Cloning issue is overblown, expert says<\/p>\n
By Wirasti Wiryono<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The current frenzy over genetic scientists'
\nclaims that they will soon be able to produce humans from cloned
\nembryos is mere hype, according to a professor of molecular
\nbiology at the University of Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Sangkot Marzuki, also director of the Eijkman Institute,
\nappeased concern over the moral and ethical threats posed by such
\nsophisticated technology, and said that cloning was conducted for
\nresearch purposes only. \"It's not for creating carbon-copy human
\nbeings, which many governments of the industrialized world fear,\"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
\"The cloning of dinosaurs as witnessed in the film Jurassic
\nPark is an exaggerated myth,\" Sangkot said.<\/p>\n
Sangkot was commenting on the reported claims of some
\nscientists that it would not be long before humans could be
\nproduced from cloned embryos. The conclusion was made after
\ngenetic scientists in Oregon, USA, successfully produced two
\nhealthy monkeys through cloning.<\/p>\n
Dr. Don Wolf, the scientist who led the research team, is also
\nhead of an in vitro fertilization laboratory. The technique of
\ncloning embryos is said to be scientifically very close to in
\nvitro fertilization.<\/p>\n
In Washington the cloning sparked demands for the U.S. to join
\nBritain and other countries in passing laws to ban human cloning.
\nPresident Bill Clinton asked his medical and scientific advisory
\ncommittee last week to report back within six months on the state
\nof cloning and genetic research, and recommend whether new laws
\nwere needed.<\/p>\n
In Indonesia, Minister of Health Sujudi has dismissed the
\nfrenzy.<\/p>\n
\"From a scientific perspective, anything is possible ...
\n(However) to produce (a genetic twin of a human being) may not
\nyet be possible. Much less to produce a human adult,\" he told
\nJawa Pos. \"Besides, it's very unethical and unacceptable from a
\nreligious point of view.\"<\/p>\n
Cloning refers to transferring the nucleus, which contains the
\nDNA, of one cell into an egg without sexual contact, thus
\ncreating a genetic twin.<\/p>\n
At the Eijkman Institute, DNA cloning is used for research
\nrather than commercial purposes, Sangkot said.<\/p>\n
\"Scientific practices are often ahead of ethical, commercial
\nand legal channels, and they spark fears of the unknown among
\nthose less familiar with biotechnology, like governments and the
\npublic,\" he said, adding that it was the daring practices, not
\nthe scientific development, that had gained more ground.<\/p>\n
\"The public is unaware that self-control mechanisms exist in
\nthe scientific community to curb the undesirable from happening,\"
\nhe said. \"Here scientists must apply for funding from the
\ngovernment or a university to bring their proposal to life.\"<\/p>\n
There are also bodies at those institutions to monitor such
\nactivities, he said.<\/p>\n
Sangkot, aged 52, said that scientists had developed ways to
\nmanipulate genes from becoming uncontrollable and, instead, just
\nenhance them, a practice called transgenics. The procedure
\nalready involves plants like tomatoes, peanuts and flowers.<\/p>\n
\"Animals and humans are unlikely to be made under these
\nmethods,\" he said. Cloning, he argued, \"is not for the creation
\nof designer babies.\"<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, he admitted that applications of science and
\ntechnology are not removed from ethical, business and legal
\ninterests, as in the case of surrogate mothers who bear children
\nand relinquish them upon birth.<\/p>\n
Sangkot, also a professor of medicine at Australia's Monash
\nUniversity and adjunct professor of cellular and molecular
\nbiology at the University of Queensland, returned to Indonesia in
\n1992 at State Minister of Research and Technology B.J. Habibie's
\nbidding to help develop a tradition of science and technology
\nhere.<\/p>\n
Sangkot began his efforts at the Eijkman Institute, which was
\nestablished in 1888 by the Dutch scientist Christiaan Eijkman,
\nthe person who discovered the correlation between vitamin B
\ndeficiency and beriberi. He won a Nobel Prize in 1929 for the
\nfinding.<\/p>\n
The 109-year-old institute, later named after Eijkman, was
\nshut down in 1965 from inactivity. Habibie reestablished it in
\n1992 but changed its function to molecular biology research.<\/p>\n
Sangkot said the country's science and technology roots are
\nstill young and that its practitioners were initially a very
\nsmall community, particularly during the struggle for
\nindependence in the 1940's.<\/p>\n
He expressed his wish to lay a scientific foundation that
\nwould develop into a national biotechnology base to compete
\nglobally. Through this platform he would like to teach science
\nand technology not only to his colleagues but also to the
\nIndonesian public.<\/p>\n
At the core of Sangkot's activities is basic research with
\nstrategic applications, which should help develop human resources
\nin the scientific community. There are currently 50 molecular
\nbiologists at the institute.<\/p>\n
Looking at the premises, it is evident that funding and
\ntechnical facilities at the institute are on a par with the
\nworld's best research centers.<\/p>\n
Science and technology research came to a screeching halt
\nduring the struggle for independence as Indonesians rejected
\nDutch colonial ideas and practices.<\/p>\n
Sangkot is at a loss to address the shortage of qualified
\nhuman resources, a situation he admits is difficult to resolve,
\nespecially among Indonesian youths who find science boring and
\ndifficult to relate to.<\/p>\n
\"Funding and technical facilities are useless without
\ncreative, skilled staff,\" he said, referring to a report he has
\nalready submitted to several ministries.<\/p>\n
He is also saddened by an August 1995 report by Scientific
\nAmerican on Indonesia's position in the scientific world. The
\nmonthly magazine puts the country on a par with Nepal, Myanmar,
\nBangladesh and well below Singapore, Thailand and Zaire.<\/p>\n
The report said the country's share of journal articles was
\n0.012 percent out of 100 countries as compared to 0.179 percent
\nfor Singapore.<\/p>\n
The institute runs a postgraduate diploma program in molecular
\nbiology for Indonesian university graduates with the University
\nof Queensland. Sixty percent of the curriculum is devoted to
\nstudies and practical experience while the remaining 40 percent
\nis spent doing research.<\/p>\n
Sangkot said it was important for Indonesia to compete not
\nonly globally but also with neighboring countries such Singapore,
\nMalaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Vietnam and China, which consider
\nbiotechnology as the key to the future.<\/p>",
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