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ASRM BULLETIN
Volume 3, Number 44
November 26,
2001
ADVANCEMENTS IN CLONING SCIENCE:
Advanced Cell
Technology Reports Human Embryos Formed Using Somatic Cell Nuclear
Transfer and Parthenogenesis
In the latest issue of Scientific American, Drs. Jose Cibellli, Robert
Lanza, and Michael West of the privately funded, Worchester, Massachusetts
company Advanced Cell Technology announced to the public that they had
successfully formed human embryos using the techniques of somatic cell
nuclear transfer and parthenogenesis. Their paper appears in the online
journal e-biomed: The Journal of Regenerative Medicine.
The
researchers reported that three early embryos resulted from SCNT, two of
them reaching a four-cell stage and one exceeding six cells. Six
additional embryos resulted from chemically stimulating unfertilized eggs
to divide parthenogenetically. While none of the embryos yielded stem
cells, the work represents a first step in human therapeutic cloning, a
technique that holds great promise for creating immune-compatible sells
for tissue engineering and transplantation medicine.
See Scientific
American at http://www.sciam.com/explorations/2001/112401ezzel/
and e-biomed at www.liebertpub.com/EBI/ebiopaper1.pdf
and the Washington Post at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14231-2001Nov25.html
US
News and World Report, in its December 3 cover story, provides a great
deal of human interest and background information on the doctors and their
work. http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/011203/misc/3cloning.htm
In
addressing the question as to whether cloned stem cells will be normal or
not, Dr. Cibelli and his colleagues say that, before these cells can be
used to treat patients, they will have to be tested clinically. But the
researchers are encouraged by their apparently successful experience in
cloning cattle, which will be reported in the November 30 issue of
Science.
The American Society for Reproductive Medicine continues
to support therapeutic cloning and regenerative medicine. Through the use
of somatic cell nuclear transfer, cells and tissues might be created to
heal a variety of injuries and cure a number of diseases including
diabetes, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. ASRM does not, however, approve or
encourage the efforts of a few physicians and researchers who are
attempting to create human clones for reproductive
purposes.
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