Baa, Baa, Cloned Sheep, Have You Any Law: Legislative Responses to Animal Cloning in the European Union and United States
![handle is hein.journals/bcic22 and id is 147 raw text is: Baa, Baa, Cloned Sheep, Have You Any Law?
Legislative Responses to Animal Cloning in
the European Union and United States
INTRODUCTION
Nearly a century ago, before the scientific technology that could
make it a widespread practice began to emerge, the word clone came
into English parlance.' In its simplest form, cloning refers to any
process that produces genetically identical organisms.2 Scientists and
science fiction writers have long been captivated by the potential clon-
ing holds for reengineering society.3 But the accelerated pace of clon-
ing research in animals over the last two decades has resulted in a
sudden dilemma for lawmakers.
In February 1997, Scottish researchers reported the first successful
cloning of an animal from an adult cell.4 This event, and the cloned
sheep named Dolly who resulted from it, inspired rapid and public
reaction from governing bodies worldwide, including those of the
European Union (EU) and United States (U.S.).5 Proposed cloning
legislation in the EU specifically addresses the issues of animal cloning,
building on a history of regulating ethical and humane treatment for
animals used in scientific research.6 But legislation proposed by the
U.S. reflects an ongoing failure to protect certain types of animals from
I The author would like to thank John Nann of the Boston College Law Library for his
invaluable assistance with this Note. See THE COMPACT OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY 272-73
(Clarendon Press 2d ed. 1991). The first recorded use of the word, spelled don, was in 1903 in
SCIENCE; cloning also made its debut in SCIENCE, in 1960. See id.
2See Marie A. DiBerardino & Robert G. McKinnell, Backward Compatible, TBE SciENcEs,
Sept./Oct. 1997, at 32.
3 See id.; M.Z. Ribalow, Take Two, Tim SCIENcEs, Sept./Oct. 1997, at 41.
4 See I. wilmut et al., Viable Offspring Derived from Fetal and Adult Mammalian Cells, NATuRE,
Feb. 27, 1997, at 810-13.
5 See Nigel Williams & Elizabeth Pennisi, Will Dolly Send In the Clones7, SCIENCE, Mar. 7, 1997,
at 1415.
6 See Commission Proposal for a European Parliament and Council Decision Concerning the
5th Framework Programme of the European Community for Research, Technological Develop-
ment and Demonstration Activities, 1997 O.J. (C 173) 26 [hereinafter Proposed Framework
Programme].](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/bcic22&div=9&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Baa, Baa, Cloned Sheep, Have You Any Law: Legislative Responses to Animal Cloning in the European Union and United States
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