BBC News Online looks back on the short history of the debate that surrounds cloning technology.
Lords back cloning research
February 2002
The House of Lords select committee set up last year to examine claims that making the clones was unnecessary has decided that the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority can issue research licences. The BBC's Sue Nelson reports.
Human cloning possible "within weeks"
August 2001
The doctors behind the project to produce the world's first human clone have been defending their plans in front of a panel of scientific experts in America. They are defying profound scientific and moral objections. The BBC's Tom Carver reports.
US moves against human cloning
August 2001
The United States House of Representatives voted to ban all human cloning - and went on to reject an amendment to the bill that would have permitted human cloning for stem cell research. The BBC's Rob Watson reports.
March 2001
Doctors from Italy and the United States said on Friday they intended to push ahead with their plans to clone human beings. The BBC's Fergus Walsh was in Rome for the announcement.
Simple science
Professor Antinori's claims may seem more like science fiction than practical medicine but, as the BBC's science correspondent Pallab Ghosh explains, the technology which created Dolly the sheep could also be used for human cloning.
MPs give the go-ahead
December 2000
UK politicians vote decisively in favour of extending the research done on human embryos, so that special cells can be taken from embryos at a very early stage of development. The BBC's Tom Heap reports.
Ethical debates
August 2000
The committee's recommendation that therapeutic cloning be allowed in the UK has been widely welcomed by scientists, but greeted with horror by some "pro-life" groups and church leaders. The BBC's Pallab Ghosh reports.
Experts advise research
August 2000
An expert panel told the British Government that UK scientists should be allowed to carry out a limited form of human cloning. The BBC's Christine McGourty examines the issues.
The breakthrough
November 1998
For the first time, scientists manage to isolate and grow human embryonic stem cells indefinitely in the laboratory. These are the parent cells for nearly all the tissues in the body. The BBC's James Wilkinson reports.
