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Severino Antinori
(1945- )
Fertility maverick
Nigel Cooper
Updated June 2003
The Italian press call him 'the father of impossible children'. Others say he wants to imitate Hitler. But for the rich and infertile couples that he treats, Professor Severino Antinori is a miracle worker. The 56-year-old Italian obstetrician who made his name in the field of in-vitro fertilisation is not content to stop at IVF. He has already claimed that one of his patients is carrying a clone, although the child never appeared. If he is to be believed, however, it will only be a matter of time. Antinori is out to clone people.
Getting started
Antinori was interested in fertility and medicine from a young age. After leaving school, he went to the University of Rome, graduating in 1972. A year later, he moved to the Queen Elena Maternal Institute and began working in the obstetrics and gynaecology department. This became his field and over the next few years he built up an impressive track record and laid the foundations for his future career. He went on to marry biologist, Caterina Versaci, and in the early 1980s they set up an infertility clinic in Rome together. This was to be the beginning of a notorious career.
His first major controversy came in 1986, when he started experimenting with sperm injection techniques to combat male infertility. This angered the Catholic press, as did his later pioneering use of mice to incubate the sperm of men with low fertility. In 1989, Antinori implanted his first menopausal subject with a donor egg, and again the press were outraged. It wasn't until 1994, however, that he hit international headlines. The professor had carried out IVF on Rosana Della Cortes. She was 63 and had become the oldest known woman to give birth.
It isn't surprising he was gaining a reputation as a renegade, but for him it was just the beginning. Today, Antinori is head of a string of Rome-based fertility clinics. Perhaps more importantly, he is one of the most vocal pioneers of human reproductive cloning in the world. Alongside Clonaid, part of the strange Ralian religious cult, and Panayiotis Zavos, his one-time friend and partner, Antinori is racing to become the first man to clone a human.
Controversial cloning
The birth of Dolly the sheep, at the Roslin Institute animal biotechnology centre in Edinburgh, opened the floodgates for the cloning of cattle, pigs, mice and goats. But it wasn't until 26 November 2001 that the successful cloning of a human embryo was announced. The announcement didn't come from Antinori, Clonaid or Zavos, however, but from a US company, Advanced Cell Technology (ACT). From this point on, human cloning was no longer confined to the realms of science fiction. Now that it's possible, as far as Antinori is concerned, reproductive cloning is worth striving for, whatever the cost.
But despite making the landmark breakthrough, ACT don't agree. They are interested in a different aspect of cloning to Antinori. They want to use the technology to create therapies for diseases like AIDS, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Unlike Antinori, they don't wish to create babies. A spokesman for ACT, Dr West, says they went to 'extreme measures to ensure that a cloned human could not result' from their technology. Antinori's desire to create whole human beings that has led him down a path with few supporters.
Antinori claims that human cloning is the great human experiment of our age and simply a continuation of the battle to combat infertility. Many fellow scientists don't agree, however, and condemn his work. One of these is Ian Wilmut, creator of Dolly the sheep. He calls human reproductive cloning 'dangerous and irresponsible'. Religious organisations are also concerned and the Vatican has described Antinori's work as 'grotesque' and 'evil'. Despite this, the devout Catholic continues.
Maverick mission
Antinori seems determined to ignore not just professional and public opinion but also any legal barriers. Human reproductive cloning is banned in Europe but the scientist has vowed to carry on with his work regardless. In April 2002, he claimed one of his patients was pregnant with a cloned human embryo. The child never arrived. He is not alone in making these claims, however. His rivals Clonaid claim to have produced two clones already bur neither birth has been verified and the statement seems doubtful.
Unlike the Ralians, who imagine cloning will move them towards immortality, or Panos Zavos, who simply wants to be the first to clone a human, Antinori says he is motivated by a genuine wish to help childless couples. This might comfort some, but many scientists agree this technology is likely to produce many deformed and aborted foetuses along the way to a success – if it succeeds at all. Could there be any justification for such a price? With a growing number of volunteers waiting for Antinori's miracle and new claims being made every day, it seems likely that one day soon the world will find out.
You may also be interested in these other Channel 4 articles
The Race to Make a Human
The story behind the mavericks striving to be first past the post in the human cloning game.
Cloning Ourselves – How Close Are We?
The truth behind recent cloning claims, the reasons for doing it and the dangers involved.
Cloning Ourselves – Ethical Dilemmas
The potential to make a living clone is already with us, here are the ethical arguments laid bare.
Cloning a Cure – How Close Are We?
How cloned human embryos could heal the sick, including the methods and the motivation.
Cloning a Cure – Ethical Dilemmas
A way of healing the sick that involves destroying tiny human embryos. Is it worth the cost?
Immortality – Hype or Hope?
How cloned stem cells will leave no branch of medicine untouched. How long would you like to live for?
Cloning FAQs
Answers to some commonly posed questions. Including the difference between the two types of cloning and what stem cell therapy could do for us.
Dolly
The life and times of Dolly the sheep, the first ever cloned mammal.
Francis Galton biography
Introduction to the life and work of the man known as the 'Father of Eugenics'.
Find out more
Channel 4 is not responsible for the content of third party sites
Websites
The Human Cloning Foundation
www.humancloning.org
Site in support of human cloning offering newsletters, essays and links.
The Roslin Institute
www.roslin.ac.uk
The leading centre for animal biotechnology, this is a comprehensive site that discusses, amongst other things, biodiversity.
Severino Antinori and Human Cloning – BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/
newsid_1477000/1477698.stm
News article discussing the controversial claims of the Italian embryologist that he will begin cloning humans for infertile couples.
Clonaid
www.clonaid.com
This private US organisation has pledged to be the first to clone an adult human and offers a range of services, including Clonapet, promising the possibility of cloning a deceased family pet. Note that the organisation was set up by Rael, spiritual leader of the Raelian religious cult movement and the world's largest UFO-related organisation.
New Scientist
www.newscientist.com/hottopics/cloning
Up-to-date articles and information on the ongoing cloning debate.
Advanced Cell Technology
www.advancedcell.com
Website of the company claiming to have cloned the first human embryo.
Books
Cloning, For and Against by M L Rantala and Dr A J Milgram (Open Court Publishing Company, 1998) £16.95
A collection of 54 articles from scientists, ethicists and religious leaders, exploring the pros and cons of reproductive cloning.
Clones, Genes and Immortality: Ethics and the genetic revolution by John Harris (Oxford University Press, 1998) £8.99
An account of the ethics of human biotechnology, reproductive biology and genetics, including genetic screening, life and health insurance, designer babies and cloning.
A Clone of your Own? by Arlene Judith Klotzko (Oxford University Press, 2002) £12.99
The writer-in-residence at the Science Museum takes a look at the science and ethics of cloning.
The Second Creation: The age of biological control by I Wilmut, K Campbell and C Tudge (Headline, January 2001) £7.99
Recounts not just how Dolly was created, but also the techniques used to create her predecessors who were cloned from embryo cells. It explains the scientific reasons behind the research, and discusses where this technology will lead and the ethical issues that have been raised.
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