Scientific American has a feature on cloning, specifically the cloning of human embryo cells which was acheived in the Advanced Cell Technology (ACT) laboratories in Boston recently. Click here for the official press release from ACT.

For news articles on the ethics and legal implications of cloning human embryo cells, as well as various other information including interviews with the CEO of ACT, Michael D. West (PhD), see MSNBC and CNN. Dr West commented on the Today Show, "I consider myself Prolife, by the way," (sad but true) but urged people to understand the fundamental difference between cellular life and embryonic life, and to support the research and the development of therapeutic cloning technologies. He stressed that ACT is not involved in reproductive cloning but rather therapeutic cloning and spoke of the many potential benefits of cloning human tissue cells.

Various governments are now discussing regulatory law for cloning technology and even banning human cloning outright. President Bush and some of his hangers-on have reacted by condemning cloning of human beings and so has the prolife organisation Right To Life. Of course, ACT have clearly stated that the cloning of human beings is not their intention.