The success by a team at Oregon Health and Science University puts human “therapeutic cloning” back on the scientific agenda as a potential source of stem cells for regenerative medicine, after a few years in which attention focused on other methods that seemed easier to achieve.
The research may also revive fears about the birth of human clones, though the Oregon scientists insist that their work could not be used for this purpose.
“Our finding offers new ways of generating stem cells for patients with dysfunctional or damaged tissues and organs,” says Shoukhrat Mitalipov, senior author of the study published in the journal Cell. “Such stem cells can regenerate and replace those damaged cells and tissues and alleviate diseases that affect millions of people.”
Drones and clones. I’m eagerly waiting for the debates that are coming on the ethics of cloning for health purposes.