Cloning 教団 conned us out of £300,000

A couple who gave the 議論の的になる Raelian 教団 £300,000 to clone their dead son have told of their 苦しめる at 存在 ' cynically' duped.

American lawyer 示す 追跡（する） and his wife, Tracy, hoped scientists from the bizarre sect would create an 同一の twin of their son Andrew, who died 老年の ten months after heart 外科.

But they have now （刑事）被告 French biochemist Brigitte Boisselier - who 発表するd on Friday that the Raelian movement had produced the world's first human clone - of cashing in on their grief. She was at the centre of a 犯罪の 調査 in the US last year.

Their 取引 with the 教団 現れるd as it was 発表するd that a ありふれたs 調査 will 調査／捜査する its （人命などを）奪う，主張するs まっただ中に 関心 that the 法律s on cloning in Britain need to be 強化するd.

Creating a cloned human baby is banned here. But there are 恐れるs that the Human Fertilisation and Embryology 当局, which 監視するs genetic 研究, 欠如（する）s the teeth to 妨げる rogue scientists from breaking the 法律.

Dr Ian Gibson, the 労働 chairman of the backbench Science and 科学（工学）技術-委員会, told The Mail on Sunday: 'We have in the past been very 関心d about the 有効性 of the 当局 and we want to continue 監視するing it.'

The 追跡（する）s' 治療 by the Raelian movement will cast new 疑問 on its 告示 that one of its 信奉者s gave birth to a clone, 指名するd Eve.

The baby was born to a 31-year-old woman, かもしれない Korean, in an 公表されていない country. Some 報告（する）／憶測s 示唆するd it happened in eastern Europe but there were also 指示，表示する物s that it may have been in the Middle East.

Last night the 教団 would not 示す where the birth took place or where three other women, 恐らく 妊娠している with cloned babies, were based, although a South Korean newspaper （人命などを）奪う，主張するd a 20-year-old Korean woman is 推定する／予想するing one 早期に next year.

However, in the 直面する of 世界的な moral condemnati on and 激しい scepticism from genetics 専門家s, the 教団 - which believes mankind was created by 外国人s - continued to 主張する it could authenticate its （人命などを）奪う，主張するs.

'The 証拠 will be 供給（する）d over the next few days,' said Glenn Carter, 大統領，／社長 of the Raelians in Britain. 'Just because people don't believe something is true doesn't mean it's not true.'

An 独立した・無所属 専門家 will take デオキシリボ核酸 見本s within days and the results will be published soon afterwards. Even without proof, the Vatican said the 告示 was in itself a 調印する of 'a 残虐な mentality, devoid of any 倫理的な and human consideration'.

The 追跡（する）s, from Charleston, West Virginia, were 荒廃させるd when Andrew died in 1999 after 外科 to 修理 a 穴を開ける in his heart. But they were able to keep some of his 独房s in 冷淡な 貯蔵.

'We decided, for the first time in human history, to transcend the 広大な／多数の／重要な 湾 of death and create an 同一の twin of Andrew,' said 42-year-old Mr 追跡（する）.

The couple visited scientists in several 明言する／公表するs to learn about 遺伝子工学 before realising that the only group 用意が出来ている to 試みる／企てる a human clone from the 独房s of a dead person was Clonaid, a 会社／堅い 設立するd by the Raelian sect.

They were also aware that Dr Boisselier, a director, was a member of a 'crazy UFO 教団' but evidently 小衝突d aside any 関心s they may have harboured.

'She was willing to work on 研究 伴う／関わるing the 独房s of dead people and was 利益／興味d in 証明するing that human cloning was possible,' said Mr 追跡（する）. 'We didn't really care what her 宗教 was - that was her 商売／仕事.'

But Mr 追跡（する） （刑事）被告 Dr Boisselier of 存在 more 利益／興味d in publicising the bizarre 教団 than in helping him and his wife. 'They weren't doing anything, they weren't working,' said Mr 追跡（する）, a former 連邦議会の 候補者.

He paid Dr Boisselier £3,000 a month, 賃貸し（する）d a secret 研究室／実験室 and bought 器具／備品 for the 事業／計画（する） but it never 本気で got off the ground. 'We were deceived in a most 冷笑的な way. I don't believe they ever ーするつもりであるd helping us,' his wife told a friend. The couple 個人として believe Dr Boisselier and her team may not have even had the 科学（工学）技術 or knowledge to 達成する their 目的（とする）s.

The money was used to 任命する／導入する a 研究室／実験室 in an old school in the town of Nitro, 近づく Charleston, and scientists 最初 sought to '決定する the viability' of the dead child's デオキシリボ核酸. 'We 手配中の，お尋ね者 to take a look at Andrew's tissue to see if its 独房s looked good for デオキシリボ核酸 replicating,' said Mr 追跡（する）. 'Then we started to do some basic science 伴う／関わるing cow eggs from slaughterhouses.' The couple said a student from Alabama University seemed to do most of the work.

To Mr 追跡（する）'s annoyance, Dr Boisselier, while pocketing his money, was spending more time on 圧力（をかける） interviews about herself and her 宗教 than on the 事業／計画（する）.

'We decided not to 新たにする the 契約,' said Mr 追跡（する）. すぐに afterwards, US Food and 麻薬 行政 公式の／役人s learned of the goings-on at the 研究室／実験室 and Mr 追跡（する） was 軍隊d to 約束 that no human cloning would take place.

Dr Boisselier 認める last year that a 犯罪の 調査 - 開始する，打ち上げるd after 連邦の スパイ／執行官s 急襲するd on the Nitro lab - had 軍隊d her human cloning company to move from the US to an 身元不明の foreign country.

She was 調査／捜査するd by a 大陪審 in Syracuse, New York. She said 連邦の 公式の／役人s finally asked her to 調印する an 協定 明言する／公表するing that she would not 試みる／企てる to clone a human in the US until the 法律 on such 手続きs was 明らかにするd.

'It's a pity that cloning may not happen here because this is the most 先進国 for science,' Dr Boisselier said at the time.

A 連邦の 支払い猶予／一時停止 禁止（する）s the use of US 政府 基金s for 研究 on cloning humans.

Mr 追跡（する） has told friends he feels embarrassed by the episode and believes Dr Boisselier had no real 意向 of 試みる／企てるing the cloning.

In TV in terviews, the scientist （人命などを）奪う，主張するd she received £750,000 from the couple, although Mr 追跡（する） 持続するs it was no more than £300,000.

The 追跡（する）s are now looking for a scientist to help them, even though they have had another baby.

While most genetics 専門家s 疑問 the （人命などを）奪う，主張する by Dr Boisselier, others 同意しない. Dr Robert Lanza, of 前進するd 独房 科学（工学）技術, a company which has produced clones of human embryos for 研究 目的s, said: 'The science already 存在するs to clone a human embryo and it may be easier than we thought.'

Glenn Carter, the British leader of the Raelian 教団, is a 失業 actor who once played Jesus in the West End 生産／産物 of Jesus Christ Superstar, and also appeared in Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the London Palladium.

Last night he said: 'I believe that a human clone has been created. It is no hoax. One day we hope to grow a fully formed adult and be able to 移転 knowledge from an 負傷させるd or dying human into the clone so that person could carry on living.

'We could put an end to an enormous 量 of human 悲惨.'