Human Cloning

Publication Date: December 2001

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

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Keywords: Health conditions and policy--Medical research and technology

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On November 25, 2001, a Massachusetts company, Advanced Cell Technology (ACT), announced that they had created the world's first cloned human embryos. The cloned embryos survived only for a few hours. ACT has indicated that it intends to use such embryos to derive stem cells in producing new therapies for diseases like diabetes and Parkinson's disease. The ACT announcement has highlighted the ethical and social concerns associated with cloning human embryos. On July 31, 2001, the House passed H.R. 2505, the Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2001, by a vote of 265-162. The bill would ban the process of human cloning as well as the importation of any product derived from an embryo created via cloning. The provisions mean that cloning could not be used for reproductive purposes or for research on therapeutic purposes, which has implications for stem cell research. This report will be updated as needed.