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American Morning

Cloned Baby?

Aired December 27, 2002 - 07:17   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.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: An announcement is expected this morning from a company that has promised to produce the first human clone. The company was founded by a religious group called the Raelians. It has claimed previously that it is willing and able to clone a human. Such a revelation would touch off a firestorm of debate in the scientific, medical and religious communities.
We're going to get some insight on cloning and the group that is planning the announcement from our Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

One of the most controversial things in medicine, people have been talking about cloning for quite some time now. And one of the more fringe groups, the Raelians, we've been hearing a lot about them as well, have been talking about cloning a human being, actually allowing a clump of cells actually to grow into a human being.

Most scientists, most citizens, think this is a bad idea, but they certainly have been talking about it and maybe even planning it and maybe even announcing it today at 9:00.

Here's -- Brigitte Boisselier is the sort of science director of an organization called Clonaid, which is an offshoot of the Raelians. And this is what she had to say about a year ago about cloning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGITTE BOISSELIER, CLONAID: I've been public from the beginning to prepare for the welcoming of that first baby clone. And what I'm saying and I've been saying all along is that I want to do that in a very (UNINTELLIGIBLE) manner. I will not be rushed into anything, and especially not into any competition. What I want to do is make sure that this baby is perfectly healthy and demonstrate to the world that we are creating life, we are not killing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUPTA: But they have been so controversial, no question. Now, a little bit about the Raelians I think as well is important.

They actually -- the head of this organization, a gentleman by the name of Rael (ph) -- that's where they get the name Raelians -- actually believes that he's a descendant of aliens, and in fact, the entire population of the world was descended by aliens, because the aliens were cloned. They cloned themselves. And that's how the earth's population was formed. They have been very controversial. In fact, we got a chance to ask Ms. Boisselier a little bit about that as well, and this is what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOISSELIER: Now, I'm Raelian, and my religion is science. I believe we have been created by science, but mainly I believe that scientists were good (ph). And I believe that the level of consciousness that we have in our humanity (ph) is way below of the level of science, and I'd like to raise that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUPTA: And so, what is going to happen with all of this at 9:00 is really anybody's guess. We're surely going to be prepared though.

KAGAN: You were talking about cloning and a lot of people against it. A lot of people against the idea of cloning a baby, but there is a big push out there for people who do want cloning research, because they think it can help in a lot of medical maladies.

GUPTA: Yes, this is a really important point. There are two different kinds of cloning. There's therapeutic cloning, and there's reproductive cloning. A lot of people believe therapeutic cloning -- that is growing some cells that are a DNA match, a genetic match of some human being -- may be valuable, because you could get stem cells. You could possibly use those cells to treat diabetes, to treat Parkinson's to treat Alzheimer's, heart disease -- all of these things possibly through those therapeutic cloning.

Reproductive cloning is a whole additional, big step, actually taking that clump of cells, put it into a woman's uterus, and allowing a baby to be born.

It's so controversial, Daryn. You know, before they got Dolly the sheep, it took 276 times to get a viable sheep. Before that, you had damaged, defective and dead sheep that were being born. Nobody wants to see that happen with humans.

KAGAN: Absolutely not. And then there are some people who are working on therapeutic cloning who don't even think it's possible to get a human baby at this point.

GUPTA: Yes, you know, absolutely. There are scientists who -- you know, I talked to a lot of my colleagues about this yesterday when the Raelians were sort of talking about this press conference today, and they sort of literally were laughing on the phone at me and saying, you know, this is just too much buzz. It's not going to happen.

They're certainly going to keep an eye on it, as we are as well. But people aren't very optimistic that this has actually happened, and they're happy about that. They don't want this to happen. Most of the scientists I talked to said actually reproductive cloning, not a good idea. KAGAN: Not a good idea. We'll be tracking it, and in fact, you'll have a chance to see it live. The announcement is set for 9:00 a.m. Eastern. We are going to carry it live right here on CNN.

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 December 27, 2002 - 07:17   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: An announcement is expected this morning from a company that has promised to produce the first human clone. The company was founded by a religious group called the Raelians. It has claimed previously that it is willing and able to clone a human. Such a revelation would touch off a firestorm of debate in the scientific, medical and religious communities.
We're going to get some insight on cloning and the group that is planning the announcement from our Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

One of the most controversial things in medicine, people have been talking about cloning for quite some time now. And one of the more fringe groups, the Raelians, we've been hearing a lot about them as well, have been talking about cloning a human being, actually allowing a clump of cells actually to grow into a human being.

Most scientists, most citizens, think this is a bad idea, but they certainly have been talking about it and maybe even planning it and maybe even announcing it today at 9:00.

Here's -- Brigitte Boisselier is the sort of science director of an organization called Clonaid, which is an offshoot of the Raelians. And this is what she had to say about a year ago about cloning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGITTE BOISSELIER, CLONAID: I've been public from the beginning to prepare for the welcoming of that first baby clone. And what I'm saying and I've been saying all along is that I want to do that in a very (UNINTELLIGIBLE) manner. I will not be rushed into anything, and especially not into any competition. What I want to do is make sure that this baby is perfectly healthy and demonstrate to the world that we are creating life, we are not killing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUPTA: But they have been so controversial, no question. Now, a little bit about the Raelians I think as well is important.

They actually -- the head of this organization, a gentleman by the name of Rael (ph) -- that's where they get the name Raelians -- actually believes that he's a descendant of aliens, and in fact, the entire population of the world was descended by aliens, because the aliens were cloned. They cloned themselves. And that's how the earth's population was formed. They have been very controversial. In fact, we got a chance to ask Ms. Boisselier a little bit about that as well, and this is what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOISSELIER: Now, I'm Raelian, and my religion is science. I believe we have been created by science, but mainly I believe that scientists were good (ph). And I believe that the level of consciousness that we have in our humanity (ph) is way below of the level of science, and I'd like to raise that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUPTA: And so, what is going to happen with all of this at 9:00 is really anybody's guess. We're surely going to be prepared though.

KAGAN: You were talking about cloning and a lot of people against it. A lot of people against the idea of cloning a baby, but there is a big push out there for people who do want cloning research, because they think it can help in a lot of medical maladies.

GUPTA: Yes, this is a really important point. There are two different kinds of cloning. There's therapeutic cloning, and there's reproductive cloning. A lot of people believe therapeutic cloning -- that is growing some cells that are a DNA match, a genetic match of some human being -- may be valuable, because you could get stem cells. You could possibly use those cells to treat diabetes, to treat Parkinson's to treat Alzheimer's, heart disease -- all of these things possibly through those therapeutic cloning.

Reproductive cloning is a whole additional, big step, actually taking that clump of cells, put it into a woman's uterus, and allowing a baby to be born.

It's so controversial, Daryn. You know, before they got Dolly the sheep, it took 276 times to get a viable sheep. Before that, you had damaged, defective and dead sheep that were being born. Nobody wants to see that happen with humans.

KAGAN: Absolutely not. And then there are some people who are working on therapeutic cloning who don't even think it's possible to get a human baby at this point.

GUPTA: Yes, you know, absolutely. There are scientists who -- you know, I talked to a lot of my colleagues about this yesterday when the Raelians were sort of talking about this press conference today, and they sort of literally were laughing on the phone at me and saying, you know, this is just too much buzz. It's not going to happen.

They're certainly going to keep an eye on it, as we are as well. But people aren't very optimistic that this has actually happened, and they're happy about that. They don't want this to happen. Most of the scientists I talked to said actually reproductive cloning, not a good idea. KAGAN: Not a good idea. We'll be tracking it, and in fact, you'll have a chance to see it live. The announcement is set for 9:00 a.m. Eastern. We are going to carry it live right here on CNN.

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