SCIENTISTS IN THE NORTHWEST AMERICAN STATE OF OREGON 
         ANNOUNCED EARLIER THIS WEEK (3/2) THE SUCCESSFUL CLONING
         OF RHESUS MONKEYS.  AS VOA'S ROSANNE SKIRBLE REPORTS, 
         THE EXPERIMENT TAKES REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGY ANOTHER 
         STEP CLOSER TO HUMANS.   

         UNLIKE THE RECENTLY ANNOUNCED SHEEP EXPERIMENT THAT 
         PRODUCED A GENETICALLY IDENTICAL ANIMAL FROM THE CELLS 
         OF AN ADULT, THE TWO MONKEYS BORN IN AUGUST WERE CLONED 
         FROM EMBRYOS.  THE CLONED SIBLINGS ARE NOT GENETICALLY 
         IDENTICAL TO ANY ADULT MONKEY.  IN THE PROCEDURE EMBRYOS
         WERE INSERTED INTO EGG CELLS -- WHERE THE D-N-A HAD BEEN
         REMOVED -- THEN IMPLANTED INTO SURROGATE MOTHERS THROUGH
         IN VITRO FERTILIZATION.    

         DONALD WOLF OF THE OREGON REGIONAL PRIMATE RESEARCH 
         CENTER IN BEAVERTON DIRECTED THE RESEARCH.  HE SAYS HIS 
         PURPOSE IS TO MAKE EXPERIMENTATION MORE HUMANE, 
         RELIABLE, AND ECONOMICAL.

         "OUR INTEREST IS IN ESTABLISHING GENETICALLY IDENTICAL 
         ANIMALS THAT CAN BE INSERTED OR USED IN BIOMEDICAL 
         RESEARCH.   IF THE GENETIC IDENTITY IS ESTABLISHED IN 
         THESE ANIMALS WE CAN REDUCE THE NUMBERS OF ANIMALS THAT 
         ARE REQUIRED IN RESEARCH PROTOCOLS.  IT'S AN EFFORT TO 
         ALLOW US TO DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN THE EFFECTS OF THE 
         ENVIRONMENT, FOR INSTANCE, OR NURTURING VS THE EFFECTS 
         THAT HAVE A GENETIC BASIS TO THEM."

         THE NUCLEAR TRANSFER TECHNIQUE, WHICH DR. WOLF DESCRIBED
         IS UNDER FIRE BECAUSE IT BRINGS SCIENTISTS A STEP CLOSER
         TO CLONING HUMAN BEINGS.   HOWEVER, DONALD WOLF SAYS HE 
         HAS NO INTEREST IN CLONING AN ADULT MONKEY, LET ALONE A 
         HUMAN BEING.  

         "BUT I THINK WHAT THIS REALLY DOES, OR I HOPE THAT IT 
         DOES IS THAT IT INVITES US TO OPEN A DIALOGUE ABOUT THE 
         ETHICAL ASPECTS OF THE PROSPECTS OF CLONING IN HUMAN 
         BEINGS.  I THINK THAT IT IS TOTALLY INAPPROPRIATE THAT 
         WE WOULD CONSIDER CLONING HUMANS."

         THAT POSITION IS SHARED BY ALICE LOFFLER, ACTING 
         DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER FOR BIOTECHNOLOGY AT NORTHWESTERN
         UNIVERSITY IN CHICAGO.  THE CENTER HAS CALLED FOR 
         LEGISLATION TO PROHIBIT THE CLONING OF HUMAN BEINGS.  

         "THE TECHNOLOGY IS STILL INEFFICIENT.  I CAN NOT IMAGINE
         HOW YOU WOULD GO FROM THIS PRIMITIVE TECHNIQUE TO AN 
         EFFICIENT TECHNIQUE TO EXPERIMENT WITH HUMANS.  THERE IS
         NO ETHICAL REASON FOR DOING IT, AND THERE IS NO CLINICAL
         REASON FOR DOING IT, AND I CAN'T IMAGINE HOW ANYBODY 
         WOULD BE ABLE TO DO IT."

         DONALD WOLF, WHO IS ALSO THE DIRECTOR OF THE HUMAN IN 
         VITRO FERTILIZATION LABORATORY AT OREGON HEALTH SCIENCES
         UNIVERSITY IS EXCITED ABOUT THE POTENTIAL OF THE CLONING
         EXPERIMENTS.  HE SAYS ASPECTS OF THE TECHNIQUE MAY HELP 
         INFERTILE WOMEN AND ASSIST IN STUDIES ON AIDS, 
         ALCOHOLISM, DEPRESSION AND MANY OTHER DISEASES.   
         MEANWHILE THE CLONED MONEYS ARE HAPPY, HEALTHY AND 
         INDISTINGUISABLE FROM OTHER MONKEYS THEIR AGE.