Posted on 01/04/2003 10:31:01 AM PST by Andy from Beaverton
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.
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.
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.
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?
Oh let me guess they won't test the DNA on this baby either
'Enery, 'Enery... 'Enery the Eight I am, I am, 'Enery the Eighth I am.
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.
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!
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