past events

July 9, 2004
Toward a Consensus on Cloning
U.S. Policy and the Global Debate

News that Canada has banned all human cloning has drawn fresh attention to the fact that here in the United States legislative efforts remain stalled. In fact, around the world many nations have passed laws to regulate this new technology. A broad consensus is slowly emerging in places as diverse as Australia, Germany, Canada, Norway, and France. These nations disagree on many related questions - such as stem-cell research on "spare" embryos from in vitro programs. But they have each acted to prohibit the use of cloning to make human embryos - for basic research, "therapeutic cloning," or to produce live-born children.

There has been a parallel debate at the United Nations, where the General Assembly has been considering proposals for either a ban on "reproductive" cloning (that is, cloning to produce children) or a ban on any use of somatic cell nuclear transfer - the technology that cloned Dolly the sheep back in 1996 - in human beings (that would therefore also prohibit cloning for research purposes). In the Fall of 2003, there were more than 60 states co-sponsoring a Costa Rican proposal for a comprehensive ban, and over 20 co-sponsors for a Belgian proposal focused on "reproductive" cloning only. Both Germany and France, who had offered the original "reproductive" cloning proposal, have indicated that while they may disagree on tactics at the UN, they are in principle in favor of a comprehensive global cloning ban.

The Institute on Biotechnology and the Human Future (IBHF) has arranged two expert events to update the policy community on these developments on Friday, July 9 in Washington, D.C. Participants include progressives and conservatives.

Staff briefing (lunch provided) on Capitol Hill (in the Capitol, room HC-6), noon

Symposium (light refreshments) at the National Press Club (Holeman Lounge), 4.30 p.m.

Participants to include:

- Lori B. Andrews, Distinguished Professor of Law, Chicago-Kent College of Law; Board Chair, Institute on Biotechnology and the Human Future
- Nigel M. de S. Cameron, President, Institute on Biotechnology and the Human Future
- Rosario Isasi, University of Montreal, Canada
- Henk Jochemsen, Director, Lindeboom Institute, Ede, Netherlands; Chair in Medical Ethics, Free University of Amsterdam
- Abby Lippman, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at McGill University, Canada
- David Prentice, Professor of Life Sciences, Indiana State University