Cloning issue is overblown, expert says

Cloning issue is overblown, expert says

By Wirasti Wiryono

JAKARTA (JP): The current frenzy over genetic scientists'
claims that they will soon be able to produce humans from cloned
embryos is mere hype, according to a professor of molecular
biology at the University of Indonesia.

Sangkot Marzuki, also director of the Eijkman Institute,
appeased concern over the moral and ethical threats posed by such
sophisticated technology, and said that cloning was conducted for
research purposes only. "It's not for creating carbon-copy human
beings, which many governments of the industrialized world fear,"
he said.

"The cloning of dinosaurs as witnessed in the film Jurassic
Park is an exaggerated myth," Sangkot said.

Sangkot was commenting on the reported claims of some
scientists that it would not be long before humans could be
produced from cloned embryos. The conclusion was made after
genetic scientists in Oregon, USA, successfully produced two
healthy monkeys through cloning.

Dr. Don Wolf, the scientist who led the research team, is also
head of an in vitro fertilization laboratory. The technique of
cloning embryos is said to be scientifically very close to in
vitro fertilization.

In Washington the cloning sparked demands for the U.S. to join
Britain and other countries in passing laws to ban human cloning.
President Bill Clinton asked his medical and scientific advisory
committee last week to report back within six months on the state
of cloning and genetic research, and recommend whether new laws
were needed.

In Indonesia, Minister of Health Sujudi has dismissed the
frenzy.

"From a scientific perspective, anything is possible ...
(However) to produce (a genetic twin of a human being) may not
yet be possible. Much less to produce a human adult," he told
Jawa Pos. "Besides, it's very unethical and unacceptable from a
religious point of view."

Cloning refers to transferring the nucleus, which contains the
DNA, of one cell into an egg without sexual contact, thus
creating a genetic twin.

At the Eijkman Institute, DNA cloning is used for research
rather than commercial purposes, Sangkot said.

"Scientific practices are often ahead of ethical, commercial
and legal channels, and they spark fears of the unknown among
those less familiar with biotechnology, like governments and the
public," he said, adding that it was the daring practices, not
the scientific development, that had gained more ground.

"The public is unaware that self-control mechanisms exist in
the scientific community to curb the undesirable from happening,"
he said. "Here scientists must apply for funding from the
government or a university to bring their proposal to life."

There are also bodies at those institutions to monitor such
activities, he said.

Sangkot, aged 52, said that scientists had developed ways to
manipulate genes from becoming uncontrollable and, instead, just
enhance them, a practice called transgenics. The procedure
already involves plants like tomatoes, peanuts and flowers.

"Animals and humans are unlikely to be made under these
methods," he said. Cloning, he argued, "is not for the creation
of designer babies."

Nevertheless, he admitted that applications of science and
technology are not removed from ethical, business and legal
interests, as in the case of surrogate mothers who bear children
and relinquish them upon birth.

Sangkot, also a professor of medicine at Australia's Monash
University and adjunct professor of cellular and molecular
biology at the University of Queensland, returned to Indonesia in
1992 at State Minister of Research and Technology B.J. Habibie's
bidding to help develop a tradition of science and technology
here.

Sangkot began his efforts at the Eijkman Institute, which was
established in 1888 by the Dutch scientist Christiaan Eijkman,
the person who discovered the correlation between vitamin B
deficiency and beriberi. He won a Nobel Prize in 1929 for the
finding.

The 109-year-old institute, later named after Eijkman, was
shut down in 1965 from inactivity. Habibie reestablished it in
1992 but changed its function to molecular biology research.

Sangkot said the country's science and technology roots are
still young and that its practitioners were initially a very
small community, particularly during the struggle for
independence in the 1940's.

He expressed his wish to lay a scientific foundation that
would develop into a national biotechnology base to compete
globally. Through this platform he would like to teach science
and technology not only to his colleagues but also to the
Indonesian public.

At the core of Sangkot's activities is basic research with
strategic applications, which should help develop human resources
in the scientific community. There are currently 50 molecular
biologists at the institute.

Looking at the premises, it is evident that funding and
technical facilities at the institute are on a par with the
world's best research centers.

Science and technology research came to a screeching halt
during the struggle for independence as Indonesians rejected
Dutch colonial ideas and practices.

Sangkot is at a loss to address the shortage of qualified
human resources, a situation he admits is difficult to resolve,
especially among Indonesian youths who find science boring and
difficult to relate to.

"Funding and technical facilities are useless without
creative, skilled staff," he said, referring to a report he has
already submitted to several ministries.

He is also saddened by an August 1995 report by Scientific
American on Indonesia's position in the scientific world. The
monthly magazine puts the country on a par with Nepal, Myanmar,
Bangladesh and well below Singapore, Thailand and Zaire.

The report said the country's share of journal articles was
0.012 percent out of 100 countries as compared to 0.179 percent
for Singapore.

The institute runs a postgraduate diploma program in molecular
biology for Indonesian university graduates with the University
of Queensland. Sixty percent of the curriculum is devoted to
studies and practical experience while the remaining 40 percent
is spent doing research.

Sangkot said it was important for Indonesia to compete not
only globally but also with neighboring countries such Singapore,
Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Vietnam and China, which consider
biotechnology as the key to the future.