Human cloning
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the uk has become the first country to allow scientists to clone human embryos up to 14 days old for research purposes. The House of Lords, the British parliament's upper house, voted its approval to the new law by a majority of 120, despite protests from religious leaders.
The house also agreed to set up a committee to keep track of further developments. The uk's Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child (spuc), an educational and lobbying organisation, called cloned human embryo research destructive and criticised the new regulations. "Research on cloned embryos will involve the creation of human beings who will be plundered for their cells and killed in the process,' said spuc's spokesperson. The government, for the time being, has agreed not to issue any licences for research under the new regulations. The 1990 Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act had restricted British scientists to research on donated embryos up to two weeks old for studies on fertility, contraception, miscarriage and congenital disorders. In December 1998, two research watchdog groups, the Human Genetics Advisory Commission and the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, called for the law to be relaxed to allow the use of human embryos of early stage for research.
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