Attempt to clone human fails

Main Category: Pregnancy / Obstetrics
Article Date: 04 Feb 2004 - 0:00 PDT

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US fertility expert, Pavos Zavos has failed in his attempt to clone a human. He had announced (recently) that he had managed to implant a cloned human embryo in a woman's womb.

However, the woman did not become pregnant.

Despite heavy criticism from other scientists, Dr. Zavos says he will continue with his attempts to clone a human.

Three weeks ago, Dr. Zavos told a sceptical audience that he had implanted an embryo into a woman (35 years old).

According to him, the embryo had been created by using the woman's immature egg and a skin cell from her husband.

His procedure (reproductive cloning) takes DNA from the donor and transfers it into an egg (this egg has had its nucleus taken out). It is a similar process to the one used to create 'Dolly' the sheep.

In the UK (and many other countries) it is illegal to clone humans.

Dr. Zavos (and his team) carried out a pregnancy test (checking for a hormone which would indicate a pregnancy had developed) three weeks after the embryo was implanted. The test results were negative.

He said his work will be published in a peer-reviewed journal soon.

Dr Zavos told the London press conference: 'Successful or not, we are going to do another one and another one and another until we succeed.'

Many scientists have said that the cloning of humans should be banned completely.

The President of the Royal Society (UK) said that these 'cowboy cloners' caused great public anxiety and should be stopped.

According to animal tests, cloning results in a very high number of miscarriages and deformities.

Most doctors and scientists regard human cloning as unethical.