PANAYIOTIS Zavos and Severino Antinori have announced that they will clone the first human being next year.

This announcement was made at a conference in America, and it is reported that many of the other scientists there were shocked.

What should we make of human cloning?

My own view is that we should not rule it out altogether. In my own Christian tradition there is no ban on cloning, and there is nothing specifically against it in the Bible. It could be argued that this silence is simply because the Biblical writers never even dreamt that such a thing would ever be possible.

But there are good reasons to be against human cloning at present. So little is known about cloning that it might result in terrible disabilities in the children produced. These might be mental disabilities which would not show up for a long time.

It is also the case that in order to clone one human being, hundreds of embryos might be needed. When Dolly the sheep was cloned, 277 embryos were used. Surely this should not be allowed for a human being. To cheapen the life of embryos must cheapen human life itself.

So I agree with the present law in this country which outlaws cloning. We are lucky to have such a strong body as the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority which monitors such things very carefully. The trouble is that in other parts of the world the medical profession is not regulated so tightly.

But I do not think that a permanent ban in all cases for all time is the way forward. Science is given to us by God, and when scientists and the companies that use scientific research act responsibly we should welcome new developments. There may well be some ways in which this new science of cloning can be beneficial to the human race. This is why we shouldn't simply be scared of it.

In the meantime, let's hope that the work of Zavos and Antinori doesn't bring this new science into disrepute.

Michael Williams, The Vicar of Bolton Parish Church