tion of specialized tissues to repair organs damaged
by disease or injury.
Cloning Research and Political Reaction The basic
idea of therapeutic cloning was that the problems in-
volved in transplanting organs and tissues from one
human to another could be entirely set aside if the
new tissue were genetically identical to the host tis-
sue, so that no immune reaction could result. New
developments in cloning techniques renewed the
hope that it might be possible to produce specialized
kinds of cells, or even to grow entire organs, from an
individual’s own cells. This kind of research became
increasingly focused on the reproduction and ma-
nipulation of “stem cells,” and by the end of the de-
cade therapeutic cloning had effectively become a
branch of stem cell research.
The difficulty of distinguishing between repro-
ductive and therapeutic cloning made the legal reg-
ulation of cloning research awkward. The modest
aims and accomplishments of actual research in
human cloning did not prevent a massive media re-
action to the birth of Dolly that was focused on the
increased possibility of using nuclear transfer tech-
nology to produce a human clone. Within days, U.S.
president Bill Clinton imposed a moratorium on the
use of government funds for cloning research and
set up a National Bioethics Advisory Commission,
which reported ninety days later, recommending
legislation to prohibit anyone from attempting to
produce a child by means of nuclear transfer.
Impact The surge of publicity and speculation
generated by the first successful experiments in
cloning by nuclear transfer far outweighed the ac-
tual significance of the achievements. The most im-
portant scientific impact of the advancement of
cloning technology in the 1990’s involved new tech-
niques for cloning fragments of DNA, which revolu-
tionized forensic science and genomics and facili-
tated a rapid acceleration of the Human Genome
Project.
Further Reading
Brown, T. A.Gene Cloning and DNA Analysis: An Intro-
duction. 5th ed. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell, 2006. A
textbook on the techniques and applications of
cloning individual lengths of DNA in genomic
analysis. Features a commentary on the broader
applications of the technology.
Levine, Aaron D.Cloning: A Beginner’s Guide. Oxford,
England: Oneworld, 2007. A useful synoptic over-
view aimed at a general audience.
Pence, Gregory E.Cloning After Dolly: Who’s Still
Afraid?New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2004. A
follow-up volume to the item below, taking on
more recent developments and counterargu-
ments produced in response to its predecessor.
_______.Who’s Afraid of Human Cloning?Lanham,
Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, 1998. An agenda-
setting account of the ethical issues relevant to
the possibility of human cloning by an academic
philosopher.
Scientific American.Understanding Cloning. New York:
Warner Books, 2002. A wide-ranging anthology of
informative and speculative essays from the popu-
lar science magazine, in the Science Made Acces-
sible series.
Wilmut, Ian, and Roger Highfield.After Dolly: The Uses
and Misuses of Human Cloning. New York: W. W.
Norton, 2006. A carefully balanced account of the
issues raised by the cloning of the epoch-making
sheep, coauthored by one of the scientists respon-
sible.
Brian StablefordSee also Genetic engineering; Genetics research;
Human Genome Project; Medicine; Science and
technology; Stem cell research. Clooney, George
Identification American actor, producer, and writer
Born May 6, 1961; Lexington, Kentucky
By the early 1990’s, Clooney had been seen on both televi-
sion and movie screens. Although gainfully employed as a
Hollywood actor, he sought more recognition. He found his
golden opportunity when he played Dr. Doug Ross, an emer-
gency room doctor, for the seriesER.
George Clooney began the 1990’s as a generally un-
known actor in his role as an unlikable drug-dealing
surfer, Mark Remar, in the low-budget movieRed
Surf(1990).In that same year, he was also cast in a
short-lived police drama,Sunset Beat, in which he
played Chic Chesbro, an undercover biker police-
man by day and a rock guitar player by night. The fol-
lowing year, he was cast in the television seriesBaby
Talkas a construction worker, but disagreement with
the producer, Ed Weinberger, led Clooney to quit. InThe Nineties in America Clooney, George 201