UK: Britain's leading academic institution is backing an international campaign to stop the US securing an international ban on all forms of human cloning.
The Royal Society has joined 67 other national academies urging the UN to ban the cloning of babies while making no ruling on using the technology for medical research.
A ban could be introduced at the UN's general session in October. President George Bush's administration is pushing for an all-encompassing ban to cover therapeutic as well as reproductive cloning. Although member-nations would not be compelled to sign up to it, scientists fear such a treaty would place a major obstacle in the way of vital stem cell research.
They believe it could also backfire by thwarting serious efforts to block maverick cloning scientists. Last year the UN voted by a slim margin to postpone the decision despite powerful lobbying by the US. An original attempt to agree on a reproductive ban was scuppered by Washington, which ruled out any treaty unless therapeutic cloning was banned as well. Although it stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the US on other international issues, Britain is strongly opposed to a total cloning ban.
Earlier this month scientists from the University of Newcastle were granted a licence to clone human embryos for medical research. Stem cells taken from early-stage embryos can potentially be used to make replacement tissue for any part of the body. Scientists believe they could provide new treatments for a host of incurable diseases including diabetes, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.
The UN General Assembly is to begin discussions in October on the introduction of a new convention on human cloning.
Professor Richard Gardner, chairman of the Royal Society's working group on stem cell research and cloning, said: "It is clear that if the convention bans all forms of human cloning, the UK, and other countries which currently permit carefully regulated therapeutic cloning, will not sign up to it."