Raelian clone to be unveiled?
Associated Press
New York — A chemist and Raelian bishop who said last week that her company would soon produce the world's first human clone — a baby girl genetically identical to her 30-year-old mother — has promised an announcement Friday.
A spokeswoman for Brigitte Boisselier and the company, Clonaid, declined to answer directly when asked if they will claim to have produced the world's first cloned baby.
But the spokeswoman, Nadine Gary, said Thursday that Ms. Boisselier intends to have video equipment at a news briefing in Florida and would have an "independent inspector" take DNA evidence from baby and mother. If the baby was a clone of the mother, the two would be genetically identical.
Many scientists are skeptical about Clonaid's ability to accomplish the feat. The company was founded in the Bahamas in 1997 by Claude Vorilhon, a former French journalist and leader of the Raelians group. Mr. Vorilhon and his followers claim aliens visiting him in the 1970s revealed they had created all life on Earth through genetic engineering.
Cloning produces a new individual using only one person's DNA. Scientists remove the genetic material from an unfertilized egg, then introduce new DNA from a cell of the animal to be cloned. Under the proper conditions, the egg begins dividing into new cells according to the instructions in the introduced DNA.
Ms. Boisselier, who claims two chemistry degrees and previously was marketing director for a chemical company in France, identifies herself as a Raelian bishop.
Ms. Boisselier would not say where Clonaid has been carrying out its experiments.
Chloe the Clone?
Mimea?
Xeroxa?
Other suggestions?
Big Cloning News Promised Friday
Scientists Remain Skeptical Of Claims
NEW YORK -- Another announcement is expected Friday from a company that recently said it was producing the world's first human clone.The company, Clonaid, won't say whether it will claim at the Florida briefing that a baby girl is genetically identical to her 30-year-old mother.
But a company spokeswoman says the company will have what it calls an independent inspector take DNA evidence from the baby and mother.
Skepticism about the project is based not only on the scientific challenges, but on the fact the company has connections with a group called the Raelians. Its founder, Claude Vorilhon, claims aliens visiting him in the 1970s revealed they'd created all life on Earth through genetic engineering.
Cloning is not specifically outlawed in the United States, but the Food and Drug Administration contends it must approve any human experiments.
Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
I think that's spelled Conehead.