RP savants buck human cloning

The local science community has strongly opposed human reproductive cloning or simply, human cloning.

Filipino scientists issued their stand on the controversial issue through the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST), the country’s highest body on science and technology matters.

In its policy statement, the NAST, headed by Dr. Perla Santos Ocampo, said it "leads the science community in supporting the ban on research on cloning human beings and reaffirms the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) stand of 1997 on non-support for any research on human reproductive cloning."

As defined, human cloning is assisted reproductive technology with the goal of producing a human being identical to another human being.

The NAST noted that scientific data on the reproductive cloning of animals demonstrate that the procedure is far from perfect.

"Many clones die; only a small percentage of clones – one to five percent for sheep and pigs – come to term. Abnormalities such as swollen placentas, enlarged hearts and defective kidneys have been observed in cloned mammalian fetuses," it stressed.

It said that coming up with implantable clone embryos (fertilized eggs) is also very difficult.

Cloning "Dolly the Sheep," the first mammal to be cloned from adult cell in 1997, was successful only after failures with 276 eggs. At the age of five, Dolly was diagnosed to be suffering from arthritis, indicating premature aging, and at six, she was put down due to a progressive lung disease.

A number of heated debates and open discussions have been held on different issues surrounding human cloning – ethical, moral, sociological, and theological, according to DOST’s Aristotle Carandang.

In 1997, the Vatican, through the Pontifical Academy for Life, called for a worldwide ban on human cloning. It cited anthropological and theological principles that human cloning opposed the dignity of human pro-creation and the conjugal union, and that it could result in the perversion of the fundamental relationships of humanity.

In the recently concluded NAST-organized roundtable discussion on human genome, Dr. Celia Torres-Villanueva of the Molecular Medicine and Biotechnology Laboratory of the National Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, UP Diliman, described the background of the Human Genome Project (HGP) and discussed its benefits and applications.

The discussion covered medical benefits, microbial genome research, DNA forensics, evolution and human migration, and risk assessment.

Torres-Villanueva reported that the most recent developments in the project since February 2001 included the following:

• January 2003 – human chromosome 14 sequence completed,

• December 2002 – draft of mouse genome sequence completed, and

• December 2001 – human chromosome genome sequence completed.

The goal is to finish human genome sequences 100 percent by 2003. (Genome is the totality of genetic information in an organism.)

Dr. Cora de Ungria of the DNA Analysis Laboratory, Natural Sciences Research Institute, presented "Forensic DNA Analysis in the Philippines" in the same gathering.

She said that its general applications include criminal investigations, disputed parentage, and identification of mass disaster victims.

(DNA stands for deoxyribonucleic acid, the molecule inside every individual’s cells that carries genetic information which, in turn, is passed on from one generation to another.)

Experts stress that the significance of DNA testing cannot be over-emphasized.

First, it accelerates investigation that is less dependent on eyewitnesses. It can also identify perpetrators, thus excluding the innocent from any prosecution. Moreover, it can improve the justice system through prompt resolution of cases, and provides knowledge on the gravity of the crime.

However, De Ungria pointed out that there are certain limitations in DNA testing. She said there remains a great need for it to be accepted and that there has to be a standard collection procedure.

"Since the samples are biological materials, storage facilities to preserve evidence need to be built," she said.