Proposals by an Italian doctor, Severino Antinori, to clone human beings have provoked outrage.

Vatican doctrinaire, cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, accused Antinori of "Nazi madness" and head of Italy's medical council, Giuseppe Del Barone, described the move as a "rape of nature".

Other scientists have condemned the plans, although with less hyperbole, as doubts remain over the health of clones.

Antinori has defended his proposals aimed at tackling disease and infertility and said he had "two to three thousand" couples - including from the UK - who sought cloned embryos for reproductive purposes.