48 Facts About Brigitte Boisselier

Brigitte Boisselier embraced Raelism in 1992; the group was unpopular in France and her conversion led to tensions with those around her.

In late 2000, Clonaid announced that they had received a large donation to fund the cloning of a child, and that Boisselier supervised a team of scientists at a secret laboratory in the United States who would soon produce a human clone.

In 2003, impressed with her management of Clonaid and public relations skill, Rael, the founder of Raelism, announced that Brigitte Boisselier would succeed him as the group's leader upon his death.

Brigitte Boisselier was born to a Catholic family in France in 1956.

Brigitte Boisselier was raised on a farm in Champagne-Ardenne and became interested in science while young.

Brigitte Boisselier attended the University of Dijon, earning a master's degree in biochemistry and a PhD in chemistry.

Brigitte Boisselier returned to France in 1984 to work for Air Liquide, an industrial gas company, where she remained for 13 years.

Brigitte Boisselier married and had three children between the late 1970s and early 1990s.

In 1992, Brigitte Boisselier converted to Raelism, a UFO religion founded by the French journalist Claude Vorilhon, usually known as Rael.

Brigitte Boisselier believed that religious intolerance motivated a court to transfer the child's custody.

Brigitte Boisselier became the scientific director of Clonaid, an organization founded by Rael that sought to clone humans, in 1997.

That year, Brigitte Boisselier was interviewed by Le Monde about her role in Clonaid, and she lost her position with Air Liquide after the company learned of this.

Brigitte Boisselier filed a lawsuit against Air Liquide, arguing that she was the victim of religious discrimination.

Brigitte Boisselier's suit was successful: in 1999, she won a judgment of about US$30,000.

Brigitte Boisselier began to travel to discuss Clonaid, eventually becoming a high-profile speaker.

Brigitte Boisselier was one of the 25 members closest to Rael and joined the group's Order of Angels, which promoted free love and femininity.

Brigitte Boisselier moved to the United States and began teaching at State University of New York at Plattsburgh for a short time before moving to Hamilton College in 2000 to teach chemistry.

Brigitte Boisselier claimed she was initially popular at Hamilton College, but felt that she was disrespected after her association with Clonaid was publicized.

Shortly after Clonaid's launch, Brigitte Boisselier began publicizing and managing its operations.

Brigitte Boisselier said she had limited knowledge of cloning but was skilled in selecting experts.

Brigitte Boisselier said that the laboratory would initially be used to clone cattle, before moving on to humans.

Brigitte Boisselier planned to use a number of Raelian surrogates, who were willing to abort abnormal pregnancies, to bear clones; the high number of women would compensate for the low odds of a healthy child for each implantation.

In September 2000, Rael and Brigitte Boisselier held a press conference with several aspiring surrogate mothers of clones.

At the event, Brigitte Boisselier announced the construction of a cloning laboratory and vaguely described Hunt, who wished to remain anonymous.

Brigitte Boisselier received significant media attention as an advocate of cloning.

Brigitte Boisselier's striking physical appearance drew particular attention, and she developed an avant-garde, stylish reputation, contrary to popular images of scientists.

In early 2001, Brigitte Boisselier promised the cloning of a human child within a year, drawing further attention to her work.

The caretaker spoke publicly, saying that Brigitte Boisselier was seldom at the laboratory.

Brigitte Boisselier then announced that she was moving her cloning operations overseas.

Brigitte Boisselier never faced any legal charges in connection with the laboratory.

In March 2001, Brigitte Boisselier was invited to speak at a US Congress hearing on human cloning, and at her insistence Rael was permitted to speak as well.

On 7 August 2001, Brigitte Boisselier attended a widely publicized human cloning symposium at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, DC, Significant media attention was given to Brigitte Boisselier, who, along with Severino Antinori and Panayiotis Zavos, was one of three participants actively engaged in efforts to produce a human clone.

Brigitte Boisselier confidently announced at a press conference in Florida in December 2002 that Clonaid had successfully produced a live-born clone, named Eve, for an infertile couple.

Around that time, Brigitte Boisselier appeared on many US network news broadcasts and on CNN.

Brigitte Boisselier did not provide details about the child or its family, although she was often asked to.

Brigitte Boisselier hired a science editor from ABC to supervise verification of the cloning.

Brigitte Boisselier said a DNA test was forthcoming and announced that five more clones would be born later that winter.

Rael and Brigitte Boisselier attacked the filing as an attempt to take a child from loving parents and announced that, in protest, they would not provide DNA for testing.

In courtroom testimony, the vice president of Clonaid said he knew very little about the clone, and that Brigitte Boisselier controlled all the information.

Brigitte Boisselier did not attend the hearing, and Kaenzig provided little information, angering the judge, who threatened contempt of court charges.

Around that time, Brigitte Boisselier held a press conference at which she announced that the cloned baby's parents had cut off contact with her and would never speak to the press.

Brigitte Boisselier did not provide evidence to verify the claims.

Brigitte Boisselier stated that the machine called the RMX 2010 was used in the cloning attempts, and exhibited it publicly.

Brigitte Boisselier speculates that the coverage of Boisselier and other cloning adherents galvanized sentiment against cloning, leading to its banning in the US.

Brigitte Boisselier praised her for spreading the message of Raelism internationally while publicizing the cloning.

Brigitte Boisselier maintains that it is valuable as an ancient symbol of peace, and that it has been unfairly associated with Nazi Germany.

Brigitte Boisselier discussed these topics from a biological perspective, arguing that humans are essentially robots because they can be reprogrammed.

The group highly values feminine beauty, and Rael has applauded Brigitte Boisselier for maintaining her appearance, casting her as a role model.