Canadians favour limited use of clones for emergencies only, survey finds

URL: http://www.globeandmail.com/gam/National/20000616/UCLONM.html

Date accessed: 15 July 2000                 

Many agree replicating organs - not entire human beings - is acceptable

                     HEATHER SCOFFIELD

                     Parliamentary Bureau; Source: PricewaterhouseCoopers; Source:

                     PricewaterhouseCoopers

                     Friday, June 16, 2000

                     Ottawa -- Canadians are dead set against the cloning of entire human beings, but

                     most people don't have much of a problem with cloning human parts for medical

                     emergencies, a new survey shows.

                     About 90 per cent of respondents said they were opposed to scientists making a

                     genetically identical copy of a human being, as they did with Dolly the Scottish

                     sheep four years ago, the survey finds.

                     But more than 80 per cent of Canadians said they believed cloning of human skin

                     or other organs such as hearts and livers was acceptable -- as long as the cloned

                     organs were meant for medical emergencies such as for severe burns, in the case

                     of skin, or for transplants.

                     And about two-thirds of respondents said cloning of the brain was acceptable if

                     the procedure was to help someone who had suffered severe brain damage.

                     "Canadians are open to these new technologies, but with caveats," said Dale

                     McMurchy, the author of the survey.

                     The poll, carried out by consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers

                     as part of a larger survey on health the company does every year, questioned

                     2,580 people across Canada by phone at the end of March. It is considered

                     accurate within 1.9 percentage points 19 times out of 20.

                     When they explained why they opposed the cloning of whole human beings,

                     about 42 per cent said it was "simply unacceptable," and just less than 22 per

                     cent said cloning was unacceptable because it is too dangerous and has unknown

                     consequences for humans.

                     Of the 10 per cent of Canadians who did not oppose cloning of entire human

                     beings, most were men.

                     The survey was intended to find out where Canadians draw the line on

                     biotechnology, genetic engineering and cloning, Ms. McMurchy said.

                     Opinions on genetic engineering followed a similar pattern to cloning. Most

                     respondents said the use of biotechnology to alter genes in humans before birth

                     was acceptable, but only in certain situations.

                     More than 80 per cent said genetic engineering to preselect the sex of an unborn

                     child was unacceptable. And about 74 per cent said it was unacceptable to use

                     genetic engineering to change the eye colour or other physical features of an

                     unborn baby.

                     But the majority said it was acceptable for scientists to use biotechnology to cure

                     an inherited medical condition or to decrease the risk of illness.

                     "They're open to new technologies and recognize what the new technologies can

                     bring," Ms. McMurchy said of respondents. Survey respondents were quite

                     open-minded about genetic testing of people, especially to detect an illness or to

                     see whether there is a risk of passing on illness to children.

                     But Canadians are worried about the protection of sensitive information obtained

                     from genetic testing.

                     About 92 per cent would give their doctors access to such information, but only

                     22 per cent would be willing to share data with insurance companies and just 7.5

                     per cent would give the data to the government.

                     The federal government has no legislation banning cloning or genetic engineering.

                     A bill that would have prohibited cloning of humans, commercialization of human

                     eggs and embryos as well as genetic alteration of embryos, among other things,

                     died just before the last federal election in 1997.

                     Health Minister Allan Rock has said he intends to reintroduce similar legislation

                     before the end of this year. But for now, there is only a voluntary moratorium to

                     discourage biotechnology with human genes.

                     CLONING A HUMAN IS UNACCEPTABLE

                      The concerns of respondents who did not find human cloning "very acceptable."

                      Cloning human beings is simply unacceptable        42.1%

                      Too dangerous or unknown consequences for humans   21.9%

                      Could get out of control                           16.3%

                      Person has a right to own genetic identity         15.1%

                      Religious/spiritual reasons                        10.3%

                      Need laws and regulations                           1.9%

                      Too costly                                          0.8%

                      CLONING OF HUMAN SKIN AND ORGANS IS ACCEPTABLE

                      About 90 per cent of respondents found cloning an entire human being totally

                     unacceptable, but many found the cloning of skin and organs acceptable:

                      Clone skin for burn or accident victims                 86.7%

                      Clone heart or liver for transplant                     84.4%

                      Clone human brain for victims of severe brain damage    66.4%

Category: 33. Cloning