American fertility expert claims his team will have first proof of cloned humans
By Sarah-Kate Templeton, Health Editor
The race to clone the first human being intensifies this weekend as American fertility expert Dr Panos Zavos claims his team is set to clone babies for seven infertile couples in the first two weeks of the new year.
Zavos dismisses claims by rival cloning champion Professor Severino Antinori of Rome that a cloned baby will be born in January, pointing out that there is no evidence of such a feat. And he insists that his group will extract DNA samples from the cloned embryos at an early stage to prove to the world that they have been created from just one person.
The Scottish Sunday has also learned that a well-known animal cloning expert and professor at a European university is working with Zavos. The professor, who does not want to be identified at this stage, has met with Zavos in Cyprus to plan the cloning programme. He is also understood to have travelled with Zavos to the secret locations where cloning will take place. The professor will carry out the same crucial cloning procedure used to create Dolly the sheep. The technique, called nuclear transfer, involves taking the nucleus from the cell of the person being cloned and fusing it with an empty donated human egg, resulting in a cloned embryo.
Zavos, who runs a fertility clinic in Lexington, Kentucky, claims to have already taken cells from the seven people who are to be cloned. These cells, he says, are presently being stored in liquid nitrogen at the secret locations where the cloning is to take place, one of which is believed to be in the Middle East -- as human cloning is currently not allowed in either the UK or the US and these are untested legal waters, secrecy is considered essential.
The eggs, which will have their own genetic material removed, will be donated by women living near the locations in developing countries. The eggs used will be from young women to ensure the greatest chance of success.
For each of the seven individuals, some men and some women, Zavos will attempt nuclear transfer in 40 eggs and hopes for success with 10 embryos in each case. He will then study the quality of the embryos and implant the strongest.
Zavos claims written plans are in place to carry out DNA tests on the embryos to prove that they are actually clones. 'We are pretty close. The cells have been harvested from the donors and have been frozen in liquid nitrogen. These cells have been taken from seven patients. They will be thawed at the time. It is just a matter of execution.'We will probably do this in the first two weeks of 2003.'We would extract DNA from the early embryo. I think the world deserves that. That is part of our written plan and we will not deviate from that. We will not announce to the world that we have a cloned embryo unless we can prove it.'
Bill, a secondary school teacher from northeast America whose wife, Kathy, is to be cloned by Zavos because the couple cannot have children of their own, believes the procedure has a 50% chance of success.
'We are excited. We think there is a 50/50 chance of it working this time and it is going to happen eventually. At the moment we have got to sit tight and wait anxiously. We are just waiting and hoping that it works.'
Last week Antinori claimed his group would succeed in producing a cloned baby in January. But he gave no information about the mother, the location, or who else is involved.
Last night Zavos cast doubt over his claims. He said: 'We are very concerned and extremely sceptical of Antinori's claims.' Where is the proof? In the absence of any evidence, it's impossible to judge whether it is going to happen or not. It is easy for someone like Antinori to announce a pregnancy and furthermore to deliver a pregnancy, but it is rather difficult to prove that the baby is indeed cloned. I am hoping Antinori knows and understands the seriousness of what he is announcing. He needs to offer independent confirmation of these events and developments.'
We are totally committed to carrying on with our effort and also simultaneously tell the world what we have done and provide the proof.'
However, Dr. Harry Griffin, assistant director at the Roslin Institute near Edinburgh, where Dolly the sheep was cloned, questioned whether Zavos had given any more information than Antinori.
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