From:
http://www.scmp.com/news/template/Asia-Template.idc?artid=19981202021612029&top=asia&template=Default.htx&maxfieldsize=2177
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Wednesday December 2 1998
Japan
American physicist finds haven for human-cloning research
ASSOCIATED PRESS in Tokyo
An American physicist who provoked controversy at home by announcing plans to clone humans has found a haven for his research where there is no law that bans what he wants to do.
Dr Richard Seed, who has three Harvard degrees but no medical licence,
announced yesterday he was preparing to open an animal cloning laboratory
and fertility clinic in Japan, both eventually aimed at
making clones.
"It seems all countries or political groups have some reservations on human cloning. But there is an existing patient demand for the service," he said.
In the United States, a five-year moratorium announced by President Bill Clinton to ban cloning has apparently been observed by most mainstream scientists, although Congress has failed to act on legislation to outlaw the procedure.
In Japan, there has not been nearly as much national debate about the ethics and safety of cloning as in the US and elsewhere.
With a domestic cattle industry squeezed by imports of cheaper beef, Japanese scientists and agricultural officials see cloning as the answer to keeping the nation's small farms competitive by genetically copying animals on a large-scale basis.
Already about US$15 million (HK$116 million), or about 75 per cent of the estimated cost for Dr Seed's project, had been raised, said James Ryan, a Tokyo-based consultant for the physicist.
The group has obtained land on Japan's northernmost island of Hokkaido and expects to open its clinic as early as next August.
Dr Seed's project will also provide treatment for infertile couples in Japan, where most US-style treatments are not yet available.
The physicist, who had earlier said he was planning to clone himself, said he has changed his mind: "I switched to a clone of my wife because people say if I clone myself it would be an ego trip."
The cloning of his wife, Gloria, was still in the research stage and would take about another two years before completion, he said.
"The clone is an identical twin of a donor, just 40 years younger," Dr Seed said.
"If you don't tell, nobody will know. Everybody has seen children that look just like their parents."
dan@southeast.net
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