LONDON, Feb. 4 (Xinhuanet) -- The attempt by a US controversial fertility expert to clone a human being has failed, reported British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) on Wednesday.

    American scientist Panos Zavos recently announced in London that he had successfully implanted a cloned human embryo in a 35-year-old woman's womb in an unnamed place. But tests have shown that the woman did not become pregnant, BBC said.

    Zavos said he would continue his attempts at human cloning, according to BBC.

    Three weeks ago, Zavos told a skeptical news conference here that he had cloned a human embryo by using the woman's immature egg and a skin cell from her husband.

    His team checked for a hormone which would indicate a pregnancy had developed two to three weeks after the embryo was implanted - but the results were negative.

    It is similar to the technology used to create the first clonedsheep Dolly, but its use on humans is illegal in the United Kingdom.

    Animal tests have shown cloning produces a high number of miscarriages and deformities in pregnancies.

    The scientist has said that the materials and methods he used in his research will be published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal "in the near future."

    Zavos has told the London press conference, "Successful or not,we are going to do another one and another one and another until we succeed."

    Other scientists have said human cloning should be completely outlawed.

    Lord Robert May, president of the Royal Society, said, "cowboy cloners" caused great public anxiety and should be stopped.

    Professor Richard Gardner, chairman of the Royal Society's working group on cloning, said, "We utterly condemn any attempt atpresent to clone human beings, which would be medically unsafe, scientifically unsound and ethically unacceptable. Enditem