Japan Bans Human Cloning
TOKYO, JAPAN, December 4, 2000 (Web Today)—If you are driven by the compulsion to create the world’s first human clone, don’t try doing it in Japan.
That country’s parliament has passed stiff penalties that could imprison overzealous scientists conducting literal "multiple personality" experiments for up to a decade and penalize them up to $90,000.
The vote in Japan’s upper house was an overwhelming 229 to 11. The legislation, which sailed through the nation’s lower house last month, also prevents the creation of animals with "designer genes," hybrid embryos consisting of human and animal DNA. Cross-species embryo implantation will also be prohibited.
It was not immediately clear when the new law might take effect.
Similar legislation has already been passed in a number of countries, including Israel, Britain and Germany. Dozens of other countries are considering joining them.
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