South Korean cloning breakthrough and the Times.

It's pretty obvious the New York Times doesn't want to see any angle on the most recent human-cloning story appear first in a rival paper. In the last couple of days there has been a raft of stories occasioned by the story of South Korean scientists who have cloned a human embryo:

• Denise Grady filed first with a story on early reactions to the Korean story: "Debate Over Cloning in U.S. Remains Intense" (Feb. 12);



• Samuel Len's story profiled the Korean researchers who broke through: "South Korea, With Renowned Scientists, Revives Debate" (Feb. 13);



• Laurie Goodstein and Denise Grady did a story on the debate in this country over cloning-for-reproduction vs. cloning-for-therapy: "Split on Clones: Research vs. Reproduction" (Feb. 13);



• Andrew Pollack has a good story on what remains to be learned before cloning for stem cells will produce therapeutically useful interventions: "Medical and Ethical Issues Cloud Plans to Clone for Therapy" (Feb. 13);



• Gina Kolata does her usual excellent job in today's N.Y. Times on the cloning story: "Despite Advance in Cloning, Scientists Are Tempering Hope With Reality" (Feb. 15);



• Nicholas Wade did a story about the double default cause by the Bush administration's current policy against cloning for therapeutic research (the possibility of a science gap as researchers in other countries leap-frog over hog-tied researchers in this country, combined with our inability -- as a non-player -- to participate in the ethics and policy discussion): "Human Cloning Marches On, Without U.S. Help" (Feb. 15); and



• from Dale Fuchs a story about a stem-cell bank in Spain: "Bank for Human Stem Cells Starts Ethics Debate in Spain" (Feb. 15).