Clonaid Claims
Second Cloned Human Born
Clonaid 公司宣称第二个克隆人出世Sat Jan. 4,
2003
Brigitte Boisselier, left, chief executive of
Clonaid, and Claude Vorilhon, founder of the Raelian movement are seen
in this Dec. 27, 2002 file photo. On Saturday Jan. 4, 2003, Clonaid
announced that a second cloned baby has been born to a Dutch lesbian
couple. Neither baby has been confirmed to be a clone by genetic testing,
and mainstream scientists are skeptical of the company's claims
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - Clonaid, the company
that claims to have produced the first human clone, said Saturday a
second cloned baby has been born to a Dutch lesbian（女同性恋者）couple.
Neither baby has been confirmed to be a
clone by genetic testing（基因测试）, and mainstream（主流）scientists are
skeptical（怀疑的）of the company's claims.
Clonaid spokeswoman Nadine Gary said in
a telephone interview the child was born Friday night, but declined
to say where.
"It's true that a second baby has
been born," she said. "The parents have Dutch nationality,
but they are not in Holland."
Gary said she expects the second baby will
undergo genetic testing to show it is a clone, with DNA identical to
that of its mother.
The parents of the first baby Clonaid claims
to have cloned have blocked DNA testing.
Brigitte Boisselier, Clonaid's chief executive
and top scientist, told The Associated Press Television News on Saturday
that the parents have promised to tell her Monday whether they will
allow DNA testing to confirm the claim.
Last month Clonaid claimed to have produced
Eve, a cloned girl purportedly（被宣称的）born to U.S.
parents on Dec. 26.
The second baby's name and gender（性别）have not been
revealed. In television interviews, Boisselier has said the parents
of the second baby want to remain anonymous（匿名的）.
Spokeswoman Gary said that, while the parents
are Dutch, the birth did not take place in the Netherlands, where cloning
is illegal.
Boisselier is a member of the Raelians,
a religious sect（宗教派别）that believes beings from outer space created
life on earth. Its founder, a former French journalist who calls himself
Rael, established Clonaid in 1997.
Clonaid sells "cloning" services
and products, and may benefit from the publicity around its claims,
whether they are true or false.
Scientists have successfully cloned pigs
and sheep, but the technology is not reliable and most scientists say
it is difficult, unethical（违背伦理的）and risky to attempt to clone humans.
By TOBY STERLING, Associated Press Writer