Firm says it created human embryo through cloning
November 25, 2001 Posted: 12:11 PM EST (1711 GMT)
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- In a move certain to raise new questions of science and ethics, doctors have created human embryos through cloning, scientists announced Sunday.
The cloning was performed by Advanced Cell Technology Inc. of Worcester, Massachusetts. The company said the experiment was aimed not at creating a human being but at mining the embryo for stem cells used to treat disease, Reuters reported. Stem cells are a kind of master cell that can grow into any kind of cell in the body.
"We've taken the first hulking steps toward what we think is going to be a new area of medicine," said Dr. Michael West, the company's president and CEO. "It's been called regenerative medicine."
Speaking on NBC's Meet the Press, West disputed the suggestion that the work amounted to the creation of human life.
"Biologically, scientifically, the entities we're creating are not an individual," West said. "They're only cellular life. They're not a human life."
West said the breakthrough could lead to advances in fighting a variety of ailments, including Parkinson's disease and diabetes.
Exciting? Or troubling?
The news drew immediate criticism from some lawmakers.
"I think that people are concerned about the ethical problems here," said Sen. Richard Shelby, Republican of Alabama. He said he expected lawmakers would soon take up the issue.
"I believe it will be a big debate, but at end of day I don't believe we'll let
cloning of human embryos," Shelby said.
"I find it very, very troubling, and I think most of Congress would," said Sen.
Patrick Leahy, Democrat of Vermont.
Michael D. West, president of Advanced Cell Technology
In the study, which was published in the Journal of Regenerative Medicine, scientists removed the DNA from human egg cells and replaced it with DNA from a human body cell. The egg cells began to develop "to an embryonic state," according to a press release from the company.
Of the eight eggs, two divided to form early embryos of four cells and one progressed to a six-cell stage before it stopped dividing. This breakthrough occurred October 13, 2001.
"These are exciting preliminary developments," said Robert P. Lanza, vice president of medical and scientific development at ACT and an author on the paper.
"This work sets the stage for human therapeutic cloning as a potentially limitless source of immune-compatible cells for tissue engineering and transplantation
medicine. Our intention is not to create cloned human beings, but rather to make lifesaving therapies for a wide range of human disease conditions including
diabetes, strokes, cancer, AIDS and neurodegenerative disorders, such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease."
The White House had no immediate reaction to the news, but President Bush has previously voiced his opposition to human cloning. This summer, the House of Representatives voted to ban human cloning and set penalties of up to 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine for those convicted of attempting to clone humans.
The measure was never taken up by the Senate, so it never became law.