Cloning Human Beings: Report and Recommendations of the National Bioethics Advisory Commission. Executive Summary; Volume 1, Main Report; and Volume 2, Commissioned Papers.

摘要

On February 24, 1997, in the wake of the announcement that scientists in Scotland apparently had succeeded in cloning an adult sheep, you asked the National Bioethics Advisory Commission to review the legal and ethical issues associated with the use of this technology and to report back within ninety days with recommendations. A week later you instructed the heads of executive departments and agencies that 'no federal funds shall be allocated for cloning of human beings' thereby ensuring that precipitous steps would not be taken while the Commission was studying the subject. In this report, we address a very specific aspect of cloning namely where genetic material would be transferred from the nucleus of a somatic cell of an existing human being to an enucleated human egg with the intention of creating a child. We do not revisit either the question of the cloning of humans by embryo-splitting or the issues surrounding embryo research. The latter issue has, of course, recently received careful attention by a National Institutes of Health panel, the Administration and Congress.