There has always been something creepy about cloning. In creating a genetically identical copy of a breeding bull, the beloved lapdog, or genetically matched organs for the critically ill, the benefits and fascination may still outweigh this. But if this works in humans, could “clone armies” or similar science fiction scenarios become a reality?
In the months following February 23, 1997, 26 years ago today, the therapeutic benefits and prohibitions of reproductive cloning were hotly debated – the day that cloning researchers Keith Campbell and Ian Wilmut introduced the clone sheep “Dolly” to the public. A sensation, because previously cloning had only been successful in frogs, but never in mammals.
A clone or no clone?
Really never? The Austrian biologist Karl Illmensee saw things differently. In 1981 he claimed to have cloned three mice. However, neither he nor other biologists were able to repeat the experiment, which is why his work came under suspicion of forgery and his brilliant scientific career ended abruptly.
With the birth of Dolly, Illmensee saw himself confirmed and undertook a final and highly questionable attempt to prove that he had not falsified: He tried to clone people – in the laboratory of a fertility clinic run by the doctor Panayiotis Zavos in Lexington, Kentucky, in the cloning was not forbidden.
He used the technique of cell nuclear transfer, which he himself had once developed in flies and mice and which ultimately also resulted in Dolly. In an enucleated egg cell from a donor, he inserted the cell nucleus of a body cell that contained the genetic material of a woman without a partner, or of three men. A total of nine human clone embryos were created between 2003 and 2005.
However, there was no clone pregnancy or birth, Illmensee assured. He later expressed doubts about the rightness of trying out a half-baked technique on humans. He was driven by “extreme curiosity” as to whether cloning would also work in humans. The hope for rehabilitation and satisfaction probably also played a role.
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