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Posted on Apr 16, 2003, 12 p.m.
By Bill Freeman
US scientists believe that human cloning is impossible after hundred of attempts to clone monkeys have ended in failure. Cloning has been successful in several mammals, such as sheep, mice, and cattle, however there is a growing body to suggest that it does not work in all species. Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine used the method used to create Dolly the sheep to try to clone rhesus macaque monkeys.
US scientists believe that human cloning is impossible after hundred of attempts to clone monkeys have ended in failure. Cloning has been successful in several mammals, such as sheep, mice, and cattle, however there is a growing body to suggest that it does not work in all species. Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine used the method used to create Dolly the sheep to try to clone rhesus macaque monkeys. After hundreds of attempts they failed to establish a single pregnancy. They are not the only scientists to try this, as other groups have tried and failed to clone monkeys. This has led the scientists to think that there is a flaw in the biological make-up of the eggs of primates - including humans - that makes cloning a virtual impossibility. The problem appears to center around the way genetic material is parcelled up as a cell splits into two during embryonic development. Cells seem to end up with either too much, or too little DNA, and therefore cannot survive. Study leader Dr Gerald Schatten said: "This reinforces the fact that the charlatans who claim to have cloned humans have never understood enough cell or developmental biology (to succeed)." Clonaid, a company created by a UFO cult known as the Raelians, claims that several cloned babies have already been born, although they have produced no evidence to substantiate these claims.
SOURCE/REFERENCE: Reported by www.bbc.co.uk on the 11th April 2003
