Malaysia has to break the 'policy lull' among Muslim countries on the regulation of cloning activities by speeding up its formulation of guidelines on the issues of human reproductive cloning (HRC) and therapeutic cloning (TC), says the Muslim Professionals Forum (MPF).

MPF director Dr Musa Mohd Nordin ( right ) said formulating a clear policy and framework for Malaysian scientists, such as by banning HRC and regulating TC, would enable them to compete with other scientists worldwide in developing treatment for a variety of chronic and debilitating diseases.

Unlike HRC, TC does not involve cloning a human being but the cultivation of human clonal embryos for the purpose of harvesting stem cells, tissues and organs.

This could lead to other possibilities for the treatment of diabetes mellitus, parkinsonism, myocardial infaction and spinal injuries, said Musa, who was formerly president of the Malaysian Islamic Medical Association.

The United Nations General Assembly last month decided to ban all HRC (84 votes to 34, with 37 abstentions), but this has yet to be translated by the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) countries into national policies.

Fatwa ahead of policy

The UN decision, says Musa, concurred with the agreement of the Malaysian Fatwa Council in March 2002 and three other fatwa councils worldwide at other times to prohibit HRC while regulating TC, should serve as an impetus for the government to complete drafting its policy on the issue.

In fact, says Musa, the fatwa councils have gone even further than the UN and given the green light for the use of surplus embryos from in vitro fertilization (IVF) laboratories for embryonic stem cell (ESC) research for purposes of therapeutic cloning.

"Is this an instance of fatwa ahead of policy? Yes. The national fatwa council of Malaysia had a fatwa on the issue prior to any formulation of policy or laws. In the Muslim world - no country has laws to prohibit reproductive human cloning or address therapeutic cloning.

"But the jurists in close collaboration with the scientists and physicians have already issued very clear fatwas on all these related issues," he said in an e-mail interview.

Skin and cartilage success

Commenting on the capabilities of scientists in Malaysia to spearhead research in the area of therapeutic cloning, Musa said it was not a question of facilities or expertise but in getting the "green light" from their ethics committees.

"Some of our researchers in UKM have done some excellent work on adult stem cells. They have successfully made skin and cartilage. The former have been successfully grafted onto skin of patients who have failed all other techniques of skin transplantation," said Musa.

"I know of a research team who are awaiting the green light from their ethical committees to undertake research work on surplus embryos from IVF clinics to harvest ESC.

"I think they should be encouraged to undertake this work and the National Committee on Human Cloning (set up by the cabinet in 2002) should make its position clear on this matter to enable our researchers to compete with other researchers in this work," he said.

"I hope Malaysia holding the helm of the OIC would take the lead and become the first OIC country to ban reproductive human cloning and have laws to regulate the research on therapeutic cloning," Musa added further.