Human Cloning. Has it already happened in 2009?

Question

There are obviously many issues involved with human cloing. Some for. Some against. Has this already happened? Apparently a Dr. Zavos claimed to have done so in 2009, but is there any validity or evidence to that claim?

Answer 1

If by evidence you mean any cloned babies, the answer so far is no. From an interview with that same Dr. Zavos in January 2011:

UWN: You have not only offered cutting-edge assisted reproductive technologies to couples, but have also pressed forward in development of human reproductive cloning. In conjunction with colleagues in the Mediterranean Region, you indicate you have attempted implantations of over a dozen cloned human embryos for reproductive purposes. However, to date, none has resulted in a birth. What appear to be the physiological difficulties of achieving a human clone?

Zavos: Yes, we have created a number of cloned embryos utilising SCNT. The methodology for creating cloned embryos is not a secret, and it is 'easy to do' for those who know how to perform somatic cell nuclear transfers (SCNT) in mammalian cells and understand the basics in human embryology and embryo culture.

We have published the method that we used in creating human cloned embryos very successfully in refereed journals already. Anyone can visit our website at www.zavos.org and one can read one of the many publications on the methodology used to create the embryos, such as: Zavos, P & Illmensee, K: Possible treatment of male infertility by reproductive cloning: Technique for creating cloned human four-cell embryo and subsequent embryo transfer. Arch. Androl. 52:243-254, 2006.

Meanwile, the created embryos looked and behaved quite normally according to criteria that exist in the IVF industry today. We realise these embryos are not created via IVF but rather via SCNT and they grow in a normal manner and develope equally well. (See http://www.zavos.org/library/UAAN_A_150346.pdf to view the embryos.)

None of the women who received the embryos got pregnant and the most limiting factor was that we transferred embryos in women who were rather advanced in age; all of them were either perimenopausal or entered menopause years ago. They ranged in age from 37-52 years of age.

If he's publishing I'd say it's safe to say he's trying, but so far with no success, or even pregnancies. I'm also sure that if he is successful it will make headlines around the world, if only because the good doctor appears to be a bit of a publicity whore.

There have been several other announcements that cloning has been achieved, going all the way back to 1978 and the book The Cloning of a Man, but none of them have come close to panning out.