Vatican wants cloning ban, Sweden allows therapeutic cloning

In a speech to the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN), the Vatican has called for a total world-wide ban on all forms of human cloning. Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo was the first ever Vatican representative to speak to the UN, as this is usually a privilege reserved for member nations with the Vatican only having 'permanent observer' status. Lajolo told the UN that the Vatican wants to see an international convention banning cloning, including the use of cloning technology to create embryonic stem cells (ES cells) for medical research, a process often known as 'therapeutic cloning'. But, he said, the Vatican supports the advance of medical science through the use of adult stem cells.

Archbishop Lajolo's speech follows President Bush's call for an international cloning ban in a speech to the UN General Assembly last week. This November, the UN is due to revisit the debate on cloning after discussions were postponed last year due to a lack of agreement between member nations. One proposal, sponsored by Belgium and a number of other nations, including China, Japan, France, Germany and the UK, is for a resolution that would ban human reproductive cloning only, while allowing individual states to regulate cloning for research purposes as they see fit. A competing proposal, sponsored by Costa Rica and supported by about 50 countries including the US, calls for a UN treaty to ban all forms of human cloning.

Meanwhile, scientists in Sweden will soon be permitted to carry out therapeutic cloning research, following new legislation passed recently by the government. Lars Hamberger, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg, Sweden, announced the results of the vote at a conference held in London last week. The regulations, which will come into effect on 1 January 2005, will allow couples to donate their gametes and embryos for research purposes, and will permit scientists to create embryos for research, including cloned human embryos for stem cell research. The new law will also include a ban on human reproductive cloning, a procedure currently judged to be unsafe by most experts, and already banned in several countries, including the UK.

Further support for ES cell research has come from Switzerland, where the government is supporting a change to the law that would allow research to take place on stem cells derived from embryos left over from fertility treatments. The proposal, which faces opposition from pro-life groups and the Green party, will go to a nation-wide vote on 28 November. Pascal Couchepin, the Interior Minister, launched the government's campaign last week, saying that ES cell research offers hope for incurable illnesses such as Parkinson's, diabetes and heart disease. He also stressed the need to ensure that the public was well informed of the legal, medical and ethical issues before they cast their vote.