1.   And a group from South Korea claimed three years ago it had cloned an embryo, although the work was never published or verified.

2.   ACT, a privately held company, reported cloning embryos and growing a few of them to a very early stage of development invisible to the human eye.

3.   Advanced Cell Technology, until recently, was the only US institution openly seeking to clone human embryos for medical purposes.

4.   Advanced Cell Technology, the Massachusetts company that recently claimed to have cloned human embryos, reported the first human parthenotes in the same scientific paper.

5.   But citing the promise of research, the panel said scientists should be permitted to clone embryos to treat disease.

6.   But Clonaid is actively working to clone embryos that can grow into healthy babies, according to company scientific director Brigitte Boisselier.

7.   Even when cloning an embryo from a cow with a prime pedigreed bloodline, there are no guarantees that the results will be desirable, Westhusin said.

8.   Four years later the question of cloning human embryos is even more unsettled than it was then.

9.   He said the money, the amount of which he did not reveal, was secured before ACT reported late last month it had cloned human embryos.

10.   In addition, at least a handful of other scientists around the world are believed to be working on cloning human embryos for research purposes.