JAPANESE GOVERNMENT BANS HUMAN CLONING

July 29, 1998

TOKYO (Yomiuri Shimbun) -- The Science Council of the Education Ministry finalized guidelines Tuesday banning the use of cloning technology on humans. The guidelines also propose the establishment of a committee to deal with cases that appear to violate the new rules.

They are the first official government regulations on cloning techniques, which produce living creatures possessing identical genes.

The guidelines, which are aimed at universities and government institutes, cite ethics problems and safety as the reasons for the ban.

Institutions will be prohibited from transplanting a cell nucleus into an unfertilized human egg -- an operation that is essential to the cloning process. The council, however, has not set any penalties and acknowledges the freedom of researchers to study.

The application of cloning techniques to cattle is not prohibited under the guidelines. The council has also proposed that the guidelines be reviewed with respect to changes in society. The review process may take up to three years.

The arbitrating committee, which will try to deal with problematic cases in advance, will be composed of specialists in biology and bioethics. The guidelines also suggest the establishment of another committee to address issues such as serious violations and amendment of the guidelines.

A subcommittee of the Council for Science and Technology had studied whether to introduce certain regulations prohibiting institutions, including those in the private sector, from applying cloning technology to humans.

In mid-June, it presented an interim report, proposing that researchers should not be allowed to implant into a woman's body an embryo that had been cloned using human cells.

However, the guidelines presented by the Science Council go a step further in banning preliminary operations.

In Japan, cloning technology has been developed and applied to various animals, including a male calf that died last Saturday. The calf was created by cloning somatic cells from a cow fetus and was the first of its kind in the country.