THE announcement of the first cloned human baby's birth - though far from being confirmed scientifically - has placed the spotlight on the Raelians, a group known for its obsession with aliens, cloning and free love.
Claiming some 55,000 followers in 84 countries, the Raelians believe that aliens created life on Earth when they arrived in spaceships 25,000 years ago, and they insist humans themselves were created by cloning.
The movement's founder, Rael - one-time French journalist Claude Vorilhon, who now lives in Quebec - claims to have seen long-haired, olive-skinned aliens land near a volcano in central France in December 1973. Rael has also long preached about the aliens who created life on Earth.
The self-described prophet - whose name means "Light of God" - advocates sexual freedom and claims cloning will enable humans to attain eternal life and establish a civilisation on another planet.
In an interview just hours before the announcement, Rael said the cloned baby girl was "a major step for humanity, but it is the first step in the direction of the ultimate goal: the creation of life - or, more specifically, a 100 per cent synthetic being - in a laboratory".
"Just as the Elohim \ created us, we will now be able to create human beings in our image on another planet," added Rael, a father of two.
Rael also claims to have been conceived on December 25th, 1945 by a French mother and an alien.
He said the Elohim, whose planet is overpopulated, "must choose between making babies and reproducing through cloning".
But in order for the Raelians to reach the same technological level as their creators, Rael said they must learn how to "clone in minutes, without requiring nine months in a mother's womb and 18 years to grow to near-adulthood".
Leading the Raelians' cloning effort - which has been faced with a firestorm of controversy and criticism over the dangers and moral implications of human cloning - is French chemist Brigitte Boisselier.
Born in France in 1956, Ms Boisselier's fascination with science blossomed at an early age, according to her official biography from Clonaid, the Las Vegas, Nevada-based human cloning firm she now runs.
Ms Boisselier moved to the United States in the 1980s and holds a master's degree in biochemistry and doctorates in chemistry from the University of Dijon in France and the University of Houston in Texas.
Ms Boisselier describes herself as a Raelian bishop, although the length of her involvement in the movement and her reasons for joining are unknown. - (AFP)