CHICAGO (Reuters) - A Kentucky fertility expert who announced last month that he had transferred a cloned human embryo into a woman said on Wednesday the pregnancy had failed, but promised to make more attempts.
“The next time that we announce anything...we would have a pregnancy. That’s another milestone,” said Panos Zavos said in a telephone interview from his Lexington, Kentucky, clinic.
Leading scientists have expressed skepticism about Zavos’ claims, and he has yet to produce any scientific evidence to support them.
Some scientists said Zavos, who has been saying since May 2002 that he was ready to create a human clone, was seeking publicity rather than advancing science.
Zavos would not detail what had gone wrong in the case of a 35-year-old woman whose egg was infused with her husband’s DNA, but said only between 20% and 30% of in vitro fertilization procedures produce pregnancies.
“The odds are not in his favor,” the Cypriot-born Zavos said, referring to himself in the third person. “And therefore the beat goes on. He’s going to try and do it again and again.”
The maverick fertility expert announced, to much fanfare, in London on Jan. 17 that he had transferred the cloned embryo into the unidentified woman 2 weeks earlier in a location he refused to reveal.
He said the egg was harvested from the woman, who was entering premature menopause, and fertilized with DNA taken from skin cells donated by her infertile husband.
Research on animals has shown that cloned embryos often do not produce a live birth. Sometimes they die shortly after birth or develop serious health problems later in life. It took 277 attempts to produce the first cloned mammal, a sheep named Dolly.
Zavos said he remained confident of producing a healthy embryo and, eventually, a baby.
“We feel confident that the embryo is healthy and we can transfer it with the idea of impregnating someone and delivering a healthy child,” he said.
MeSH Headings:Genetic Techniques: Investigative Techniques: Reproduction Techniques: Cloning, Organism: Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and EquipmentCopyright © 2002 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.
