UN delays cloning vote

Choice between total and partial bans on human embryo cloning put off for 2 years

| 4 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
4:00
Share

UNITED NATIONS, NY—A UN sharply divided on the issue of "therapeutic" cloning decided by a razor-thin margin yesterday to delay a vote for 2 years, rather than choose between two different cloning bans before the General Assembly.

Instead, on Thursday (November 6), the General Assembly voted 80 to 79 in favor of a procedural motion made by the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) to put off voting on a cloning ban for 2 years, "to study all aspects and ramifications of the issue and come up with a clear view on the subject matter." Not all 191 members of the General Assembly were in attendance, and 15 member states present abstained from voting.

The vote caps nearly 2 years of contentious wrangling over a proposed UN convention to address the issue of human cloning. Opposing camps had come to a stalemate over whether the treaty should ban all forms ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to more than 35 years of archives, as well as TS Digest, digital editions of The Scientist, feature stories, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here

Keywords

Meet the Author

  • Theresa Tamkins

    This person does not yet have a bio.
Share
Image of a woman in a microbiology lab whose hair is caught on fire from a Bunsen burner.
April 1, 2025, Issue 1

Bunsen Burners and Bad Hair Days

Lab safety rules dictate that one must tie back long hair. Rosemarie Hansen learned the hard way when an open flame turned her locks into a lesson.

View this Issue
Faster Fluid Measurements for Formulation Development

Meet Honeybun and Breeze Through Viscometry in Formulation Development

Unchained Labs
Conceptual image of biochemical laboratory sample preparation showing glassware and chemical formulas in the foreground and a scientist holding a pipette in the background.

Taking the Guesswork Out of Quality Control Standards

sartorius logo
An illustration of PFAS bubbles in front of a blue sky with clouds.

PFAS: The Forever Chemicals

sartorius logo
Unlocking the Unattainable in Gene Construction

Unlocking the Unattainable in Gene Construction

dna-script-primarylogo-digital

Products

Atelerix

Atelerix signs exclusive agreement with MineBio to establish distribution channel for non-cryogenic cell preservation solutions in China

Green Cooling

Thermo Scientific™ Centrifuges with GreenCool Technology

Thermo Fisher Logo
Singleron Avatar

Singleron Biotechnologies and Hamilton Bonaduz AG Announce the Launch of Tensor to Advance Single Cell Sequencing Automation

Zymo Research Logo

Zymo Research Launches Research Grant to Empower Mapping the RNome