From Associated Press and The Boston Globe... Dateline: Sunday, September 6, 1998
Chicago physicist, Richard Seed, Ph.D., 69, provoked significant controversy earlier this year by announcing plans to begin cloning human beings. He now says that the first person he will try to clone will be himself! Furthermore, his wife Gloria, has agreed to carry the embryo to term. Since she is acknowledged to be post menopausal, the details of how such a pregnancy would be accomplished are cloaked in mystery and have not yet been revealed.
Seed's plan to clone humans drew fire from individuals who said his proposal was immoral and carries the considerable risk of stillbirths or abnormal fetuses. He apparently wishes to defuse this criticism (that he may be taking advantage of desperate women with a procedure that's not yet proven) by cloning himself first.
Because both California and Michigan have banned human cloning at least for the next five years and there is an unofficial moratorium on the practice by all OB/GYN infertility specialists throughout the country pending Federal legislation, Seed said that he has been invited by Mexico to move his "Human Cloning Clinic" there. He has vowed to produce a pregnancy within the next 2 ½ years.
Curiously, he has stated that "Human cloning would be the first step in discovering immortality." [Emphasis added by Editor.]
Dr. Seed of Riverside, Illinois elaborated on his views at the recent A4M Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada in connection with a "Panel Discussion on Medical Ethics" on Saturday evening, December 12th. Dr. Seed's Abstract for the Panel stated that "Turning the [genetic] program back to age 25 from age 60 is therefore not only possible, but will inevitably occur!!! This is the greatest payout of any research project conceivable." His Poster Presentation "Speaking on the Unspeakable [Rejuvenation]" stated, "... We must learn how to control and modify the genome -- not easy."