South Korea banned funding for research into human cloning yesterday, but admitted it cannot stop "maverick doctors" from going ahead with the procedure.
The move came after a medical team at Seoul's Kyonghee University claimed this week it had successfully cloned a human embryo in its initial stage of development.
This claim has been challenged by, among others, the Scottish scientists who cloned Dolly the sheep. The sceptics note that the Korean team has yet to present its findings to a scientific journal.
The cloning announcement caught the South Korean government off guard and caused protest rallies. In Seoul, 20 civic activists yesterday demanded a ban on human cloning research.
"We were not given any prior information" about the experiment by the Kyonghee University doctors, an official at the Science and Technology Ministry said. "Our position is firm and clear. There will be no funding for any such research." But the government planned no legal action against the scientists, he said.
Legislators are preparing to pass a new law next month banning research on human cloning except for research on cancer or other diseases.
Critics said the legislation does not call for penalties and provides no clear dividing line between cloning research and similar scientific work.