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"Dolly" Cloner Abandons Project to Clone Human Embryos |
Media contact:
Dorinda C. Bordlee
Executive Director, Senior Counsel
504.231.7234
BREAKING: "Dolly the Sheep" creator shuns cloning
November 17, 2007. Hours ago, the science editor of the U.K. newspaper "Daily Telegraph," released a stunning and exciting article revealing that Dr. Ian Wilmut, the scientist who created Dolly the sheep, "has decided not to pursue a licence to clone human embryos, which he was awarded just two years ago, as part of a drive to find new treatments." In a show of scientific integrity, the cloning pioneer stated that he will now pursue a rival method pioneered in Japan which regresses an adult stem cell back to its "embryonic" state without having to create a cloned human embryo or use eggs.
The article states that Dr. Wilmut's "announcement could mark the beginning of the end for therapeutic cloning, on which tens of millions of pounds have been spent worldwide over the past decade." Most of his motivation is practical but he admits the Japanese approach is also "easier to accept socially."
"Prof. Ian Wilmut's decision to turn his back on 'therapeutic cloning', just days after US researchers announced a breakthrough in the cloning of primates, will send shockwaves through the scientific establishment," reports science journalist Roger Highfield.
Bioethics Defense Fund president and general counsel Nikolas T. Nikas encourages readers to review the article in full, which reports that the new technique that Dr. Wilmut will now pursue in his lab resulted from "an intense search for alternatives because of pressure from the pro-life lobby, the opposition of President George W Bush and ever present concerns about cloning babies."
"This positive development shows that the efforts of pro-life citizens and leaders have not been in vain," said BDF president and general counsel Nikolas T. Nikas. "The BDF legal team will redouble our efforts to educate lawmakers across the nation and the world about the necessity of enacting comprehensive bans on human cloning," said Nikas.
BDF senior counsel Dorinda Bordlee noted that "this announcement underscores that no civilized society need create human life to be destroyed as raw material for lab experiments." "This is a victory for science and the dignity of human life that will play a earth-shaking role in upcoming bioethics debates in legislatures, ballot initiatives and political contests," said Bordlee.
Read the full article here:
Dolly creator Prof Ian Wilmut shuns cloning
By Roger Highfield, Daily Telegraph Science Editor
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