Human Cloning Foundation Lauds Korean Catholic Church

The Human Cloning Foundation (HCF) lauded South Korea's Catholic Church for its recent announcement that it plans to donate 10 billion won ($9.61 million) for adult stem cell research.

Bishop Yeom Soo-jung, who heads a committee that will allocate the funds, told the Korea Times, "We decided to establish this committee to boost adult stem cell research that will treat hard-to-cure diseases practically."

Yeom said the 10 billion won is the largest amount ever contributed by any Catholic Church in any country for adult stem cell research.

Korea is establishing itself as a leader in the area of stem cell research and has made great strides in the last two years, said HCF spokesman David Madrigal. He noted that Professor Hwang Woo-suk of Seoul National University achieved a milestone in 2004 when his team created a cloned human embryo for the first time in history and successfully extracted a stem cell line from it.

Madrigal said that Korea is only one of 13 countries that may allow non-reproductive cloning, according to a recent study of 30 countries conducted by Shaun D. Pattinson and Timothy Caulfield and published in BMC Med Ethics, Volume 5. Other countries that may permit non-reproductive cloning are Belgium, China, Finland, Greece, Israel, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

The vast majority of countries ban reproductive cloning, while many others ban both reproductive and non-reproductive cloning, including Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Mexico, Peru, Spain and Switzerland, said Madrigal.

"Significantly, a growing number of countries now note the vast potential of cloning and stem cell research in curing disease and improving quality of life," said Madrigal.

Contact: Mr. David Madrigal
Human Cloning Foundation
HumanCloning.David@gmail.com
www.humancloning.org