25 MARCH 2001 The New York Times
Scientists say they see what appear to be genetic problems almost every time they try to clone.

"For example, some mouse clones grow fat, sometimes enormously obese, even though they are given exactly the same amount of food as otherwise identical mice that are not the products of cloning. The fat mice seem fine until an age that would be the equivalent of 30 for a person, when their weight starts to soar," said Dr. Ryuzo Yanagimachi, a University of Hawaii researcher who first cloned these animals and has studied cloning's consequences in them.

"[Cloning Humans] would be morally indefensible," said Dr. Brigid Hogan, a professor of cell biology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville and an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute."

Dr. Rudolph Jaenisch, Whitehead Institute at Massachusetts Institute of Technology said, "It would be reckless and irresponsible," adding, "What do you do with humans who are born with half a kidney or no immune system?" And, he said, "What about the possibility of creating children who appear to be normal but whose genes for neurological development work improperly?"

25 March 2001 Western Europe The New York Times
Politicians in Germany have condemned the British Parliament for approving creation of human clones for experimental research into treatments for illnesses such as Parkinson's Disease. The German Government's position is, "To breed a human being only to kill it, disembowel it and impregnate something with it is basically cannibalism." Germany has banned such work, as has France. With high risks of creating a human clone with severe physical handicap - who is going to provide healthcare insurance or medical/legal cover?