Panel to Back Human Embryo Cloning
A federal ethics panel will urge Congress to pass legislation allowing creation of cloned human embryos for research, but banning their use to make cloned human babies.Under the commission's plan, privately funded scientists or doctors could make cloned human embryos for research purposes but could not implant them into women's wombs.
Members of the National Bioethics Advisory Commission said the recommendations were sensible, given the ethical complexities and the need for immediate action.
Critics, including anti-abortion activists, have pushed for a more complete ban on human cloning experiments, but researchers see cloning as a promising option for infertile couples and a possible source of medical advances.
The ethics group, consist of 18 experts in science, law and theology. The group has met five times since scientists in Scotland reported that they had cloned an adult sheep.
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