
Doctors Panayiotis Zavos and Severino Antinori claim they are ready to embark on the greatest human experiment of our age. They say they will attempt to clone a human being before the year is out. Most people think the objections to this are ethical - human cloning would create many moral dilemmas. There is another question that few ever ask: is the science actually ready yet for cloning healthy humans? Horizon follows the latest research, which has led many scientists to believe that Zavos and Antinori's plans to clone the first human could end in tragedy. The programme also meets couples like Matthew and Desiree Racquer who think cloning offers them the only way to raise a child who is truly their own. For decades, cloning remained within the realms of science fiction. The idea that instead of combining a sperm and an egg, a new human could be made from a single cell taken from an adult, seemed completely absurd. But that all changed in February 1997, when the Roslin Institute introduced the world to Dolly the sheep - the first animal cloned from an adult. Ever since Dolly, scientists have been continuing to experiment with cloning animals. So far, they have succeeded in cloning sheep, cattle, pigs, goats and mice, fuelling the belief that humans could be next. But even Dolly's creator, Professor Ian Wilmut, is concerned that beneath the veneer of success lies a disturbing reality. Most cloning attempts on animals so far have resulted in failed implantation or abnormal foetuses. Of the animals born alive, some soon die of catastrophic organ failure. Others appear to be healthy for weeks or even months, then die suddenly, sometimes from bizarre new illnesses which do not occur in nature. Years of painstaking work are only now revealing some vital clues to what is going wrong. Horizon talks to the scientists who have uncovered new evidence, suggesting that the process of cloning itself causes subtle errors in the way genes function. These random errors may be like a time bomb inside every clone, causing some of the strange - often fatal - problems. There's no reason to think cloned human babies would fare any better. According to embryologist Dr Susan Avery, death might be the best outcome for many human clones. If they survived, they would suffer from catastrophic illnesses that modern medicine is powerless to prevent or cure. Dr Zavos claims that these problems are the result of the still unsophisticated methods being used by animal researchers. Using advanced in vitro fertilisation ('test tube baby') techniques, he claims that he will strive to make human cloning safer than natural reproduction. Now though, it seems that some IVF procedures themselves are being investigated for possible harmful effects on the long term health of children. Professor Gerald Schatten of the University of Pittsburgh reveals evidence of these risks, which could be magnified in cloning. Most reproductive specialists believe that the danger to any human born by cloning is enormous. But the would-be human cloners are determined to clone a human baby. If they proceed, they may be courting tragedy.
Title | Horizon - Season 38 Episode 11 : Cloning the First Human |
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Alternative Titles | BBC Horizon |
Subtitle Available |
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First Air Date | 1964-02-04 |
Last Air Date | 2024-07-22 |
Number of Episodes | 1169 |
Number of Seasons | 60 |
Genres | Documentary, |
Networks | BBC Two, |
Casts | |
Plot Keywords | , |










Episodes List
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Horizon Season 38 :Episode 1 The Mystery of the Miami Circle The Mystery of the Miami Circle
2001-01-25Horizon tells amazing science stories, unravels mysteries and reveals worlds you've never seen before.
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Horizon Season 38 :Episode 2 The Missing Link The Missing Link
2001-02-01Horizon tells amazing science stories, unravels mysteries and reveals worlds you've never seen before.
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Horizon Season 38 :Episode 3 Killer Algae Killer Algae
2001-02-08Horizon tells amazing science stories, unravels mysteries and reveals worlds you've never seen before.
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Horizon Season 38 :Episode 4 Ecstasy and Agony Ecstasy and Agony
2001-02-15Horizon tells amazing science stories, unravels mysteries and reveals worlds you've never seen before.
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Horizon Season 38 :Episode 5 Snowball Earth Snowball Earth
2001-02-22Horizon tells amazing science stories, unravels mysteries and reveals worlds you've never seen before.
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Horizon Season 38 :Episode 6 Taming the Problem Child Taming the Problem Child
2001-03-06Horizon tells amazing science stories, unravels mysteries and reveals worlds you've never seen before.
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Horizon Season 38 :Episode 7 The Mystery of the Persian Mummy The Mystery of the Persian Mummy
2001-09-20Horizon tells amazing science stories, unravels mysteries and reveals worlds you've never seen before.
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Horizon Season 38 :Episode 8 The Ape that Took Over the World The Ape that Took Over the World
2001-10-04Horizon tells amazing science stories, unravels mysteries and reveals worlds you've never seen before.
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Horizon Season 38 :Episode 9 Life Blood Life Blood
2001-10-11Horizon tells amazing science stories, unravels mysteries and reveals worlds you've never seen before.
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Horizon Season 38 :Episode 10 The Death Star The Death Star
2001-10-18Horizon tells amazing science stories, unravels mysteries and reveals worlds you've never seen before.
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Horizon Season 38 :Episode 11 Cloning the First Human Cloning the First Human
2001-10-25Horizon tells amazing science stories, unravels mysteries and reveals worlds you've never seen before.