Editing Somatic cell nuclear transfer (section)

==Policies regarding human SCNT==
SCNT involving human cells is currently legal for research purposes in the [[United Kingdom]], having been incorporated into the [[Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990]].<ref name="coghlan">Andy Coghlan, "[https://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn1602 Cloning opponents fear loopholes in new UK law]", ''New Scientist'' (November 23, 2001, retrieved October 6, 2006)</ref><ref name="Pattinson"/> Permission must be obtained from the [[Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority]] in order to perform or attempt SCNT.

In the United States, the practice remains legal, as it has not been addressed by federal law.<ref name="NBAC">[http://www.georgetown.edu/research/nrcbl/nbac/pubs/cloning1/chapter5.pdf "Chapter 5: Legal and Policy Considerations. Cloning Human Beings"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070706021423/http://www.georgetown.edu/research/nrcbl/nbac/pubs/cloning1/chapter5.pdf |date=2007-07-06}} Report and Recommendations of the National Bioethics Advisory Commission, June 1997. Accessed 21 Oct 06</ref> However, in 2002, a moratorium on United States federal funding for SCNT prohibits funding the practice for the purposes of research. Thus, though legal, SCNT cannot be federally funded.<ref>{{cite journal |last1= Robertson |first1= John A |year= 2010 |title= Embryo Stem Cell Research: Ten Years of Controversy |journal= The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics |volume= 38 |issue= 2|pages= 191–203 |doi=10.1111/j.1748-720x.2010.00479.x|pmid= 20579242 |citeseerx= 10.1.1.475.1709 |s2cid= 38108788 }}</ref> American scholars have recently argued that because the product of SCNT is a clone embryo, rather than a human embryo, these policies are morally wrong and should be revised.<ref>{{cite journal |last1= Cunningham |first1= Thomas V |year= 2013 |title= What justifies the United States ban on federal funding for nonreproductive cloning? |journal= Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy |volume= 16 |issue= 4|pages= 825–841 |doi=10.1007/s11019-013-9465-5|pmid= 23361414 |s2cid= 1441938 }}</ref>

In 2003, the [[United Nations]] adopted a proposal submitted by [[Costa Rica]], calling on member states to "prohibit all forms of human cloning in as much as they are incompatible with human dignity and the protection of human life."<ref name="un">United Nations, "[https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2005/ga10333.doc.htm General Assembly Adopts United Nations Declaration on Human Cloning By Vote of 84-34-37]", press release (August 3, 2005, retrieved October 6, 2006)</ref> This phrase may include SCNT, depending on interpretation.

The [[Council of Europe|Council of Europe's]] ''Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine'' and its ''Additional Protocol to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Dignity of the Human Being with regard to the Application of Biology and Medicine, on the Prohibition of Cloning Human Being'' appear to ban SCNT of human beings. Of the Council's 45 member states, the ''Convention'' has been signed by 31 and ratified by 18. The ''Additional Protocol'' has been signed by 29 member nations and ratified by 14.<ref name="coe">Council of Europe, ''[http://conventions.coe.int/treaty/en/treaties/html/164.htm Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Dignity of the Human Being with regard to the Application of Biology and Medicine: Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine]'' (April 4, 1997, retrieved October 6, 2006); Council of Europe, ''[http://conventions.coe.int/treaty/en/treaties/html/168.htm Additional Protocol to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Dignity of the Human Being with regard to the Application of Biology and Medicine, on the Prohibition of Cloning Human Being]'' (January 12, 1998, retrieved October 6, 2006)</ref>