Clonaid Loses A 'Witness'

The journalist who said he would oversee DNA testing to verify a company's claims it had produced a human clone said Monday he had dropped his efforts for lack of cooperation and could not rule out the possibility of "an elaborate hoax."

Officials with Clonaid, the company that announced Dec. 27 the birth of the world's first clone, initially promised DNA testing but later backed off. Clonaid said the parents of the 7-pound baby girl have refused to allow it.

"The team of scientists has had no access to the alleged family and, therefore, cannot verify firsthand the claim that a human baby has been cloned," said Michael Guillen, a former ABC science editor who had offered to arrange the testing.

Experts who had been demanding independent verification said Clonaid has never had credibility with the scientific community.

"We don't find it surprising that they are not in a position to offer any data," said Sean Tipton, spokesman for the American Society of Reproductive Medicine in Washington, D.C.

"We have been ignoring it because we don't view it as a scientifically valid statement," said Natalie Dewitt, an editor at Nature, the British science journal which published the milestone data in 1997 on Dolly the cloned sheep.

Clonaid was founded by the Raelian religious sect that believes space aliens created life on Earth, and chief executive Brigitte Boisselier acknowledges that outside DNA testing would be needed to make the claim credible.

As CBS News Correspondent Jim Axelrod reports, so far, all Boisselier seems to have cloned are skeptics.

"I'd bet my house that they haven't done it, and I love my house," says Alta Charo, a bio-ethicist at the University of Wisconsin

But for her, the concern is less about whether the Raelians actually did it and more about the fall out from just saying they did.

"Eve was born on December 26th, tests will be performed and you'll have all the proof," Boisselier still insists on telling Axelrod.

In a statement, Guillen said he had assembled experts to do the work but suspended the effort Monday. "It's still entirely possible Clonaid's announcement is part of an elaborate hoax intended to bring publicity to the Raelian movement," he said.

Guillen indicated he was still willing to proceed. "When and if an opportunity to collect DNA samples as promised does arise, however, the team stands fully prepared to re-mobilize and conduct the necessary tests."

The freelance journalist has said previously he had no connection to Clonaid. But he said in his statement Monday he has been interested in doing a documentary on human cloning that would involve Clonaid's work. He said he has covered the "principal players" in human cloning since the cloning of Dolly the sheep was announced.

The New York Times reported Sunday that Guillen tried months ago to sell exclusive coverage of Clonaid's first baby to the major broadcast networks.

On Saturday, Boisselier said the baby's parents had promised to give her a final answer Monday about whether they would allow DNA tests. A spokesman for Guillen said his statement was not connected to that decision.

Clonaid did not return phone calls requesting a response Monday.

Some scientists said Clonaid's two weeks of notoriety probably won't do lasting damage to legitimate reproductive research. Indeed, some believe it may have begun to educate the public on the differences between the cloning of stem cells and other therapeutic agents, and cloning to reproduce a baby.

Others said it was a "big mistake" for policymakers to have included Clonaid with legitimate scientists in congressional hearings and other science policy forums during the past year.

"By association, they have done some damage," Dewitt said. "But they are so far removed from legitimate science that I don't think it will cause a huge problem."

By Malcolm Ritter