A statement from an Italian scientist who recently claimed a female patient in his cloning project is carrying an eight-week-old embryo appalled UW-Madison professors.
Last week, Italian scientist Dr. Severino Antinori told the public he had successfully cloned the first human baby, which he reported was healthy and growing in one of his female patients. If his statement were true, it would mark the first time in genetic history a woman has carried a cloned embryo, bringing the possibility of the first-cloned human significantly closer. However, UW officials have expressed skepticism regarding the claim.
UW Law and Medial Ethics Professor Alta Charo was not shy to give her opinion of Antinori’s research.
“Severino Antinori is a nut!” she proclaimed.
According to Charo, Antinori has blatantly lied to the public several times about successfully cloning a human baby, each time proving to be a hoax.
“He has been claiming for years that he is about to make a significant breakthrough,” Charo said, “And each time all he has created is a media frenzy!”
When Severino announced his discovery last week, he was reported to have dodged reporters outside his offices in Rome, running quickly to his car. Neither Severino nor his partner, Dr. Panayiotis Zavos, a Kentucky-based fertility expert, have offered any information on how this experiment has been funded, where it was conducted, or who the woman carrying the cloned embryo is.
Charo referred to Antinori as a “lunatic” and said this is the fourth time he has created media madness.
“Each time it has turned out to be a hoax and there is no reason this time to believe any different,” she said.
Reproductive cloning is created when adult DNA is implanted into a female egg, resulting in a genetically identical twin of the original adult DNA.
Human reproductive cloning is banned in many countries, including the United States. From experience with animal cloning, scientists have encountered many genetic complications that could lead to terminated births or lifelong chronic illnesses. For example, it took 277 attempts to clone Dolly the Sheep in England.
Dave Cohen, spokesman for Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, also doubted Antinori’s claim.
“In all the animal cloning, incidents of birth defects and genetic flaws [are] so high, it is incredibly risky to experiment with this research on a child,” he said.
Cohen also said that he knows of no legitimate scientist who could go forward with this type of cloning, and that science is not yet capable of such a feat.
“There is no evidence of this cloning, and no one on this campus I can think of would ever engage in something like that,” Cohen said.
