FDA: NO HUMAN CLONING WITHOUT AGENCY APPROVAL
Cloning graphic January 19, 1998
Web posted at: 9:18 p.m. EST (0218 GMT)
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Food and Drug Administration has a warning
for the Chicago physicist who wants to clone a human: The agency
will shut down anyone who tries without its permission.
Richard Seed's cloning plans have sparked a public outcry and a race
by Congress and more than a dozen states to ban cloning. With the
FDA filling what critics had called a regulatory vacuum, scientists
say lawmakers should take more time to ensure vaguely worded
anti-cloning bills don't also ban lifesaving medical research.
"It's been a public and media assumption that there is nothing on
the books that would even slow or stop Dr. Seed," said Carl Feldbaum
of the Biotechnology Industry Organization, which represents
biotechnologists involved in cloning research. FDA intervention
"creates at least some breathing space."
FDA investigators plan to make clear to Seed that federal
regulations require that he file for FDA approval to attempt cloning
-- permission highly unlikely.
"We're not only able to move, we're prepared to move," said Dr.
Michael Friedman, FDA's acting commissioner, noting the agency can
go to court to stop unauthorized cloning attempts.
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