Dr Severino Antinori, the controversial Italian gynaecologist, may be on the verge of creating the world's first cloned human being.
Dr Antinori was reported to have told an international conference in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday that a woman taking part in his cloning programme was now eight weeks pregnant, though there was no independent confirmation of this. Reports of the pregnancy, filed last night by Italian and Arabic news agencies, immediately provoked a furious response by Dr Antinori's opponents, including senior figures in Italy's centre-right government.
"This savage experiment is truly to be deplored and strongly condemned," said Mr Cesare Cursi, a junior minister at the department of health, stating that his comments were fully supported by Mr Gianfranco Fini, Deputy Prime Minister.
Dr Antinori's clinic in Rome last night refused to give any further information on the reports.
The first report of the pregnancy came in an article in the Gulf News newspaper about an international conference on cloning in Abu Dhabi. It said Dr Antinori had said plans outlined last year to create the world's first cloned human were now within sight of success.
According to Gulf News, Dr Antinori told his audience: "Our project is at a very advanced stage. One woman among the thousands of infertile couples in the programme is eight weeks pregnant."
Gulf News reported the professor as saying there were now some 5,000 women in his cloning programme but refused to name the country from which the pregnant woman had come. - (Financial Times)