The past few years have seen many changes in the field of genetics, including the ability to genetically clone mammals, first achieved in 1997 with a sheep named Dolly. Still a relatively new phenomenon, news stories are continually detailing new advances in cloning, reasons why cloning is important, and concerns about the safety and ethics of cloning. This week's Topic In Depth highlights some...

This is the homepage of a PBS documentary about genetic technologies that was first aired in June 2003. The Web site has many online-only interactive features, including a section called Fact or Fiction. Here users can test their knowledge of reproductive technologies, cloning, legal DNA issues, and other topics. Stem cell research is outlined in one of the parts of Mapping the Future, and ethical...

Dolly, the world's first animal to be cloned from an adult cell, was put down February 14, 2003, due to a tumor in the lung. Her death has drawn increased attention to how little we really know about the potential health problems associated with genetic cloning. The journal Nature offers a special Web focus on "the life of this extraordinary sheep," including current and archived news articles and...

Human cloning is quite possibly the most contentious and uncertain of all of the medical science discoveries and research efforts of the past century and its future is quite uncertain. This exercise, developed by Keith Nuthall of the Poway Unified School District in California, challenges students to consider the ethics, politics, and science of cloning en route to devising a detailed answer to...

A pre-publication version of a human cloning report to be published by the National Academy Press (NAP), Scientific and Medical Aspects of Human Reproductive Cloning concludes that human reproductive cloning, as it could be currently practiced, should be banned. The report's panel is jointly composed of the National Academies Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy (COSEPUP) and the...

In a recent press briefing, stem cell research pioneers James Thomson and John Gearhart announced that, despite political obstacles and limited funding, stem cell research is progressing and clinical trials on human beings should begin within the next five years. The Why Files chronicles the first five years of embryonic stem cell research, covering the science, the politics, and the ethical...