AFP
Singapore announced Thursday it will allow what many regard as a limited form of human cloning, defying protests from a bloc of more than 50 countries that includes the United States.
While the health ministry said a law would be introduced next year to ban “reproductive cloning” that leads to the creation of a human being, officials said it will allow “therapeutic cloning”, where human embryos can be used for research and development within the first 14 days of their creation.
“The proposed new Regulation of Biomedical Research Act will strictly prohibit reproductive cloning, the creation of a human being through the application of cloning technology,” the ministry said in a statement.
The issue is currently being fiercely debated at the United Nations, with backers of “therapeutic cloning” pushing for the body’s general assembly to vote on the issue.