Clonaid, founded by the leader of the Raelians with the primary aim of being the first company to clone a human, claim they have already done just that and cloned a human in baby Eve born on 26th December 2002. 

Severino Antinori, an Italian gynaecologist, says he has too and will announce the birth of a cloned human this week.  Whether or not either is true will soon be seen.  The failure rate for cloning animals has been very high.  Dolly’s birth only came after 276 embryos had failed to develop.  As a result, many scientists are highly sceptical about such claims.  What is absolutely clear though is that scientists are trying to clone humans and will eventually succeed.

So what is all the fuss about?  Why is there such outrage in the media?  Are scientists finally out of control?  The leader of the Raelian cult is quoted as saying ‘The word ethics is primitive.  There is no place for it in science.  Science should be free.’  Do you agree that ethics has no place in science?

You can get behind all the hype in our series of articles.  You can read about the ethics of cloning in our articles on reproductive cloning and cloning to cure illnesses.  There is the story of Dolly, the first ever cloned animal, as well as a lighthearted celebration of the sheep that started a revolution, Dolly the Sheep – superstar.   We trace the the life of Severino Antinori, dubbed by the Italian press as the ‘father of impossible children’.  Finally, we have a selection of cloning FAQs which give you a further insight into this highly controversial question.