THE irony was sweet. Even as news of “cc” the kitten sped around the world
last week, evoking images of cloned pets in every living room, three prominent
biologists were trying to eradicate the word “clone” from everyday speech. In
the latest issue of Science (vol 295, p 1237), they argue that what is
now called “therapeutic cloning” should be renamed “nuclear
transplantation”.
Ever since the birth of Dolly, most scientists have chosen their words
carefully to avoid the impression that they were eager to clone human beings.
Cloners coined the phrase “reproductive cloning” to mean creating a new animal,…
