Six Britons 'apply for clones'

Six Britons have applied to be cloned, it emerged today.

Controversial professor Panayiotis Zavos hopes to offer cloning to childless couples and individuals as an alternative to normal IVF treatment.

Yesterday the Evening Standard revealed he is close to producing the first human clone.

Today he said: "I would say easily half a dozen people from Britain have contacted me. I will help them if I can."

He also revealed two women are fighting for the chance to give birth to the world's first human clone.

The 24-year-old woman originally selected had to pull out with medical complications, and Dr Zavos said he chose two candidates from hundreds of applicants. They are being assessed in a secret location in America.

He said the winner would be paid: "The standard fee is in the region of $20,000 to $30,000. If there are books, or films, they will get their share."

Medical colleagues branded the process "tasteless" and believe a cloned baby could be born deformed.

Dr Zavos's experiment involved taking the nucleus from a donor's egg, then injecting genetic material from the donor into the empty egg, using a jolt of electricity that makes the egg react as if it were being fused with sperm.