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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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