Human Cloning, Without Limit or Apology.(Reprint)

When the U.S. House of Representatives was debating a ban on human cloning in February, Congressman Dave Weldon (R-Fl.) - - prime sponsor of the bill and a medical doctor - - made a startling statement. Replying to those who would allow cloning of human embryos to use their embryonic stem cells for "therapeutic" purposes, Dr. Weldon pointed out that there are no studies even in animals showing a success from such "therapeutic cloning."

The ban on cloning passed the House, and now is before the U.S. Senate. But Dr. Weldon's comment sparked a vociferous reaction from several scientists who support cloning human embryos for research. One of them, Dr. Paul Berg, called Weldon's comment "asinine"; another, Dr. Robert Lanza, questioned the validity of his medical degree. Both said there were numerous studies showing the benefits of "therapeutic" cloning. But none of the studies they cited do any such thing. Some studies dealt with embryonic stem cells, but none of those used cloning. And one study did involve cloning - - but that one didn't use embryonic stem cells. (For details see the web site of the Coalition of Americans for Research Ethics, http://www.stemcellresearch.org/pr/pr20030310.htm.)

Actually just two studies, in all of medical literature, show "therapeutic" benefits from cloning. One, published in Nature Biotechnology last July, involved efforts to supply new kidney tissue to cows. But it required taking the cloned cow embryos to the fetal stage and aborting them for their stem cells. The authors (including Dr. Lanza) said, "Because cloned cells were derived from early-stage fetuses, this approach is not an example of therapeutic cloning and would not be undertaken in humans."

The other study appeared in the journal Cell last April. ...