Insight
Hope dawns as cloning horror fades
Mon Oct 4, 2004 14:07
64.140.158.71

Insight
Hope dawns as cloning horror fades
http://www.suntimes.co.za/2000/08/27/insight/in11.htm

Fears of scientists cloning armies of dictators have eased. Now human embryo research is being allowed because it could cure the incurable
LAURICE TAITZ



MORE VIDEO:
# Restrictions on research are being eased internationally but cloning and related research remain highly controversial

# Advocates say embryonic stem cells can produce brain cells for people with brain damage, and organs such as hearts and lungs

# Opponents argue that the move to allow stem cell research puts scientists on a 'slippery slope' towards cloning humans

THREE years after a sheep named Dolly sparked an international clampdown on cloning-related research, the tide is starting to turn.

The 1997 announcement by scientists at Scotland's Roslin Institute that they had successfully created Dolly from a cell taken from an adult sheep sparked fears that similar technology would be used by a mad scientist to create an army of little Hitlers or a crop of designer superchildren.

Within weeks 19 European countries had signed an anti-cloning treaty and many countries strengthened a ban on using human embryos for research.

But last week Britain's chief medical officer, Professor Liam Donaldson, recommended that scientists should be permitted to clone human embryos - the product of laboratory fertilisation of an egg with sperm - to find treatments for conditions like Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis and even some spinal cord injuries.

And this week the US National Institutes of Health lifted a ban on government-funded researchers' working with cells from human embryos.

"In the beginning people's gut reaction was one of horror, of 'now we're playing God'," said Professor Michele Ramsay, a specialist in molecular genetics at the University of the Witwatersrand.

"Now they are starting to look at it more objectively and to see that the benefits for human beings would far outweigh what we stand to lose if we ban this type of research."

The potential benefits, say scientists, are vast.

The cells that will be used for research are stem cells - a kind of "master cell" that grows into specific types of cell for bone, cartilage, fat or muscle. Scientists argue that their use opens up a new medical frontier. s up to now incurable.

According to the US-based Human Cloning Foundation, embryonic stem cells can be grown to produce new skin for burn victims, brain cells for the brain-damaged, transplant organs such as hearts, lungs and livers that will not face rejection, and spinal cord cells for quadriplegics and paraplegics. They look forward to a time when amputees will have regenerated limbs and plastic surgery will use only human components.

The former Superman actor Christopher Reeve, who was paralysed in a horseriding accident, has been one of the technology's most vocal advocates.

But while restrictions on research are being eased internationally, cloning and related research remains highly controversial.

Opponents argue that allowing embryonic stem cell research puts scientists on a "slippery slope" towards cloning humans - outlawed in many countries, including South Africa.

And although using human embryos for research remains off limits to South African scientists, local anti-abortion organisations such as Doctors for Life were quick to express their alarm at the British announcement.

The organisation's Professor Hennie Cronj� called the British move "a medical horror story".

He said: First and foremost, the development of this technology will require the deliberate sacrifice of human embryos. We believe this to be immoral. There is no specific point . . . which more clearly indicates the beginning of the life of a human being, than the point of conception. . .

"The panel is actually suggesting experimentation on human beings, not 'potential' human beings."

Though most scientists agree that much is still unknown and caution is needed, Professor Udo Schuklenk, who specialises in bioethics at Wits University, argues that what should guide scientists is whether their research can reduce human suffering. is one of the most cost-effective ways of developing preventative treatment for debilitating diseases like Alzheimer's. "Embryonic stem cell research ... is vital."

Department of Health says South Africa is not planning to review its law that prohibits the use of human embryos.

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MSNBC - The Last Word: Alison Murdoch: A Green Light For Research
... Why do you think Britain has gotten so far out in front on stem-cell research ... legal
framework it is too easy for people to throw their hands up in horror and say ...

Monitoring Stem Cell Research — The President's Council on Bioethics, Mon Oct 4 14:16