The U.N. vs. cloning: stem cell crackdown.

• Author: Bailey, Ronald
• Position: Citings

IN FEBRUARY 2004, South Korean researchers created the first cloned human embryos by installing nuclei from adult cells into human eggs whose nuclei had been removed. Such "therapeutic cloning" produces embryonic stem cells with genes that are virtually identical to those of the person who donated the adult cell's nucleus. Tissues and cells produced this way would not be rejected by the donor's immune system and thus would be perfect transplants for the donor.

If some countries get their way, the Koreans won't be able to carry out such experiments any more. In September 2004 President Bush strongly endorsed a United Nations resolution, proposed by Costa Rica, for a global treaty that would completely ban both reproductive cloning/that is, cloning to produce a baby) and therapeutic cloning.

The proposed ban was initially supported by 63 nations in the General Assembly, but failed...