Blogs / Discoblog

Dr. Michael Kamrava, the doctor who implanted “octomom” Nadya Suleman’s eight embryos (which, of course, became eight babies), has been kicked out of the Society of Reproductive Medicine for a “pattern of behavior” detrimental to the industry, according to a spokesman for the association. This sounds like a big deal, but it really doesn’t mean anything, since the Beverly Hills fertility doctor still has his license, so he’s free to continue stuffing women full of an unhealthy numbers of embryos.

From the Los Angeles Times:

The disciplinary action was approved by the association’s board in September and first reported over the weekend by USA Today. The move does not bar Dr. Michael Kamrava from continuing to practice, but sends a strong signal to prospective patients that the doctor’s standards and history are outside the group’s acceptable limits.

It’s a nice gesture, though whether it makes any difference remains to be seen. After all, it doesn’t seem like the patients that seek out Dr. Kamrava are not really all that concerned with what the Society of Reproductive Medicine has to say.

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Image: iStockphoto

A U.S. fertility doctor has claimed that he can clone human embryos—and plant them inside the wombs of women who want cloned babies.

So far, none of his implantations have led to successful pregnancies, but Panayiotis Zavos is certain that the first cloned baby is not far off. Britain’s The Independent, a less-than-the-most-reliable source for science news, reports that Zavos can be seen here creating human embryos before injecting them into the the womb.

Zavos says he has transferred 11 of a total of 14 cloned embryos to the wombs of female patients, and that this is only the “first chapter” in his research—which he is confident will eventually produce successful results.

“I may not be the one that does it, but the cloned child is coming. There is absolutely no way that it will not happen,” Zavos told The Independent. He isn’t sure whether the research can be expedited to produce a cloned baby within a year or two. But then again, rushing it would emphasize the wrong priority: “We’re not really under pressure to deliver a cloned baby to this world. What we are under pressure to do is to deliver a cloned baby that is a healthy one.”

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