Reigndomain WINS!
MIAMI (Reuters) - The head of a company that says it has produced the first human clone said on Monday that the mother and baby were home following the child's birth last week and genetic proof demanded by scientists and other skeptics should be available in a week.
Brigitte Boisselier, chief executive of Clonaid, which is linked to a group that believes mankind was created by extraterrestrials, declined to say whether the 31-year-old American mother and her child were in the United States or elsewhere.
Her claim to have cloned a human being drew skeptical reaction from experts in the field and she offered no proof, but told Reuters that genetic testing was scheduled for Tuesday.
"Hopefully it's going to be done tomorrow," she said. "At least the (genetic) sampling should be done tomorrow. We're working on it to make sure everything is going fine."
Boisselier announced on Friday in Florida that the company had produced the first human clone with the birth of a 7-pound baby girl called Eve.
The US Food and Drug Administration, which strongly opposes human cloning, said on Friday it was "taking steps to investigate" Clonaid's claim. It said the implantation of a cloned baby into a woman is illegal in the United States without FDA approval.
Clonaid was founded by the creator of the Raelian Movement, a group that claims 55,000 followers around the world and asserts that life on Earth was sparked by extraterrestrials who arrived 25,000 years ago and created humans through cloning.
Cattle, mice, sheep and other animals have been cloned with mixed success. Some have displayed defects later in life and scientists fear the same could happen with cloned humans.
The Raelians' founder, Claude Vorilhon, a French native known as Rael to his followers, told the Miami Herald on Sunday that Clonaid has a list of 2,000 people willing to pay $200,000 to have themselves or a loved one cloned.
CREATE ETERNAL LIFE
Vorilhon, who describes himself as a prophet, told the Herald that he had distanced himself from Clonaid since its founding but expected the company to make money and to ultimately create eternal life.
"It's a commercial company and her goal is to make as much money as possible, and I hope she will make as much money as possible," Vorilhon said of Boisselier.
He said scientists may develop technology within 25 years to create a full-grown human clone in hours and to "upload" the contents of a person's brain into the clone.
"It's a very beautiful step, but it's just a step," Vorilhon, 56, told the Herald, referring to the alleged cloning of Eve. "The ultimate goal is to give eternal life to humanity through cloning."
Vorilhon, who had his hair in a topknot and was dressed in what the Herald described as "white, space-age clothing from head to toe," claims to have been contacted on Dec. 13, 1973 outside Paris by aliens who told him that life on Earth had been created in laboratories by scientifically advanced people from space.
Boisselier told Reuters she would not reveal whether the mother and child were in the United States out of concerns for their security.
"They are at home. They came home today ... I don't want to disclose anything about their home," she said.
"We are very concerned about (their security)," she added. "We don't want the parents to be bothered at any time ... until they are ready."
Boisselier said she was aware that some experts in the field had questioned whether her company was capable of producing a clone and others had called the claim a hoax.
"It's funny because they are insulting me each time they say that," she said. "They won't say that to other scientists."
Boisselier said an independent expert selected by former ABC science correspondent Michael Guillen was to perform the genetic testing on the baby and results should take about a week, after which proof of Clonaid's claim would be made public. She said she did not know the expert selected.
"We don't expect Mr. Guillen to become available for comment until everyone knows indeed whether or not this is a genuine clone," said an employee of a New York publicist that represents Guillen.
Reign Congrats!, please give me the eNOM account you want the 7 names pushed to.
