News

NEW YORK, Jan 21 (LSN) – The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and a Jewish Rabbi jumped into the cloning debate yesterday on opposite sides. The FDA warned researchers that it would shut down anyone who attempts human cloning without its permission. Dr. Michael Friedman, FDA’s acting commissioner, noted that the administration has the power to and is prepared to go to court to stop unauthorized cloning attempts. Friedman reported that the first cloning success—the Scottish sheep Dolly—took 277 tries and added that the FDA was “more interested in the 277 failures than in the success.”  Meanwhile, the New York Times reported that Jewish Rabbi Mordechai Halprin, reported to the Israeli parliament’s Science Committee that unlike the formal Christian position, Judaism maintains that cloning might be allowed, under strict supervision.