X-Message-Number: 7793
Date: Sun, 2 Mar 1997 14:27:15 -0800 (PST)
From: John K Clark <>
Subject:  Cloning opposition

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

The Washington Post reported today (March 2, 1997) that Don Wolf of the 
Oregon Regional Primate Center has cloned monkeys from embryo cells using  
techniques similar to the ones that resulted in a cloning sheep, the animals   
were born last August. Dr. Wolf said that is as far as he intends to go, 
he did not try to make a clone from an adult monkey, nor does he intend to, 
it's not too hard to figure out why, in the next sentence the article says 
that his work is federally funded. 

The Journal "Nature" said they were under considerable pressure not to  
publish the historic article on cloning, right up to the moment the presses 
rolled attempts were made to suppress it. Fortunately Nature has guts and did  
not cave in, they even put the entire article on the Web, you can read it at 
http://www.nature.com./

Our old friend Jeremy Rifkin said there should be an immediate worldwide ban 

on cloning and that the penalty for violation should "be on a par with murder".
A poll taken by ABC news says that 87% of Americans think cloning should be 
banned, 6% would like to be cloned.

I'm not too worried because I think it's politicians not Scientists who are  
guilty of hubris if they think they can stop this technology. For the first 
time I found something that an "ethicist", the lowest form of human life,  
said that I could agree with; to quote Ronald Munson, "The technology is not,  
in principle policeable [...] These are relatively standard labs. That's the 
amazing thing about biotechnology. It's fundamentally quite feasible". 
Unlike Munson I am not appalled by this, I am  delighted.


                                             John K Clark    


-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: 2.6.i

iQCzAgUBMxn6wn03wfSpid95AQFwCQTvbvWznFxV7gZAChKFy6rMvqk2ku+DhCei
fK/U25UzH9Zw/ka44J5NYmkus1voxXmD+5p+XDHU2uOgBiB2VPsdJ/u9Urg/MUNd
mroYto/1sqE0CtNo6shFruXA3fMsyeQwQ+RIZvaXmxgQ4cM+ThPcm6xMg+s7VeFs
TwtSfV4WO9+h14u7wspoNwG02iL9Yee0V/3T6LE1r/in5x8X918=
=6qXs
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----


Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=7793