Todays forum on cloning was disappointing in that the panel were very keen to back away from the reality of cloning, concluded The Nationals' Senate Leader, Ron Boswell, today. The panel members, all distinguished academics, seemed anxious to deny the essence of what they are proposing. This debate is about cloning embryos, but the panel were trying to tell us that there are two kinds of embryos, with two different values, one for research and one for reproduction. They likened cloning to growing cells like a skin graft which is quite dishonest. Lockhart recommended the cloning of human embryos. The Report was not about skin grafts. Senator Boswell said that he was also disappointed that no one knew the answer to his very basic question regarding how many eggs and embryo clones would be needed for research and therapy. No one knew the answer. They admitted that. It seems that we are being asked to take a huge step to clone without even the experts knowing very much at all about what is involved. That is not surprising as no one has even created a human embryo clone in the scientific literature to date. No wonder they dont know how many eggs it would take. The Panel did confirm that cell therapy using todays technology would be inconceivable and unfundable, saying that to treat one million people with a disease like diabetes conceptually could take more than one million eggs. ENDS Media Contact - 02 6277 3244