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8-Humans: Ban cloning babies, demand world's top scientists

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-------------------------------- GENET-news -------------------------------

TITLE:  Ban cloning babies, demand world's top scientists
SOURCE: New Scientist, UK, by Andy Coghlan
        http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994186
DATE:   Sep 22, 2003

------------------- archive: http://www.genet-info.org/ -------------------


Ban cloning babies, demand world's top scientists

Cloning babies should be banned worldwide by the United Nations, more
than 60 of the world's leading scientific academies demanded on Monday.
"Human reproductive cloning is unsafe, and no responsible scientist would
attempt it given the huge health risks that are involved," said Yves
Quéré of the InterAcademy Panel on International Issues, which launched
the joint declaration in Trieste, Italy on behalf of the 63 academies.
But the ban should not extend to therapeutic cloning - the creation of
cloned cells which could form tissue for transplant into diseased or
injured patients - they added. Speaking at a simultaneous conference in
London, Robert May, president of the UK's leading scientific academy, the
Royal Society, stressed that therapeutic cloning held such great medical
promise that individual countries should be allowed to decide for
themselves whether or not to introduce a ban. The issue will be hotly
debated in New York next week when the UN's legal committee meets to
discuss a draft convention tabled by Costa Rica for a global ban both on
reproductive and on therapeutic cloning.


Tissue of choice

Already, the UN has made two failed attempts at a treaty. Almost every
delegation wants a ban on cloned babies, but some countries including the
US, the Vatican and other Roman Catholic countries have held out for a
ban on therapeutic cloning too. The practice is controversial because in
humans, the first step would be to grow an embryo-like ball of cells
created by fusing a human cell with an empty egg cell. Implanted into a
woman's womb, the cloned cells have the potential to grow into a baby.
But if grown for a few days in the lab, the same ball of cells yields
stem cells which could theoretically be grown into tissue of choice for
transplant. May challenges the notion that the ball of cells qualifies as
an embryo. "It's far less complex than any potato, or even the wood in
this table here," he says.


Placental cancer

The declaration says that there are plenty of good scientific reasons why
cloning babies would be too dangerous to attempt. Richard Gardner, chair
of the Royal Society's recent studies into stem cell research and
cloning, said that all species cloned so far had suffered problems. "In
all these studies, we see fetal attrition, overgrowth, and poor survival
after birth," he says. "The most striking problem is that of abnormal
development of the placenta," said Gardner, adding that in women this
could trigger a life-threatening form of placental cancer. On 15
September in London, Panayiotis Zavos, director of the Andrology
Institute of America, controversially claimed to have created a human
cloned embryo ready for implantation before the end of the 2003. The aim
of the declaration is to create a treaty, which will make such attempts
more difficult.


                                  PART II
-------------------------------- GENET-news -------------------------------

TITLE:  INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC BODY CALLS FOR BAN ON HUMAN REPRODUCTIVE
        CLONING
SOURCE: InterAcademy Panel on International Issues, Italy, Press Release
        http://www4.nationalacademies.org/IAP/iaphome.nsf/(weblinks)/
        WWWW-5RHFLT
DATE:   Sep 22, 2003

------------------- archive: http://www.genet-info.org/ -------------------


Call for a ban on human reproductive cloning

More than 60 science academies, members of IAP, from every continent in
the world have called on the United Nations to adopt a ban on human
reproductive cloning. The IAP statement was issued on 22 September 2003.
In the same statement, however, the science academies say that
therapeutic cloning should be exempt from the ban. IAP members will
present the statement to delegates of the UN Committee on Cloning,
scheduled to meet at UN headquarters in New York City between September
29 and 3 October. The Committee has examined the possibility of issuing a
declaration that endorses a ban on cloning. Consensus, however, has been
hampered by disagreements concerning the scope of such a ban, especially
whether the ban should apply to research and therapeutic cloning. 

The IAP statement is available as a pdf file in the following languages:

English
French
Spanish
Italian
Portuguese

Press releases are also available, as pdf files, in:

English
French
Spanish
Italian
Portuguese

*****

INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC BODY CALLS FOR BAN ON HUMAN REPRODUCTIVE CLONING

More than 60 science academies from every continent in the world have
called on the United Nations to adopt a ban on human reproductive
cloning. The statement was issued by the InterAcademy Panel on
International Issues (IAP), a body representing scientific academies
worldwide. In the same statement, however, the science academies say that
therapeutic cloning should be exempt from the ban.

IAP members will present the statement to delegates of the UN Committee
on Cloning, scheduled to meet at UN headquarters in New York City between
September 29 and 3 October. The Committee has examined the possibility of
issuing a declaration - in UN parlance, a 'convention' - that endorses a
ban on cloning. Consensus, however, has been hampered by disagreements
concerning the scope of such a ban, especially whether the ban should
apply to research and therapeutic cloning.

IAP warns that human cloning poses a serious threat to the health of both
the cloned child and the mother. Animal studies on reproductive cloning
show a high incidence of fetal disorders and spontaneous abortions, and
of malformation and death among newborns. According to the statement,
there is no reason to suppose that the outcome would be different in
humans. Even if scientific developments meant that one day reproductive
cloning could be undertaken without major medical risk, the IAP statement
stresses that the practice would continue to face strong ethical, social
and economic objections.

The statement, however, goes on to outline the substantial benefits that
could be derived from cloning to obtain embryonic stem cells for research
and therapeutic purposes. Therefore, IAP contends that such work should
be excluded from the ban on human reproductive cloning. "Human
reproductive cloning is unsafe and no responsible scientist would attempt
it given the huge health risks that are involved," says Yves Quere, co-
chair of the IAP executive committee and former foreign secretary of the
French Academy of Sciences. "Experience has shown that most cloned
pregnancies fail or result in stillborn or deformed offspring. Even if
these problems can be solved, serious ethical problems will remain that
no one can ignore."

"Human reproductive cloning is already illegal in some countries," Quere
adds, "but other countries have yet to pass any laws or regulations.
Failure by the international community to issue a worldwide ban on human
reproductive cloning will enable unscrupulous individuals to continue to
experiment on humans."

At the same time that IAP is calling for a ban on human reproductive
cloning, it is voicing strong support for research and therapeutic cloning.

"Cloning to obtain embryonic stem cells for research and therapeutic
purposes holds considerable promise for long-term benefits," says C.N.R.
Rao, president of the Third World Academy of Sciences in Trieste, which
hosts the secretariat of IAP. "That is why a ban on research and
therapeutic cloning was excluded from the statement."

###

Notes to editors:

1) IAP is a global network of the world's science academies that is
hosted by the Third World Academy of Sciences and headquartered in
Trieste, Italy.

2) The following academies have endorsed the IAP statement:
- African Academy of Sciences
- The Caribbean Academy of Sciences
- Latin American Academy of Sciences
- Third World Academy of Sciences
- The Academy of Sciences of Albania
- National Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences, Argentina
- Australian Academy of Science
- Bangladesh Academy of Sciences
- National Academy of Sciences of Belarus
- National Academy of Sciences of Bolivia
- Brazilian Academy of Sciences
- Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
- Cameroon Academy of Sciences
- Chinese Academy of Sciences
- Academia Sinica, China Taiwan
- Croatian Academy of Arts and Sciences
- Cuban Academy of Sciences
- Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic
- Royal Danish Academy of Science and Letters
- Academia de Ciencias de la Republica Dominicana
- Academy of Scientific Research and Technology, Egypt
- Estonian Academy of Sciences
- The Delegation of the Finnish Academies of Science and Letters
- Academie des Sciences, France
- Georgian Academy of Sciences
- Academy of Athens, Greece
- Hungarian Academy of Sciences
- Indian National Science Academy
- Indonesian Academy of Sciences
- Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities
- Science Council of Japan
- Royal Scientific Society of Jordan
- Kenya National Academy of Sciences
- National Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz Republic
- Latvian Academy of Sciences
- Lithuanian Academy of Sciences
- Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts
- Academia Mexicana de Ciencias
- Academy of Sciences of Moldova
- Mongolian Academy of Sciences
- Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco
- The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
- Academy Council of the Royal Society of New Zealand
- Nigerian Academy of Sciences
- Norwegian Academy of Sciences and Letters
- Pakistan Academy of Sciences
- Palestine Academy for Science and Technology
- Academia Nacional de Ciencias del Peru
- National Academy of Science and Technology, Philippines
- Romanian Academy
- Russian Academy of Sciences
- Academie des Sciences et Techniques du Senegal
- Singapore National Academy of Sciences
- Academy of Science of South Africa
- National Academy of Sciences of Sri Lanka
- Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
- Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tajikistan
- Thai Academy of Science and Technology
- Turkish Academy of Sciences
- The Uganda National Academy of Sciences
- The Royal Society, UK
- US National Academy of Sciences
- Academia de Ciencias Fisicas, Matematicas y Naturales de Venezuela


                                  PART III
-------------------------------- GENET-news -------------------------------

TITLE:  STATEMENT ON HUMAN CLONING
SOURCE: InterAcademy Panel on International Issues, Italy, Statement
        http://www4.nationalacademies.org/IAP/iaphome.nsf/(weblinks)/
        WWWW-5RHFLT
DATE:   Sep 22, 2003

------------------- archive: http://www.genet-info.org/ -------------------


STATEMENT ON HUMAN CLONING

National academies of science from all parts of the world are united in
supporting a worldwide ban on the reproductive cloning of human beings,
and in calling for cloning to obtain embryonic stem cells for both
research and therapeutic purposes to be excluded from this ban.


Reproductive cloning

Cloning is currently the subject of intense global debate. Some countries
have already banned the reproductive cloning of humans. We urge all other
countries to introduce and support appropriate regulations to ensure that
reproductive cloning is subject to a universal ban.

Human reproductive cloning by somatic cell(1) nuclear transfer (see 'What
is cloning?') raises many issues - ethical, social, economic and
scientific. It is through scientific research that the prospect of human
reproductive cloning has come to be an issue of public policy. Scientists
therefore have a special responsibility in the associated public debate.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------
What is cloning?
Cloning of an organism commonly involves a technique called somatic cell
nuclear transfer, where the nucleus of an egg cell (containing its
genetic material) is removed and replaced with the nucleus of a somatic
cell taken from the body of an adult. If the reconstructed egg cell is
then stimulated successfully to divide, it may develop to the pre-
implantation blastocyst stage. In reproductive cloning, the cloned
blastocyst is then implanted in the uterus of a female and allowed to
continue its development until birth. However, in cloning for research or
therapeutic purposes, instead of being implanted in the uterus the cloned
blastocyst is converted into a tissue culture to make a stem cell line
for research or clinical applications.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------


Scientific research on reproductive cloning in other mammals shows that
there is a markedly higher than normal incidence of fetal disorders and
loss throughout pregnancy, and of malformation and death among newborns.
There is no reason to suppose that the outcome would be different in
humans. There would thus be a serious threat to the health of the cloned
individual, not just at birth but potentially at all stages of life -
without obvious compensating benefit to the individual bearing this
threat. Moreover, death of a fetus late in pregnancy could pose a serious
threat to the health of the woman carrying it. Even on a purely
scientific basis, therefore, it would be quite irresponsible for anyone
to attempt human reproductive cloning given our current level of
scientific knowledge.

It is not beyond the bounds of possibility that scientific knowledge
could advance to the point where reproductive cloning by somatic cell
nuclear transfer might be accomplished without undue risk. Such a
situation would not of itself warrant the lifting of a ban on the
practice, which would still face strong ethical, social and economic
objections.

We therefore call on all countries worldwide to ban the reproductive
cloning of human beings.


Cloning for research and therapeutic purposes

Similarly to reproductive cloning, cloning for research or therapeutic
purposes involves generating a human blastocyst(2) via somatic cell
nuclear transfer. However, the crucial difference is that the cloned
blastocyst is never implanted into the uterus. Instead, cells isolated
from the blastocyst are used to make stem cell lines for further study
and clinical applications.

Research studies using such nuclear transfer techniques could be
important for improving our basic knowledge of, for example, how the cell
nucleus can be reprogrammed to switch on the set of genes that
characterises a particular specialised cell, or for understanding the
genetic basis for human diseases, or for enhancing our understanding of
re-programming faulty human genes. A more long-term goal would be to
learn how to re-programme somatic cells into stem cells (see 'What are
stem cells?') and thus provide a way of obtaining stem cells, genetically
compatible with the patient, without any need for the use of eggs and
embryos. It is, of course, only justified to carry out this research
using human eggs where animal studies fail to provide a suitable alternative.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------
What are stem cells?
Stem cells are cells that can replicate themselves and also generate
specialised cells as they multiply. Stem cells could be used to generate
replacement cells and tissues to treat many diseases and conditions
including Parkinson's disease, leukaemia, stroke, diabetes, spinal cord
injury and skin conditions, including burns. Damaged organs or tissues
would be colonised with sufficient normal cells, derived from stem cells,
to restore their physiology or accelerate repair, or organs replaced by
providing stem cells with an appropriate scaffold for their
reconstruction. Stem cells occur at all stages of development from embryo
to adult but their versatility and abundance gradually decrease with age.
While embryonic stem cells may be able to produce any of the 200
different types of specialised cells that make up the human body, adult
stem cells appear to be capable of producing only one or a limited number
of types of cell. Recently some have argued that adult stem cells have
proved sufficiently versatile and therefore there is no need to derive
stem cells from very early human embryos. We believe the scientific
findings that have been reported so far do not support this conclusion.
Therefore research on both adult and embryonic stem cells is vital for a
proper evaluation of the prospects of stem cell therapy for the treatment
of serious disease and injury.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------


Nuclear transfer techniques also offer the prospect of therapeutic
applications for patients requiring cell, tissue or organ transplants, by
producing embryonic stem cells that are genetically compatible with the
recipient and thus circumventing the problem of rejection. However, aside
from the scientific challenges, there are problems with the cost of
customised treatments and obtaining a supply of unfertilized human eggs.
At present, as cloning is an inefficient process, it is likely many eggs
would be required to make a single embryonic stem cell line. It remains
to be established if cloning for therapeutic purposes will be viable
clinically. Research into additional strategies to overcome immune
rejection is therefore strongly to be encouraged and such research may
require the use of human embryonic stem cells derived from early human
embryos. Cloning for research and therapeutic purposes therefore has
considerable potential from a scientific perspective, and should be
excluded from the ban on human cloning. Both policies should be reviewed
periodically in the light of scientific and social developments.


footnotes:
1 Somatic cells are all types of cell other than egg or sperm cells or
their precursors.
2 Approximately 5-6 days after a human egg is fertilised, it is known as
a blastocyst and consists of about 100 cells, the majority of which are
already specialised to form the placenta. Most countries that allow in
vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment allow the use of embryos up to day 14
after fertilisation.


List of IAP Member Academies which endorsed the statement:
- African Academy of Sciences
- The Caribbean Academy of Sciences
- Latin American Academy of Sciences
- Third World Academy of Sciences
- The Academy of Sciences of Albania
- National Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences, Argentina
- Australian Academy of Science
- Bangladesh Academy of Sciences
- National Academy of Sciences of Belarus
- National Academy of Sciences of Bolivia
- Brazilian Academy of Sciences
- Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
- Cameroon Academy of Sciences
- Chinese Academy of Sciences
- Academia Sinica, China Taiwan
- Croatian Academy of Arts and Sciences
- Cuban Academy of Sciences
- Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic
- Royal Danish Academy of Science and Letters
- Academia de Ciencias de la Republica Dominicana
- Academy of Scientific Research and Technology, Egypt
- Estonian Academy of Sciences
- The Delegation of the Finnish Academies of Science and Letters
- Academie des Sciences, France
- Georgian Academy of Sciences
- Academy of Athens, Greece
- Hungarian Academy of Sciences
- Indian National Science Academy
- Indonesian Academy of Sciences
- Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities
- Science Council of Japan
- Royal Scientific Society of Jordan
- Kenya National Academy of Sciences
- National Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz Republic
- Latvian Academy of Sciences
- Lithuanian Academy of Sciences
- Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts
- Academia Mexicana de Ciencias
- Academy of Sciences of Moldova
- Mongolian Academy of Sciences
- Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco
- The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
- Academy Council of the Royal Society of New Zealand
- Nigerian Academy of Sciences
- Norwegian Academy of Sciences and Letters
- Pakistan Academy of Sciences
- Palestine Academy for Science and Technology
- Academia Nacional de Ciencias del Peru
- National Academy of Science and Technology, Philippines
- Romanian Academy
- Russian Academy of Sciences
- Academie des Sciences et Techniques du Senegal
- Singapore National Academy of Sciences
- Academy of Science of South Africa
- National Academy of Sciences of Sri Lanka
- Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
- Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tajikistan
- Thai Academy of Science and Technology
- Turkish Academy of Sciences
- The Uganda National Academy of Sciences
- The Royal Society, UK
- US National Academy of Sciences
- Academia de Ciencias Fisicas, Matematicas y Naturales de Venezuela
 


--


GENET
European NGO Network on Genetic Engineering

Hartmut MEYER (Mr)
Kleine Wiese 6
D - 38116 Braunschweig
Germany

phone:  +49-531-5168746
fax:    +49-531-5168747
mobile: +49-162-1054755
email:  coordination(at)genet-info.org
web:    http://www.genet-info.org



--


GENET
European NGO Network on Genetic Engineering

Hartmut MEYER (Mr)
Kleine Wiese 6
D - 38116 Braunschweig
Germany

phone:  +49-531-5168746
fax:    +49-531-5168747
mobile: +49-162-1054755
email:  coordination(at)genet-info.org
web:    http://www.genet-info.org