Reactions and action on cloning

The reaction from the US Congress to the news that Advanced Cell Technology (ACT), a Massachusetts biotechnology company, had produced cloned human embryos was almost immediate. Senator Tom Daschle, the majority leader, said yesterday that he did not yet quite understand what the company had done, adding; 'but it's disconcerting, frankly'.

US law prohibits the use of federal funds for this type of research, but ACT is privately funded. Legislation to ban the cloning of human embryos has already been passed by the US House of Representatives, but has yet to be debated and passed in the Senate. The report from ACT may therefore prompt renewed efforts to set legal limits on the cloning of human embryos.

The Senate has been deliberately slow on the matter as it wanted time to hear evidence on stem cell research before debates on cloning would take place. Daschle stated that he supports cloning for research purposes but said that 'we vehemently oppose any cloning for the purposes of human replication'. Senator Leahy, a Democrat, said that 'I find it very, very troubling. I think most of Congress would'.

Other senators said that they believed that action would not be taken immediately, especially because Congress has already had an extended session this year following the terrorist attacks on America. Senator Lugar, a Republican, said that the Senate should 'be deliberate' and take in much more information before any vote was taken.

Meanwhile, a legal committee of the UN General Assembly voiced its support for a draft resolution to create an international ban on human cloning. The resolution was introduced jointly by Germany and France last week. The UN group has recommended that a committee be established to define what should be included in an international convention.