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CNN Live At Daybreak

International Wrap: Eye on the World

Aired February 12, 2004 - 05:43   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Out of South Korea this morning, news of the world's first mature human embryo cloning.
Our senior international editor David Clinch is here to talk about this scientific development.

So this is the...

DAVID CLINCH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Yes.

COSTELLO: ... real deal?

CLINCH: Well it is. It's actually a huge medical story. I am not, obviously, the medical expert. Luckily at CNN we have medical experts, Dr. Gupta and others, who will be with us during the day today to explain this in detail. But as we understand it, the first ever cloning of human embryos from a cell from one individual, a mother, basically no father involved. So that, in itself, is significant.

Of perhaps great significance from these cloned embryos, and they made many of these cloned embryos, at least one they succeeded in extracting from that embryonic stem cells. And this is the exciting thing on the research side of this story, these stem cells, potentially at the point at which they are grabbed from the embryo, can turn themselves into any part of the body. Can turn themselves into muscle, bone, anything else. And the theory long term is that this will be of massive medical help. That's the research side of the story.

The other side of the story, of course, is what it means about cloning human beings. What we hear from the South Korean scientists who were involved in this is that while they were only interested in the research side, they acknowledged very clearly that these embryos developed quite well in petri dishes in laboratories beyond the point at which they would be if they were real embryos put into a woman's womb. So that, of course, grates the other side of this story which is the controversy over whether this kind of research should be allowed because of what it leads to and the possibility of cloning human beings.

COSTELLO: So these cloned embryos could turn in to human beings, but are there any regulations in South Korea to prevent that?

CLINCH: There are -- there are regulations but the regulations are distinct, they allow the research, they do not allow the human cloning. Here in the United States, the situation is kind of in limbo at the moment because the legislation that is being called for was a ban on all research. It's not got through the Congress because some in Congress say it should be just like in South Korea, research should be allowed, the human cloning should not. So we'll be following that...

COSTELLO: Interesting.

CLINCH: ... throughout the day today.

COSTELLO: What ever happened to the Raelians with the cloned babies? Do you remember the Raelians?

CLINCH: Well, I don't know about the Raelians, but there are other groups out there, even today. In Australia, for instance, their -- the health ministry there is saying that a claim that a baby has been cloned in Australia by one of these groups is not believable. And we continue to hear of those claims. They have never been proven. So you know that...

COSTELLO: Definitely. Yes, we've never heard from the Raelians again...

CLINCH: Right.

COSTELLO: ... or seen one of their babies.

CLINCH: But this, I mean I can not over estimate how important this is, the idea that these embryos can be not only cloned, the stem cells can be taken out but the embryos develop very well in the petri dishes means that it's possible. According to these scientists themselves, they acknowledge human cloning is now possible in this form.

COSTELLO: Interesting. And as you said, we're going to have much more on this.

Any more for us?

CLINCH: Well we're keeping an eye on the story in Haiti, which is sort of in the background at the moment, a sort of a mini, small- scale civil war going on there. The United States, we hear, putting significant pressure on President Aristide there to change the way Haiti is governed. Now that might be interpreted that he would have to go away, but nobody is using regime change right now.

But we do hear on the other side that the U.S. is preparing for the worst. That if this civil war does get worse, many thousands of Haitians may decide to flee. We hear, unconfirmed at this point, but hear that the U.S. is preparing space at Guantanamo Bay in case we do see a refugee crisis like that.

COSTELLO: And going on for such a long time there in Haiti.

CLINCH: Yes.

COSTELLO: All right. David, thank you very much. CLINCH: OK.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired February 12, 2004 - 05:43   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Out of South Korea this morning, news of the world's first mature human embryo cloning.
Our senior international editor David Clinch is here to talk about this scientific development.

So this is the...

DAVID CLINCH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Yes.

COSTELLO: ... real deal?

CLINCH: Well it is. It's actually a huge medical story. I am not, obviously, the medical expert. Luckily at CNN we have medical experts, Dr. Gupta and others, who will be with us during the day today to explain this in detail. But as we understand it, the first ever cloning of human embryos from a cell from one individual, a mother, basically no father involved. So that, in itself, is significant.

Of perhaps great significance from these cloned embryos, and they made many of these cloned embryos, at least one they succeeded in extracting from that embryonic stem cells. And this is the exciting thing on the research side of this story, these stem cells, potentially at the point at which they are grabbed from the embryo, can turn themselves into any part of the body. Can turn themselves into muscle, bone, anything else. And the theory long term is that this will be of massive medical help. That's the research side of the story.

The other side of the story, of course, is what it means about cloning human beings. What we hear from the South Korean scientists who were involved in this is that while they were only interested in the research side, they acknowledged very clearly that these embryos developed quite well in petri dishes in laboratories beyond the point at which they would be if they were real embryos put into a woman's womb. So that, of course, grates the other side of this story which is the controversy over whether this kind of research should be allowed because of what it leads to and the possibility of cloning human beings.

COSTELLO: So these cloned embryos could turn in to human beings, but are there any regulations in South Korea to prevent that?

CLINCH: There are -- there are regulations but the regulations are distinct, they allow the research, they do not allow the human cloning. Here in the United States, the situation is kind of in limbo at the moment because the legislation that is being called for was a ban on all research. It's not got through the Congress because some in Congress say it should be just like in South Korea, research should be allowed, the human cloning should not. So we'll be following that...

COSTELLO: Interesting.

CLINCH: ... throughout the day today.

COSTELLO: What ever happened to the Raelians with the cloned babies? Do you remember the Raelians?

CLINCH: Well, I don't know about the Raelians, but there are other groups out there, even today. In Australia, for instance, their -- the health ministry there is saying that a claim that a baby has been cloned in Australia by one of these groups is not believable. And we continue to hear of those claims. They have never been proven. So you know that...

COSTELLO: Definitely. Yes, we've never heard from the Raelians again...

CLINCH: Right.

COSTELLO: ... or seen one of their babies.

CLINCH: But this, I mean I can not over estimate how important this is, the idea that these embryos can be not only cloned, the stem cells can be taken out but the embryos develop very well in the petri dishes means that it's possible. According to these scientists themselves, they acknowledge human cloning is now possible in this form.

COSTELLO: Interesting. And as you said, we're going to have much more on this.

Any more for us?

CLINCH: Well we're keeping an eye on the story in Haiti, which is sort of in the background at the moment, a sort of a mini, small- scale civil war going on there. The United States, we hear, putting significant pressure on President Aristide there to change the way Haiti is governed. Now that might be interpreted that he would have to go away, but nobody is using regime change right now.

But we do hear on the other side that the U.S. is preparing for the worst. That if this civil war does get worse, many thousands of Haitians may decide to flee. We hear, unconfirmed at this point, but hear that the U.S. is preparing space at Guantanamo Bay in case we do see a refugee crisis like that.

COSTELLO: And going on for such a long time there in Haiti.

CLINCH: Yes.

COSTELLO: All right. David, thank you very much. CLINCH: OK.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com