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| Sunday, 31 March 2002 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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Human embryos next? by Colvin L. De Silva, our London correspondent
This landmark decision of the House of Lords opens the way forward for pioneering research on stem cells - the body's master cells - which could be used to repair damaged organs and tissue. The scientists believe that they make breakthroughs within five years. Professor Sir George Raddha, Chief Executive of the Medical Research Council, said "MRC supports this area of research and believes that it has real potential for the treatment of many life threatening diseases and conditions". In addition to curing ruined tissue, the research may also lead to scientists growing whole organs that can be transplanted into terminally ill patients. The decision allows tests on stem cells taken from embryos created by cell nuclear replacement - the cloning technique used to create Dolly the sheep in 1997 in Edinburgh. In this method, a nucleus is removed from a female egg and replaced with one taken from the patient, so creating a genetic clone. The resulting embryo should have stem cells which are perfectly compatible. Critics of this research fear that it will ultimately lead to creating full clones - identical copies of human. The Lords committee was strongly opposed to cloning humans, but felt that any research that would pave the way for life saving should be allowed. The society for the Protection of Unborn Children and Life claimed the Lords' Report was drawn up by prejudiced group of experts with "vested interests in embryo research" Pro Life groups claim similar research can be carried out on adult stem cells - taken from the bone marrow - rather than embryos. Stem cells are body's most basic cells. They can grow into any other cells that the human body needs such as nerve, muscle and liver cells. Experts can extract them from spare embryos created for IVF treatment or from embryos cloned with cells from the patient. Those disease free stem cells can be transplanted. If the procedure succeeds the stem cells will colonise infected organs and eradicate disease. Scientists say research will greatly expand their understanding of the embryos. In the years to come scientists may have ability to grow perfect replacement organs in laboratories. Reverend Richard Harries, Bishop of Oxford and Chairman of the Committee said "Research on early human embryos raises difficult moral and scientific issues, on which there are strong and sincerely held views. The committee was not persuaded that it would be right to prohibit all research on early embryos, which has been permitted since 1990 and regulated effectively by the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority since then." Explanatory Notes What are Stem Cells? Precursor cells or 'Master Cells' - the basic building blocks of human and animals life. They have the potential to develop into any other cell a body needs, such as heart muscle, brain cells, and nerve tissue. What are stem cells so important? Many scientists believe that stem cells free from disease can cure infected organs by colonising the sick cells and overwhelming the disease. Eventually scientists may grow complete organs in laboratories. What is cell nuclear replacement? Removing the nucleus from an egg and implanting a substitute nucleus taken from a donor. It can potentially create an embryo that is a genetic match - a perfect clone. Cloning of Dolly, the sheep Dolly the sheep was created at the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh by embryologist Ian Wilmot on 5th July, 1966. Dolly was not born from the union of a sperm and an egg, but from the genetic material of a single udder cell taken from a six year old sheep. Wilmot fused the udder cell with an egg from another sheep, after first removing the genetic material from the egg. The udder cell's genes took up residence in the egg and directed it to grow. Roslin scientists showed that cloning of the type that produced Dolly was possible. What should be done with this knowledge everybody started questioning. Laboratory scientists, farmers and wildlife conversationists can all think of reasons why cloning animals with special characteristics might be useful. The overwhelming question remains whether or not, we should clone people. One aspect of their work that they regret is that it puts human cloning' on the spectrum of future possibilities. We now have the news that Dr. Alan Colman is to leave Britain because of a lack of funding for research. He has found it impossible to raise 30 million sterling pounds for his project to find a cure for diabetes using stem cells. He will leave Edinburgh and continue his work in Singapore. He said the government provided 'sub standard' investment in science compared with countries such as Untied States. |
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| Editorial | Security Produced by Lake House |
The House of Lords gave the go ahead for the controversial cloning of
human embryos for use in stem cell research recently. This work has
enormous potential for the treatment of illnesses such as cancer,
Alzhemer's, Parkinson's spinal cord injuries, strokes, burns, heart
disease, diabetes and arthritis. By allowing this to be carried out in the
United Kingdom, the Lords have ensured that it can be carefully monitored
and controlled rather than driven underground, where there would be no
controls at all or to less responsible nations where the work is less
regulated and carried out by cowboys. This way the stem cell research
could go ahead without developing it into a Frankenstein operation which
could develop into cloning of human babies. The regulation has been placed
under the care of Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority who has
already issued two licences for this research.
