Human Cloning
Some people might be surprised to learn that human clones already exist. These clones aren't created in a lab, they occur naturally every day all over the world.
In case you haven't guessed, twins are the naturally occurring human clones. They're genetically different from their parents, but they are genetically identical to each other.
Manufactured clones
Has anyone been successful in creating human clones? One group, who received some media attention, planned to clone a human by 2003. This group was led by Panayiotis Zavos, a former University of Kentucky Professor, and Severino Antinori, an Italian researcher.
Criminally irresponsible?
Not everyone thinks cloning humans is a good idea. A senior staff member at the Roslin Institute, who were responsible for creating Dolly, has said that human cloning projects are criminally irresponsible. Part of the reason for this is the low success rate in cloning. With Dolly there were 276 other attempts at creating a clone before they were successful.
Some governments have already moved to ban research into human cloning. In the US there is a ban on federal funding for human cloning research, with discussion on a full ban on human cloning in the US being undertaken. In Australia, a ban on human cloning was made by the federal government in Sections 192b, c and d of The Gene Technology Act (2000), with some states passing their own laws on human cloning.