A religious sect associated with the company claiming to have produced the first human clone caused a stir in Japan on Monday with an announcement that the next clone will be Japanese and is due to be born at any time.
A representative for the Japan Raelian Movement said the baby is a clone of a 2-year-old boy who died in an accident 18 months ago. The boy, whose parents are Japanese, is expected to be born in an undisclosed location outside Japan, as early as Monday, the representative said on condition of anonymity.
She refused to confirm Japanese media reports saying the boy’s parents paid Clonaid $200 000 to make the DNA copy of their son last year. It wasn’t clear if they were members of the Raelian group.
Clonaid was founded by the Raelian religious sect that believes space aliens created life on Earth with clones. Japan accounts for 6 000 of the group’s 55 000 members worldwide — more than any other country. The company doesn’t disclose the location of its headquarters.
The company claims to have already successfully cloned an American woman last month, but experts have demanded independent DNA testing to show whether the baby really is a clone of her mother.
After initially agreeing to such tests, Clonaid later said the baby’s parents will not allow any DNA testing unless they receive guarantees the child will not be taken from them. – Sapa-AP