JAPANESE GOVERNMENT URGED TO BAN CLONING

August 1, 1997

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- An advisory panel to Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto has called for Japan to ban the cloning of human beings, making new recommendations for life science studies over the next 10 years.

The proposals are expected to be officially accepted by the government in early August, government officials said.

Human cloning should not be conducted because it is against the panel's policies, the Council for Science and Technology panel said.

It said there would be no ethical problems with cloning livestock and rare animals or culturing human cells in such a way that it does not lead to creating a human body.

Life science studies should improve medical technologies, help with environmental protection, increase food production and create new industries, but researchers should pay the utmost respect to human dignity and life, the recommendations said.