Russia's lower house of parliament, the State Duma, passed in the third and final reading on Wednesday a government bill extending a ban on human cloning.

The document, which has to be signed into law by President Dmitry Medvedev, stipulates that human cloning will remain banned in Russia until the adoption of new legislation regulating the cloning process.

Human cloning has been the issue of heated debates since the 1960s. With human cloning technology yet to be finalized, its advocates have faced a number of legal, esthetic and religious challenges.

Russia's moratorium on cloning expired in June 2007.

Amendments to a 2002 law prohibiting human cloning in Russia allow for the cloning of other organisms for research and organ transplants.

MOSCOW, March 10 (RIA Novosti)