Cloning Ourselves – How Close Are We?

Original article by Dr Adam Hedgecoe

Updated February 2004

Take a human egg cell, remove the nucleus, which contains the majority of genes (or DNA) and replace it with the nucleus from one of your own cells. Then kick-start development with an electric shock and nurture your egg in a soup of nutrients and hormones. When the egg starts dividing and a multi-celled embryo emerges, the embryo will be a clone of you. Now all you have to do is pop it in a womb and leave it to bake for nine months. This, in its simplest form, is how cloning works.

Who'd want to clone themselves anyway?

Egocentric

Egocentric (or recreational) cloning is about doing it because you want to. Richard Dawkins, Professor of Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University expressed such a desire. But behind his flippant remark there is a serious scientific question. Dawkins professed that he would be intrigued to see how his clone would turn out: how would 'Dawkins mark II' differ from the original Dawkins? In other words, how much of us is nature (genes) and how much is nurture (environment).

Professor Dawkins is likely to have been a keen follower of the latest animal to join a growing list of clones. A cute little kitten was delivered by caesarian section on 22 December 2001. The kitten was normal and well at birth, but did not share the coat colour patterning of the cat from whom it was cloned. A warning to all who would like to create a carbon copy of themselves, their pets or their loved ones – you need more than the same genes to create the same person (or pet)!

Whilst pure scientific enquiry is unlikely to convince most of us that cloning is a good thing, the cult US group the Raelians are pursuing reproductive cloning for religious means. They believe that immortality can be achieved through cloning. Rael, himself, claims to be in contact with aliens called Elohim who achieve immortality by transferring their memories to clones. This is his great plan for the future of humanity.

It isn't clear whether Rael's memory-absorbing clones have to be genetically identical to him or not. But if so then he should take heed. To do this males need one of their own mother's eggs (females can use one of their own). This is because a small percentage of genes exist outside the nucleus of the cell in structures called mitochondria. Mitochondria use oxygen and food to create the energy that the cell needs to function and they carry their own genes. These genes can only be passed on through a female's eggs. Surviving animal clones have been found to inherit mitochondrial genes from the egg donor and nuclear genes from the 'clonee'. At the moment, it's hard to say how much difference this makes in reality, but it's bound to make some. Is your mother still alive, Mr Rael?

Replacement

Cloning could become a real option for those who have suffered the tragedy of losing a child or much loved relative. A cell from the deceased could provide the necessary genetic material, but the new person is not guaranteed to be exactly like the last.

Infertility

There are conditions that can leave couples unable to have children in the usual way. For such couples who don't want to adopt, the only alternative is cloning. Inserting the father-to-be's genes into one of his partner's eggs would produce a boy who is genetically related to both parents.

In this case, the mother would only be contributing a small amount of genetic material, found in the mitochondria. Mitochondrial genes make up only a small percentage of the total genetic compliment. The majority of genes are present in the cell's nucleus. For the couple who have used cloning to have a child of their own, the nuclear DNA is taken from the father (unless otherwise agreed). And so, the new child will inherit all his father's nuclear genes, which means he will be male and he is likely to resemble his father more than his mother.

Has it been done yet?

Clonaid, a company set up by the Raelians, announced the birth of the first human clone, Eve, on 26 December 2002. Their claims were met with general scepticism, especially when calls for verification were turned down by the parents of the clone. Then Clonaid announced their second successful clone. The birth of a second baby was announced on 3 January 2003. Purported to be the daughter of a Dutch lesbian couple, this baby too has been sequestered away from scientific scrutiny. With lack of independent verification, most now dismiss Clonaid's claims as a publicity stunt mounted by the Raelians.

Next, the turn of controversial Italian fertility doctor, Dr Severino Antinori. In April 2002 he claimed that one of his patients was pregnant with a cloned human embryo. The birth would have been due in January 2003, but there has been a deafening silence from Antinori's camp. Whether this represents a genuine attempt or another ill-placed publicity stunt is anyone's guess.

Dr Panayiotis Zavos is a fertility specialist in Kentucky, USA. He has a 10-cell cloned human embryo that he intends to plant into a willing womb. He even has a willing surrogate mother lined up. There is speculation about whether he will succeed or not because cloning is a notoriously hit and miss affair, presenting dangers to both mother and child. Interestingly, Dr Zavos seems to have gone rather quiet on the whole affair recently. We might assume no news is good news but if so, we must ask, good news for whom?

Together with Dr Panayiotis Zavos, Clonaid and Dr Antinori are the only people who have publicised their ambition to clone a human being. There may be other would-be cloners out there who remain more private about their aims.

So how feasible is it, that one or other renegade scientist will produce a clone? Animal cloning has shown that cloning is something of an art, but given enough attempts, it works. The techniques involved are not enormously difficult to master and the lab requirements are fairly low. With perseverance and a plentiful source human eggs someone, somewhere will be the first to clone a human – so far, Dr Zavos, appears to be the closest.

The dangers

The most serious worry surrounding current attempts to clone humans is the risk posed to embryo and mother.

Dr Zavos puts rather an optimistic spin on the available data, which has come from animal cloning experiments so far. Dr Zavos, by the way, has never successfully cloned an animal. Animal cloning all too often results in death and deformity. If human cloning is similar, and we are mammals and so there's no reason to think that it's not, the catalogue of potential disasters is truly scary.

For example, in the first attempt to clone a cat, 188 embryos were used. Of these, 82 survived to be implanted into receptive queens. But only one queen became pregnant. Her kitten ceased to develop after 44 days of gestation and was surgically removed. The second successful attempt to clone a cat began with 87 cloned embryos – only one survived to term. Every animal that has been cloned so far has a similar story behind it.

The embryo is not the only one at risk either. Cloned animals can have a propensity to be unusually large, possibly owing to the way in which the embryo was cultured in the first place. In a 1999 study of 12 cows that were pregnant with cloned embryos, a third died from complications, because the embryos and their placentas were so big. Would-be surrogate mothers – beware!

The few cloned animals that have survived have suffered from a surprisingly wide range of ailments and deformities – lung and heart problems, gross obesity, twisted limbs, flattened faces, blocked intestines and malfunctioning kidneys, to name a few. Some of these defects have been so severe that the animals have been destroyed. Not an option for a human clone, who would need life-long care.

The mavericks who insist on pursuing human cloning would rather have you focus on the success stories. Pig cloners apparently report far fewer birth defects, suggesting that some species are easier to clone than others. Perhaps humans will turn out to be one of the easy species? We are sure to know in time.

Dr Zavos dismisses worries about creating deformed babies with an assertion that all his embryos are screened to eliminate problems. The only trouble is that animal cloners say that this is a technical impossibility. It would entail looking at the viability of all 30,000 or so human genes and this is not feasible or possible to do in an embryo.

There is a very long way to go before human cloning can be considered as safe as, say, IVF.

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 – 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.

Severino Antinori biography
The independent fertility specialist who wants to clone whole human beings.

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

Roslin Institute, Edinburgh
www.roslin.ac.uk
Scientists here created the first ever clone of an adult mammal in 1997, Dolly the sheep. Almost all the research is published in the public domain. The 'public interest' pages offer summaries of published reports on mammalian cloning, the technology, its progress, ethics, plus discussion papers, press articles and an image library.

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.

Advanced Cell Technology
www.advancedcell.com
Website of the company claiming to have cloned the first human embryo.

New Scientist
www.newscientist.com/hottopics/cloning
Up-to-date articles and information on the ongoing cloning debate.

Pondering the Ethics and Science of Stem Cells
www.upenn.edu/gazette/0302/0302gaz1.html
Article on the ethical issues raised by stem cell research.

Bioethics.net
http://bioethics.net/cloning.php
Site by the Amercian Journal of Bioethics. News and features to suit all levels of knowledge.

Primer on ethics and human cloning
www.actionbioscience.org/biotech/mcgee.html
Article, on the Action Bioscience website, introducing the key issues in human cloning and ethics.

Genetics
www.channel4.com/genetics
Channel 4 site accompanying Sir John Sulston's Royal Institution Christmas Lectures. Includes the first 'artificial life experiment' designed for the general public.

Books

	A Clone of your Own? by Arlene Judith Klotzko (Oxford University Press, 2002) The writer-in-residence at the Science Museum takes a look at the science and ethics of cloning. Get this book
	The Cloning Sourcebook by Arlene Judith Klotzko (Oxford University Press, 2001) Aimed at increasing public understanding of cloning. Discusses animal cloning since the birth of Dolly the Sheep and the questions raised by cloning for society. Get this book
	The Impact of the Gene: From Mendel's peas to designer babies by Colin Tudge (Hill & Wang, 2001) In the mid-19th century a friar, Mendel, discovered the basic laws of heredity. Tudge examines the influence of Mendel's ideas, considering the evolution of genetics as a science, and addressing questions of ethics, the public's fears about cloning and eugenics. Get this book
	The Second Creation: The age of scientific control by the scientists who cloned Dolly by Ian Wilmut, Keith Campbell and Colin Tudge (Headline, 2001) Recounts not just how Dolly was created, but also the techniques for 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. Get this book
The Secrets of Life: Genes and genetics from evolution to engineering (Channel 4, 2001) £4.95 (inc P&P) Cheque or postal order payable to Channel 4 Television, send to: The Secrets of Life, PO Box 400, Wetherby, LS23 7LG or phone + 44 (0) 8701 246 444 Colour booklet, published to accompany the Channel 4 screening of the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures. Follows Sir John Sulston's journey from the beginnings of life to the latest developments in biotechnology and into the future. Discusses ethics of cloning.

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