Panayiotis Michael Zavos (), or Panos Zavos (, ), is a

physiologist Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out chemical and ...

who was born in

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

and later emigrated to the United States. Zavos has been the subject of controversy for making unsubstantiated claims that he can clone human beings.

Academic career

Zavos received a Bachelor of Science in biology-chemistry in 1970, a Master of Science in biology-physiology in 1972, and an Education Specialist in Science (Ed.S.) in 1976 from

Emporia State University Emporia State University (Emporia State or ESU) is a public university in Emporia, Kansas, United States. Established in March 1863 as the Kansas State Normal School, Emporia State is the third-oldest public university in the state of Kansas. E ...

Emporia, Kansas Emporia is a city in and the county seat of Lyon County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 24,139. Emporia lies between Topeka, Kansas, Topeka and Wichita, Kansas, Wichita ...

. He earned a doctorate in animal physiology in 1978 from the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

. He also received an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

in 2008. He received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Emporia State University Zavos is

Professor Emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...

in reproductive physiology at the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...

. He was named as an Honorary Professor by the

Chinese Academy of Sciences The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS; ) is the national academy for natural sciences and the highest consultancy for science and technology of the People's Republic of China. It is the world's largest research organization, with 106 research i ...

, and as a Professor Emeritus by the Venkateshwara Institute of Medicine in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. He has served as a member of the International Advisory Committee of the Middle East Fertility Society.

Cloning claims

Zavos claims to have created and implanted cloned human

embryo An embryo ( ) is the initial stage of development for a multicellular organism. In organisms that reproduce sexually, embryonic development is the part of the life cycle that begins just after fertilization of the female egg cell by the male sp ...

s. However, Zavos' claims were roundly dismissed after he failed to produce any proof and have been widely condemned by doctors, politicians, and religious and pressure groups. Professor Hans Evers, chairman of the

European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology The European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) was founded in 1985 by Robert Edwards (University of Cambridge) and Jean Cohen (Paris), who felt that the study and research in the field of reproduction needed to be encouraged and ...

, stated: "All the scientific evidence so far indicates that it is completely impossible to clone humans. Anyone claiming that he is going to clone a human does not know what he is talking about. All these guys, including Zavos are doing damage to the profession and goodwill we have built up for many years in the area of fertility treatments." Professor Robert Winston,

emeritus professor ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

of fertility studies at Imperial College London, said "I do not know of any credible evidence that suggests Dr Zavos can clone a human being. This seems to be yet another one of his claims to get repeated publicity".

Arthur Caplan Arthur L. Caplan (born 1950) is an American ethicist and professor of bioethics at New York University Grossman School of Medicine. He is known for his contributions to the U.S. public policy, including: helping to found the National Marrow D ...

, a

bioethicist Bioethics is both a field of study and professional practice, interested in ethics, ethical issues related to health (primarily focused on the human, but also increasingly includes animal ethics), including those emerging from advances in biolo ...

at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

said of Zavos, "I think he is the most dangerous of the current fringe proponents of cloning, because he knows more, stretches the facts, and seems to be wallowing in a mix of publicity and fund-raising that rests on a foundation of hype."

UK Health Secretary The secretary of state for health and social care, also referred to as the health secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the work of the Departmen ...

John Reid condemned Zavos' attempts to create a cloned human baby as a "gross misuse of genetic science". Spyros Simitis, the brother of former Greek Prime Minister

Costas Simitis Konstantinos G. Simitis (; 23 June 1936 – 5 January 2025) was a Greek politician who led the 'Modernization' movement of Greece . He succeeded in leadership Andreas Papandreou, the founder of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK), and s ...

, characterized Zavos's claims as "scientific barbarism". He said that if human cloning were to become reality, it would mean the "end of human freedom and evolution". He also referred to the possible use of

cloning Cloning is the process of producing individual organisms with identical genomes, either by natural or artificial means. In nature, some organisms produce clones through asexual reproduction; this reproduction of an organism by itself without ...

by governments for controlling and shaping society according to the government's will.

References

External links

Professor Zavos
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zavos, Panayiotis 1944 births Living people University of Minnesota alumni American people of Greek Cypriot descent 21st-century American biologists Cypriot scientists Greek Cypriots Scientists from Lexington, Kentucky Cypriot emigrants to the United States Emporia State University alumni People from Famagusta District Pseudoscientific biologists