HUMAN THERAPEUTIC CLONING:
Developments during the year 2005
Sponsored link.
Note:
The following news items relate to therapeutic cloning: the creation of
pre-embryos in order to extract their stem cells and create a human organ.
They are unrelated to reproductive cloning: the creation of a newborn who is
an exact duplication of an existing person.
See another essay for U.S. legislative
information at the Federal and State levels.
Cloning news items during 2005:
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2005-FEB-08: UK issues second cloning license: In 2001, Britain became the first nation to authorize
cloning to produce stem cells for research. The Human Fertilization
and Embryology Authority issued its first license in 2004-AUG to a
team trying to find a cure for diabetes. They issued their second license to Ian
Wilmut -- who led the team that created "Dolly" the first cloned sheep -- and
motor neuron expert Christopher Shaw of the Institute of Psychiatry in
London. They plan to clone embryos to study how nerve cells go awry to cause the
disease. Angela McNab, head of the Authority said: "We recognize that
motor neuron disease is a serious congenital condition. Following careful review
of the medical, scientific, legal and ethical aspects of this application, we
felt it was appropriate to grant the Roslin Institute a one-year license for
this research into the disease."
Reaction was as expected:
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Dr. Brian Dickie, spokesperson of the Motor
Neuron Disease Association, said: "We are a step closer to medical
research that has the potential to revolutionize the future treatment of neuron
disease." This is a currently incurable muscle-wasting condition that
disables about 350,000 people and kills some 100,000 annually. |
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A spokesperson for Comment on Reproductive
Ethics said: "What a sad and extraordinary volte face (turnaround) for
the pioneer of animal cloning. Wilmut has always been the loudest voice in
recent years warning of the dangers of mammalian cloning. And we remember how in
the years following the birth of Dolly the Sheep, he assured the world he would
never go near human cloning." In reality, Wilmut has often condemned
reproductive cloning, whose goal is to produce newborns. But, he favors
controlled therapeutic cloning which uses cloning to extract stem cells.
Comment on Reproductive Ethics appears to not differentiate between the two
activities. |
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License recipient Christopher Shaw said: "This
is potentially a big step forward for [motor neuron disease[ research. We have
spent 20 years looking for genes that cause [motor neuron disease] and to date
we have come up with just one gene. We believe that the use of cell nuclear
replacement will greatly advance our understanding of why motor neurons
degenerate in this disease, without having to hunt down the gene defect."
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Peter Braude, a genetics expert at King's College,
London, said that studying motor neuron disease and finding a cure is extremely
difficult; cloning is the only way to produce the cells necessary to further
research. 1 |
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2005-FEB-14: MA: Bill to authorize stem
cell research: The Massachusetts Family Institute reported
that Senator Robert E. Travaglini has introduced bill SB 25. It would
authorize the use of human embryos in the development of research and
therapies in regenerative medicine. The bill prohibits human
reproductive cloning. It allows for the fertilization of ova and the
harvesting of stem cells. The Institute is opposed to this bill becauseL
"....it explicitly endorses the creation of embryos for use in
scientific research, which essentially means the creation of [human]
life for destruction." Governor Mitt Romney announced that he is
opposed to therapeutic cloning. His wife suffer from multiple sclerosis,
which researchers believe might eventually be cured as a result of stem
cell research. In a letter to Travaglini, Romney wrote: "The law
should prohibit all human cloning and the creation of new human embryos
for the purpose of research....Respect for human life is a fundamental
element of civilized society. Lofty goals do not justify the creation of
life for experimentation and destruction." 2 | |
2005-FEB-18: UN passed resolution to ban
all cloning: By a vote of 71 to 35, with 43 nations abstaining, and
international law committee of the UN passed a non-binding resolution which supports a
ban on all forms of human cloning. In effect, this is a resolution to ban
therapeutic cloning only, because reproductive cloning is so unsafe and
unethical that no group is pursuing that route. 3 | |
2005-MAY-11: Embryo stem cell therapy cures
paralyzed rats: Scientists have enabled paralyzed rats to walk again by
treating them with human embryonic stem cells. This is "the first direct
demonstration the controversial cells can regenerate tissues damaged by
spinal cord injuries." Hans Keirstead, is an assistant professor of
anatomy and neurobiology at the University of California at Irvine's
Reeve-Irvine Research Center and the lead author of the study. He said:
"We're very excited with these results...[The findings] underscore
the great potential that stem cells have for treating human disease and
injury (and) suggests one approach to treating people who've just suffered
spinal cord injury, although there is still much work to do before we can
engage in human clinical tests." They found that the treatment was
most effective on rats who had been paralyzed for only a week. Those who had
been injured 10 months before treatment did not respond as strongly.
Dr. Robert Lanza, vice president of medical and scientific development at
Advanced Cell Technology in Worcester, MA said: "This is an impressive
study....It's an exciting first step toward treating spinal cord injuries
with human embryonic stem cells." He believes that human clinical trials
probably are "not far down the pike and could happen as soon as next year."
4 | |
2005-DEC-23: South Korea: Cloning research
shown to be fake: Hwang Woo-suk resigned his post with the Seoul
National University after a university panel said that his research was "intentionally
fabricated...This is a serious wrongdoing that has damaged the
foundations of science." 5 |
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Thomas Wagner, "Dolly Scientist Gets Human Cloning License,"
Associated Press, 2005-FEB-08, at:
http://news.yahoo.com/
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"Call your legislator and come to State House on Wednesday," Special Alert, Massachusetts Family Institute, 2005-FEB-14.
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"U.N. Panel Votes in Favor of Pro-Life Resolution," Citizen Link, 2005-FEB-18.
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"Stem Cell Therapy Cures Rat Paralysis," Sci-Tech Today,
2005-MAY-11, at:
http://www.sci-tech-today.com/
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"S Korea cloning research was fake," BBC News, 2005-DEC-23, at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/
Copyright © 2005 by Ontario Consultants on
Religious Tolerance
Originally published: 2005-FEB-11
Last updated 2006-FEB-14
Author: Bruce A Robinson
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