France bans reproductive and therapeutic cloning

doi:10.1136/bmj.329.7458.130-d

BMJ 2004;329:130 (17 July), doi:10.1136/bmj.329.7458.130-d

News roundup

France bans reproductive and therapeutic cloning

Paris Brad Spurgeon

France has banned reproductive human cloning, labelling it a "crime against the human species." It will be punishable by 30 years in prison and a fine of �7.5m (�5m; $9.3m), drawing to an end a two and a half year parliamentary debate to modernise France�s 1994 bioethics laws.

France has also banned therapeutic cloning—the creation of stem cells to replace damaged organs and tissue—making it a misdemeanour punishable by seven years in prison and fine of �100 000.

But in a controversial about-face it suspended for five years a ban on stem cell research on human embryos (produced by in-vitro fertilisation, not through cloning), to give the government time to study the ethical and medical ramifications of such research, which could lead to treatments for such illnesses as Alzheimer�s disease, diabetes, and heart disease.

"The work we have accomplished has brought about a [law] that tries to . . . [Full text of this article]

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