Richard Seed

Richard Seed (born 1928, died 2013) was an American physicist best known for his controversial and ultimately unsuccessful attempts to clone a human being in the late 1990s.

Seed, a Harvard-trained physicist and fertility specialist, announced his plans publicly in 1997, stating his belief that cloning humans was both ethically desirable and technologically feasible. He envisioned a future where parents could choose to have genetically identical copies of themselves or deceased loved ones.

His proposals sparked widespread ethical and scientific condemnation. Many scientists argued that the technology was not sufficiently advanced to ensure the safety of human clones, and ethicists raised concerns about the potential for exploitation, psychological harm, and the devaluation of human life.

Despite his public pronouncements and fundraising efforts, Seed never succeeded in cloning a human being. He faced significant regulatory hurdles, including a de facto moratorium on human cloning research in the United States. His efforts were further hampered by a lack of support from the scientific community and ethical objections.

Seed's activities ultimately faded from public attention, but his pronouncements remain a significant moment in the history of bioethics and the debate surrounding human cloning. He died on December 18, 2013, at the age of 85.