Fertility experts doubt cloned embryo claims

Scientists and medical ethicists yesterday condemned the controversial fertility doctor Panayiotis Zavos for transferring cloned human embryos into the wombs of four women.

Zavos claimed that he had created 14 cloned human embryos and transferred 11 of them into the wombs of the four women, who wanted to give birth to cloned babies, although none of them had become pregnant.

Leading figures in the fertility world, including Lord Winston of Imperial College London said Zavos had not produced any scientific evidence to support his statements.

Critics said this could only be done by publishing the work in a peer-reviewed scientific journal.

"I do not know of any credible evidence that suggests Dr Zavos can clone a human being. This seems to be yet another one of his claims to get publicity," said Lord Winston.

Zavos also revealed that he has created human-animal "hybrid" clones by fusing the cells of dead people with the empty egg cells of cows. These hybrid embryos were created to study the cloning process, rather than being used for embryo transfer, Zavos said.

Professor Azim Surani of Cambridge University said that Zavos had breached the taboo on creating human clones with the intention of transferring them into the wombs of women in order to achieve a pregnancy - a procedure that is a criminal offence in Britain.

- INDEPENDENT