many
contentious subjects in the field of assisted reproduction."
Lord Winston, the foremost IVF expert in Britain, also believes that
reproductive cloning will be attempted, although he said it could not be
medically justified. "It is difficult to predict how society will think
about these issues in 20 years' time," he said.
Richard Dawkins, professor of the public understanding of science at Oxford
University and an acclaimed author on evolutionary biology, also believes
that reproductive cloning will eventually be attempted and that it might be
justified. He said: "People who object to research of this kind must explain
exactly who would, in their view, be damaged by it. Phrases like 'playing
God' form no part of a valid argument."
Many of the scientists who were interviewed emphasised that although they
believe human cloning would happen, they personally hoped that it would not.
Azim Surani, of the Wellcome CRC Institute in Cambridge and a member of a
Royal Society working party on cloning, was one of those who believed that
reproductive cloning would not happen. "Even if reproductive cloning is
ultimately shown to work, it would be a big step to proceed to reproductive
cloning," Dr Surani said. "It is not possible to predict the outcome from
reproductive cloning, as there are numerous and unpredictable detrimental
effects on the resulting offspring. The risk will outweigh potential
benefits for the foreseeable future."
Professor Richard Gardner, who chaired a Royal Society committee on cloning,
believes human cloning will be attempted provided the technical and safety
issues can be addressed and people understand what cloning really means.
He said: "While there is likely to be a striking physical resemblance, the
clone would differ from the original in most of the higher mental attributes
that define an individual."
The big unknown, at present, is whether the technical and safety issues will
ever be addressed. It took 277 attempts to clone Dolly the sheep - a success
rate that has since improved but which is still inadequate to attempt a
similar approach on human eggs.
Some cloning experts believe safety issues will prevent attempts at human
reproductive cloning for many years to come. Austin Smith, an Edinburgh
scientist who works on embryonic stem cells, said it was "not possible to
address the technical and safety issues involved".
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