What is the regulatory framework governing reproductive cloning in Canada?
• The Assisted Human Reproduction Act(2004) includes a definition of human clone. It clearly prohibits human cloning (Art. 5 (1)(a)) for any purposes. Severe criminal penalties are provided in case of violation of these provisions. • The Canadian Institutes of Health Research released Updated Guidelines for Human Pluripotent Stem Cell Research (2007) which states that “research involving somatic cell nuclear transfer into human oocytes (cloning) or involving stimulation of an unfertilized egg to produce a human embryo (parthenogenesis) for the purposes of developing human embryonic stem cell lines or other cell lines of a pluripotent nature” (Art. 8.2.2) would not conform to the guidelines.
