TECHNOLOGY: U.N. to Draft Global Treaty Banning Human Cloning

By Thalif Deen Reprint | | Print |

Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 21 2001 (IPS) - The United Nations will begin negotiations next year on an international convention to ban the cloning of human beings.

The 189-member General Assembly is expected to adopt a resolution later this month establishing an ad hoc committee to draft the proposed convention. The committee will hold its first session Feb. 25 to Mar. 1 next year.

“The serious threat to human dignity posed by reproductive cloning was a sufficient reason in itself to strive for a legally binding instrument,” said Christian Much of Germany.

The draft resolution, jointly initiated by Germany and France, is being co-sponsored by more than 50 countries including Algeria, Bangladesh, Brazil, Britain, Canada, China, Italy, Ireland, Jordan, Russia, and Sweden.

In December 1998, the Paris-based U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) endorsed the Universal Declaration on the Human Genome and Human Rights.

“Practices which are contrary to human dignity, such as reproductive cloning of human beings, shall not be permitted,” article 11 of the document said.

The new convention would build on the consensus reached at UNESCO three years ago, Much said, adding that the initiative should garner support not only from member states but also from experts in genetics and bioethics.

Archbishop Renato Martino of the Holy See, one of the most vociferous opponents of human cloning, said that “the ethical and juridical consequences that will arise from this act (cloning) would contaminate and desecrate the future of mankind.”

Martino said cloning would trigger the generation of a child outside the act of personal love.

The concept of cloning was given a boost in 1997 when scientists in Scotland cloned a lamb, Dolly, from an adult sheep. Several governments then sought to pre-empt human cloning by passing legislation against it.

In 1998, the government of Israel adopted legislation “prohibiting genetic intervention on human beings for the purposes of human cloning.”

Last year, Japan enacted a domestic law regulating cloning technologies involving human beings and strictly prohibiting reproductive cloning. Canada has announced plans for domestic legislation against human cloning.

Last August, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 265 to 162 to ban cloning not only for reproduction but also for medical research.

After the vote, Representative Dave Weldon, a Republican and chief sponsor of the bill, said: “It clearly sends a message that there is a place we don’t want to go, and that is the manufacture of scientific embryos for research.”

Praising the House vote, U.S. President George W. Bush said: “The moral issues posed by human cloning are profound and have implications for today and for future generations. We must advance the promise and cause of science, but must do so in a way that honours and respects life.”

The bill, which makes cloning a crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison, is still to be tested in the U.S. Senate.

Lee Silver, professor of genetics at Princeton University, has predicted that human cloning would be a reality in 10 years because there is a demand among a small number of people for this technology to have babies.

“I think that, ethically, one should not use this technology until one is convinced that it is safe and efficient, shown with the use of animals. But I don’t think physicians around the world are going to wait for the confirmation that it’s safe and efficient in animals,” he said.

Asked if it would be feasible one day to produce a clone of Michael Jordan, the super-celebrity U.S. basketball player, Silver said: “I don’t think it is very realistic because the child that comes out of that cell, even though genetically identical to Michael Jordan, will in no way make his way to the National Basketball Association (NBA) championship.”

Michael Jordan is more than his genes, Silver argued, because his hard work and spirit allowed him to excel in his field.

“People forget that genes provide a framework and the potential but unless you work very, very hard you’re not going to get anywhere without it,” he said.