First Embryo of Human Cloning Will Be Created in This Year

The first embryo of human cloning is probably appearing within this year. AFP reported that U.S. fertility expert Dr. Panos Zavos revealed that he will ``set for the operation to implant a nucleus to an egg to make a cloned embryo by the end of this year or early next year at latest.``

Dr. Zavos, who revealed his human cloning plan early this year, is known as being on the process of human cloning with 10 participating infertile couples in two secret laboratories.

The first goal is to create an embryo by removing a nucleus from an egg of female and then implanting a nucleus extracted from the body of man in the egg. When the cloned embryo is implanted into the woman`s womb, she will be pregnant with the first cloned human being. If everything is going well, the first cloned human will be born in a year.

However, scientists are warning that the success rate of animal cloning is only 1-5 percent and, even if a cloned animal is born successfully, it usually suffers from deformities and diseases. Dr. Zavos is using the same technology that Dolly sheep was produced.

Italian embryologist Dr. Severino Antinori, a partner of Dr. Zavos, also hinted at an interview with BBC on Oct. 25th that the human cloning will be attempted at in this year, saying ``a woman will be pregnant with the first cloned human within this year.``

puset@donga.com