Russia extends human cloning ban

Russia has decided to extend a moratorium on human cloning that expired two years ago by five years, the health and social development minister said on Friday.

Tatyana Golikova said the moratorium, which ended on June 23, 2007, "only applies to human cloning."

It was not entirely clear why it was not prolonged at the time or whether any human cloning experiments had been carried out in Russia during the past two years.

She added that "the law does not extend to the cloning of any other species."

The minister said the moratorium, backed by the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, was in line with a UN cloning declaration.

In March 2005, the UN adopted a non-binding Declaration on Human Cloning, calling for the prohibition of all forms of human cloning contrary to human dignity.