British Government Grants Human Cloning License for Embryonic Stem Cell Research to Scientist Who Created Cloned Sheep

Main Category: Stem Cell Research
Article Date: 10 Feb 2005 - 16:00 PDT


Britain's Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority on Tuesday granted a license to a team at the... Roslin Institute in Edinburgh, Scotland -- led by Professor Ian Wilmut, the scientist who created the cloned sheep known as "Dolly" -- to allow them to clone human embryos for stem cell research, the AP/Boston Globe reports (Wagner, AP/Boston Globe, 2/9). HFEA in August 2004 granted Europe's first license for scientists to clone human embryos for stem cell research to a team from the Newcastle Centre for Life at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. Wilmut's team applied for a cloning research license in September 2004 to learn more about motor neuron disease. Although human cloning for reproductive purposes is illegal in Britain -- violators could face unlimited fines and a 10-year prison sentence -- cloning for research purposes is legal under the 2001 Human Embryology Act. So far, only a South Korean team has successfully cloned human embryos (Kaiser Daily Reproductive Health Report, 10/14/04).

Research Details
Wilmut's team plans to use the same technique they used to create Dolly to conduct their research, Reuters reports. The process involves extracting genetic material from a single skin or blood cell of patients suffering from an inherited form of MND, inserting it into an egg that has had its own DNA removed and stimulating the egg to develop into an embryo. After the egg has developed for about six to 14 days, stem cells will be extracted and compared with the cells of MND patients' healthy and diseased cells (Holton, Reuters, 2/8). "This is not reproductive cloning in any way," Wilmut said, adding, "The eggs we use will not be allowed to grow beyond 14 days. Once the stem cells are removed for cell culture, the remaining cells will be destroyed. The embryonic stem cells that we derive in this way will only be used for research into motor neuron disease" (Reuters Health, 2/8). Although the technique will not be used to find a cure for MND, the research could lead to the development of medications to treat the disease (AFP/Yahoo! News, 2/8).

Reaction
"The scientific justification for these experiments is quite high," geneticist Janet Rossant, a senior investigator with the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute at Toronto's Mount Sinai Hospital, said, adding, "The cells are being used to better understand the disease." Alan Bernstein, president of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, a federal agency that funds the majority of medical research in the country, said, "This is an example of where the rest of the world is going" (Calamai, Toronto Star, 2/9). "Bravo for the British," Robert Lanza, vice president for medical and scientific development at Advanced Cell Technology, said, adding, "It's nice to know some countries are keeping religion and science separate" (Weiss, Washington Post, 2/9). But opponents of the research "denounced" the license, calling the technique to produce the human embryonic stem cells "unethical and unnecessary," CBC News reports. "What a sad and extraordinary volte-face for the pioneer of animal cloning," the London group Comment on Reproductive Ethics said on Tuesday (CBC News, 2/8). In a statement, the group said, "CORE expresses deep disappointment that such a reputable U.K. scientist as Professor Wilmut has succumbed to the temptations of the biotechnology industry," adding, "Human cloning remains dangerous, undesirable and unnecessary" (CORE release, 2/8). Richard Doerflinger, director of antiabortion activities for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, criticized the research, saying the embryos are the biological twins of the patients and "will be created only to be destroyed for research" (Washington Post, 2/9).

U.S. Research
HFEA's decision to issue a second license for such research mirrors similar actions taken by Korean and Chinese government agencies, a trend that worries some U.S. scientists who believe that the United States might be "losing its lead in one of the fastest-paced specialties in biomedical research," the Post reports (Washington Post, 2/9). Embryonic stem cell research faces "stiff opposition" in the United States from abortion-rights opponents and many prominent conservatives, including President Bush, who has limited federal funding for the research (Shin, New York Daily News, 2/9). Bush in his State of the Union address pledged to support a "culture of life" in his second term and called for a ban on creating embryos for experimentation. Bush said he wants to "work with Congress to ensure that human embryos are not created for experimentation or grown for body parts." However, he sidestepped the issue of federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research. Bush's embryonic stem cell policy, which he announced on Aug. 9, 2001, limits federally funded embryonic stem cell research to stem cell lines created on or before that date. An unnamed senior administration official last week said that Bush has no intention of relaxing restrictions on human embryonic stem cell research and plans to pursue stricter limits on all human embryo research (Kaiser Daily Reproductive Health Report, 2/4).

"Reprinted with permission from kaisernetwork.org kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Reproductive Health Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/repro The Kaiser Daily Reproductive Health Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation . © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

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