Human Cloning

Human reproductive cloning – producing a genetic copy of an existing person using somatic cell nuclear transfer – has never been done. Many scientists believe that it can never be safe. In opinion polls, , overwhelming majorities consistently reject its use. The U.S. has no federal law on human reproductive cloning, but several states, dozens of countries, and international agreements prohibit it.

Research cloning – producing cloned human embryos from which to derive embryonic stem cells (theoretically for customized medical treatment or research) – has been supplanted by techniques to derive pluripotent stem cells from somatic cells. Concerns raised by research cloning include its reliance on large numbers of women’s eggs (involving risks that are understudied and often downplayed), unrealistic claims about “personalized” therapies, and the need for effective oversight to prevent rogue use of cloned embryos for reproductive human cloning.

 

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For the first time, researchers have used the cloning technique that produced Dolly the sheep to create healthy monkeys, bringing science an important step closer to being able to do the same with humans.

Since Dolly’s birth in 1996, scientists...

Biopolitical Times

A Star is Born

On July 5, 1996, the most famous individual sheep in history was born: Dolly, the first mammal cloned from an adult cell.

Scientists had cloned frogs previously, but many considered using an adult mammalian cell to produce a new creature with the same genome to be impossible. There was no public notice on the day of Dolly’s birth; the announcement was made on February 24, 1997, by Ian Wilmut and colleagues at the Roslin Institute, Scotland...

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"Human Cloning" by newsonline is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Cloning is a form of asexual reproduction. A child produced...

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If sci-fi writers of the past somehow visited us today, they might wonder: where are all the clones?

As recently...

George Estreich discusses his most recent book Fables and Futures, inspired by his daughter Laura. Estreich goes beyond the personal to describe the ways that genetic technologies affect society and the stories the promoters of such technologies tell about them. The event took place on May 1, 2019 at the San Francisco Public Library.

Catherine Kudlick (Longmore Institute, SFSU) offers opening remarks about the film Gattaca, followed by a panel discussion with Kudlick, Marcy Darnovsky (CGS), Sara Acevedo (California Institute of Integral Studies), Lawrence Carter-Long (Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund), Dominika Bednarska (Performer/Activist), and moderator Karen Nakamura (UC Berkeley).

The event, co-sponsored by Center for Genetics and Society, Superfest International Disability Film Festival, San Francisco Public Library, and UC Berkeley's Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society, was held at San Francisco Main Public Library on March 8, 2018.

Troy Duster (UC Berkeley) offers opening remarks about the film Gattaca, followed by a panel discussion between Duster, Rosemarie Garland-Thomson (Emory), Osagie Obasogie (UC Berkeley, CGS), and moderator Karen Nakamura (UC Berkeley).

The event, co-sponsored by CGS and the Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society at UC Berkeley, took place at the David Brower Center in Berkeley on March 6, 2018.

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