Mainichi Shimbun
An American scientist has announced that he is hoping to create human clones in Japan, after he sets up a sterility treatment clinic in Chiba Prefecture next year.
Controversial physicist Richard Seed, speaking at a recent news conference held in Tokyo, said that he will set up a laboratory for cloning studies in Kamifurano, Hokkaido, in August next year.
He said that he will create clones of rare species and pet animals there. The cloning of human beings is also in his future plans, Seed said.
Seed also plans to open a clinic for artificial insemination in Chiba Prefecture in June 1999. The clinic will include sperm and egg banks, as well as a pool of surrogate mothers, said Seed.
However, legal difficulties for setting up such facilities are unavoidable,
as the creation of human clones is banned by the Ministry of Education.
Furthermore, the Japan Society of Obstetrics and
Gynecology also ethically prohibits in vitro fertilization using sperm
and eggs of nonmarried couples.
Seed, who is based in Chicago, sparked controversy in December 1997 by announcing that he will be the first scientist to clone a human being. In September this year, Seed said that he will clone himself to prove his cloning procedure.
dan@southeast.net
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