Japan May Outlaw Human Cloning

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Updated 1:52 PM ET March 7, 2000

TOKYO (AP) - The government's science arm, worried about the threat of human cloning "to the maintenance of social order," has drafted legislation making the act a crime that could land offenders in prison.

The Science and Technology Agency wants to outlaw the introduction of cloned human embryos into the womb for reproductive purposes as well as the creation of hybrid embryos with human and animal genes, agency official Kimihiko Oda said Tuesday.

The legislation, presented Monday and likely to go before the lower house of parliament this month, could allow the cloning of human embryos for research purposes within strict limits, he said.

Offenders will likely be subject to prison sentences of three to seven years, several Japanese newspapers reported Monday, citing unidentified sources at the agency.

The measure reflects mounting concern that human cloning "may pose a threat to the maintenance of social order, the foundation of which is the family," Oda said. He said several European countries already have similar laws.

Two years ago, 19 European nations, including France and Italy, signed the first international treaty to prohibit efforts "to create human beings genetically identical to another human being, whether living or dead."