Italian doc says he will clone human
 Friday, 26 January 2001 12:41 (ET)

  LEXINGTON, Ky., Jan. 26 (UPI) -- An Italian doctor and fertility expert
 told a lecture at Samaritan Hospital that he plans to attempt to clone a
 human being within the next year.

  Dr. Severino Antinori of Rome said he is treating 10 couples -- including
 one American couple -- who are candidates for what he described as a
 therapeutic procedure. Antinori said this is the first time he has made his
 intentions public.

  "Whether we like it or not, we will have cloned individuals in the very
 near future," said Dr. Panos Zavos, a friend of Antinori, who delivered his
 lecture Thursday.

  Zavos told Friday's Lexington Herald-Leader, "If it's done sensibly and
 responsibly enough, I think there is a place for cloning in this world. It's
 going to happen."

  Antonini, 55, who is known for his work in assisted reproduction
 techniques and in developing methods have allowed even women in their early
 60s to get pregnant, said the chance to help infertile couples outweighs the
 ethical objections to his procedure, which he describes as safe.

  "Life is important," he said. "The goal to be a father, to be a mother, is
 a human right, an absolute human right."

  Antonini said the cloning attempt likely would be made somewhere in the
 Mediterranean.