National

Cloning Claim Stirs Skepticism, Ethical Debate

By Joe Palca, Scott Simon

Published December 27, 2002 at 9:00 PM PST

This story was published more than 21 years ago.

A company with ties to a religious group called the Raelians says it has successfully cloned a human being -- and has more babies on the way. There's no immediate proof of Clonaid's claims, but an independent effort will attempt to verify the claim. The mainstream scientific community is skeptical. Hear from NPR's Scott Simon and NPR's Joe Palca.

National

Joe Palca

Joe Palca is a science correspondent for NPR. Since joining NPR in 1992, Palca has covered a range of science topics — everything from biomedical research to astronomy. From 2011 to 2020 he produced stories that explored the minds and motivations of scientists and inventors as part of his series, Joe's Big Idea. Palca is also the founder of NPR Scicommers – A science communication collective.

Scott Simon

Scott Simon is one of America's most admired writers and broadcasters. He is the host of Weekend Edition Saturday and is one of the hosts of NPR's morning news podcast Up First. He has reported from all fifty states, five continents, and ten wars, from El Salvador to Sarajevo to Afghanistan and Iraq. His books have chronicled character and characters, in war and peace, sports and art, tragedy and comedy.