Woman expecting 'first cloned baby'
A woman is pregnant with the world’s first cloned baby, it was reported tonight.
The claim is said to have been made by maverick fertility specialist Dr Severino Antinori, who has been developing a cloning programme at his clinic in Rome.
Dr Antinori made the announcement at a conference on genetic engineering in Abu Dhabi, according to a report in the Gulf News.
His office in Rome refused to comment on the report tonight, however. A spokeswoman at the International Centre for the Study of Physiopathy of Human Reproduction would neither confirm nor deny the claim.
The Gulf News quoted Dr Antinori saying: ‘‘Our project is at a very advanced stage. One woman among thousands of infertile couples in the programme is eight weeks pregnant. We have nearly 5,000 couples in this project now.’’
Together with colleague Dr Panos Zavos, at the Andrology Institute of America in Lexington, Kentucky, Dr Antinori had previously pledged to attempt to clone a baby by the end of 2001.
If confirmed, the pregnancy will cause uproar among pro-life groups, scientists and ethical experts worldwide.
Richard Nicholson, editor of the Bulletin of Medical Ethics, said he was sceptical of the claim, but said if it was true the baby’s future was grim.
‘‘I don’t believe Dr Antinori has in any way considered the welfare of the offspring,’’ said Mr Nicholson. ‘‘I think he is trying to achieve personal notoriety. I don’t believe he is truly trying to advance science for the benefit of mankind.
‘‘With the sort of publicity-seeking Antinori goes in for, any resulting child clone is likely to become little more than a freak show.
‘‘Given the accelerated ageing seen in cloned animals, this child is not going to have a particularly happy or normal childhood.’’
He thought international legal action should be taken against scientists trying to make their names by cloning humans.
‘‘I think it would be incredibly difficult to get a binding international law, but it seems to me that people like Antinori who go so far against what most people believe is acceptable, should be accountable in law somewhere in the world,’’ he said.
