LEXINGTON, September 16, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Panayiotis Zavos, the U.S. scientist who has attempted human cloning, is claiming that after experimenting with the creation of over 200 human-cow embryos he has created a fully human cloned embryo which is ready to be implanted into a surrogate mother.
Zavos, director of the Andrology Institute of America and associate director of the Kentucky Center for Reproductive Medicine and IVF, told the media Monday that the embryonic child is a girl. "We've created the first human embryo for reproductive purposes," the New Scientist quotes Zavos as saying. He hopes to implant the embryo this year.
Responding to critics who said it was immoral to create human-animal hybrids he dismissed the concern using the same tactic employed by many scientists who deny the right-to-life of unborn children - claiming they are not yet human. "We're not interested in creating monsters," he said. "We have no intention of taking them above the blastocyst stage of about 100 cells, and no intention of transferring any to term."