Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Second 'cloned baby' born
BBC News ^ | 01/04/03

Posted on 01/04/2003 10:31:01 AM PST by Andy from Beaverton

Saturday, 4 January, 2003, 17:07 GMT
Second 'cloned baby' born
Dr Brigitte Boisselier of Clonaid
Clonaid is linked to the Raelian sect
The group which claimed the first birth of a cloned human last week says a second such baby has now been born to a Dutch lesbian couple.

The baby girl and the mother are said to be well after the birth on Friday night.

Chief executive of the US-based Clonaid organisation Brigitte Boisselier told the French news agency the child weighed 2.7 kilograms (six pounds), but would not specify in which country the natural birth had taken place.

Sceptical international scientists are still awaiting DNA proof that the first baby - a girl named Eve - is indeed an exact genetic match of her 31-year-old American mother.

Claude Vorilhon - the spiritual leader of the Raelian Movement and founder of Clonaid
The Raelians believe humans were cloned by aliens

DNA tests that were to be carried out on that child were cancelled after the parents asked for a delay, fearing the process could reveal their identity or be used to remove the baby from their care.

Clonaid's claims have brought condemnation from religious leaders and led to renewed calls for human cloning to be banned.

Clonaid was set up by the Raelian religious sect, which believes aliens created mankind.

The head of the Raelians in the Netherlands, Bart Overvliet told Reuters news agency the Dutch woman involved in the latest birth was not a member of the sect and had got in contact with Clonaid by herself.

Clonaid has said that it is expecting a total of five cloned babies it has created.

'Abuse fears'

DNA samples due to be taken from the first baby and her mother on Tuesday were cancelled after a lawsuit was filed against the parents.

Dr Brigitte Boisselier, the scientist leading Clonaid's efforts
The parents want to remain anonymous, Ms Boisselier says
Ms Boisselier said the baby's parents may not let the test be carried out at all.

In the lawsuit filed in Miami by Florida lawyer Bernard Siegel, a court was asked to determine if the parents were fit guardians of the child.

It demands the appearance of the baby's parents in court on 22 January.

Ms Boisselier said the couple may try to remain anonymous and not subject the child to any testing.

"The parents have gone home and they just want some peace and to spend time with their child," she said.

Mr Siegel said he wanted the child to be made a ward of court because he believed that if she is indeed a clone she is being abused.

"I was concerned that, if this is true, this child is an abused child, that it could have some serious genetic, fatal problems and that the child was being exploited by Clonaid," he said.

"I perceived that this child, more than any other child in the world, needs legal protection under the United States courts."

In the cloning process, the nucleus of cell containing human DNA is transplanted into a woman's egg from which the nucleus has been removed.

Alien heritage

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has launched an investigation into the cloning claims, even though the cloning is said to have happened outside the US.

Clonaid was founded in the Bahamas in 1997 by the man who founded the Raelians - Rael.

He is reported to have said he views cloning as a step towards reaching eternal life.



TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: clone; raelians
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 101-119 next last

Drudge had the photo of a Raelin on his web site. I think this is Cato Kaelin's clone. Maybe someone's been cloning for a while?

1 posted on 01/04/2003 10:31:01 AM PST by Andy from Beaverton
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Andy from Beaverton
Dutch lesbians! (shaking my head)
2 posted on 01/04/2003 10:33:02 AM PST by ewing
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Andy from Beaverton
Second verse, same as the first.....
3 posted on 01/04/2003 10:33:53 AM PST by anniegetyourgun
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Andy from Beaverton
The group which claimed the first birth of a cloned human last week says a second such baby has now been born to a Dutch lesbian couple.

Oh let me guess they won't test the DNA on this baby either

4 posted on 01/04/2003 10:33:57 AM PST by Mo1
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Andy from Beaverton
Would someone tell this Rael guy in the white outfit that the Trekkie convention was last month. He must have missed it. But seriously, for a group that believes that the way to eternal life is through cloning, the sect has an awful lot of sex. Stories about this cult were most interesting in the paper last week.
5 posted on 01/04/2003 10:38:29 AM PST by Sir Clancelot
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Andy from Beaverton
I think that if they really want to be believed they need to submit proof. Then they can't be arrested and jailed.
6 posted on 01/04/2003 10:38:50 AM PST by The Real Deal
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Andy from Beaverton
Another Raelian spokeman

One Man's Justice

7 posted on 01/04/2003 10:40:00 AM PST by dennisw
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: anniegetyourgun
Second verse, same as the first.....

'Enery, 'Enery... 'Enery the Eight I am, I am, 'Enery the Eighth I am.

8 posted on 01/04/2003 10:41:20 AM PST by Spyder
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: ewing; Paul Atreides
The Raelians believe humans were cloned by aliens

Since they are claiming to have cloned humans, these Raelians are obviously aliens (in case you couldn't tell by the photos). Exile them all to France where they can live on a Clonehead ranch.

Paul: perhaps an update to "The invasion is cancelled" graphic is in order. The aliens should be changed to Raelians, and the text should read that the cloning is cancelled.

9 posted on 01/04/2003 10:43:27 AM PST by Thinkin' Gal
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Andy from Beaverton
I have a cloned baby too. Yeah, that's right. Two of them. And they are for sale. They look just like....er, cats. Yeah, that's it.
10 posted on 01/04/2003 10:43:47 AM PST by AppyPappy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Mo1
They sure seem to come up with plenty excuses not to have DNA testing done. What a bunch of frauds and liars.
11 posted on 01/04/2003 10:43:59 AM PST by FITZ
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: The Real Deal
They could lose custody of the child, since there is no real legal provision for the existence of clones in child custody laws. Is the "parent" the DNA donor, or the parents of the DNA donor?
12 posted on 01/04/2003 10:44:46 AM PST by mvpel
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Spyder

13 posted on 01/04/2003 10:45:46 AM PST by ALS
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: ALS
Perfect - they're from France ;-).
14 posted on 01/04/2003 10:50:07 AM PST by Spyder
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

They really oughta be in the real estate biz. If they can sell this, they can sell anything.....

It was too hard to make Dolly for me to believe that we have a dozen successful clone pregnancies suddenly coming to term. Yes, we have dozens of cows now, but the process has hardly become so commonplace that I expect its application to humans to be this successful.

If they can clone successfully the process need have, in my opinion, not many more ethical implications than any natural identical twinning has. Deliberately making a baby likely to have abnormalities is morally wrong, however. (Otherwise, wow, I could write up some wonderful research proposals--how about cloning Charlie Manson a few dozen times, and place his clones in different environments? And how about Stephen Hawking? That'd set the nature-vs-nurture discussion forward a few decades.)

I am sure God takes care of the soul department--that doesn't concern me. Every baby gets one of those, regardless of whether it gets its start in the backseat or Pyrex. What concerns me is the manufacture of handicapped children, and the inevitable deliberate destruction of viable human life. Progeria, an obvious risk here, may be one of the most painful diseases a kid can have. I have an autistic kid. It really grieves me that anyone can take unnecessary risks with the healthy development of their children. Shaken baby syndrome, fetal alcohol syndrome, all avoidable; perhaps cloning will join these inflicted disabilities.

(Destruction of non-viable embryonic tissue--such as those that have long been cultured for stem cells and cannot be implanted to develop into a person or persons, does not especially concern me. It is the viable embryo that is human and deserves the protection of responsible guardians!)

There's my moral compass on the matter.
15 posted on 01/04/2003 10:58:26 AM PST by ChemistCat
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

Comment #16 Removed by Moderator

To: dennisw
Is it just me or does that guy look like a clone of Richard Gere?
17 posted on 01/04/2003 11:22:15 AM PST by sweetliberty
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Sir Clancelot
>But seriously, for a group that believes that the way to eternal life is through cloning, the sect has an awful lot of sex.

Science and sex fit.
They're both head games that take work
to get good results.

Have you ever read
any of Robert Heinlein's
science fiction? Woof!

Ever been to a
science fiction convention
after midnight? Woof!

18 posted on 01/04/2003 11:31:26 AM PST by theFIRMbss
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: dennisw


Fabio!!!
19 posted on 01/04/2003 11:31:29 AM PST by admiralsn
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Andy from Beaverton
Let's all start guessing the reason that this baby will not have it's DNA tested.

I'll go first:
"We're Dutch and we're lesbians and we don't want any more attention focused on us at this time."
20 posted on 01/04/2003 11:33:08 AM PST by admiralsn
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 101-119 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson