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PETBioNewsNewsAustralian researchers apply for a licence to create cloned human embryos

BioNews

Australian researchers apply for a licence to create cloned human embryos

Published 9 June 2009 posted in News and appears in BioNews 461

Author

Dr Antony Starza-Allen

Image by K Hardy via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human embryo at the blastocyst stage (about six days after fertilisation) 'hatching' out of the zona pellucida.
CC BY 4.0
Image by K Hardy via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human embryo at the blastocyst stage (about six days after fertilisation) 'hatching' out of the zona pellucida.

Two teams of Australian scientists have applied for a licence to use eggs left over from fertility treatment to create cloned human embryos, Australian newspapers report. The application, which is the first to be made in the country, has been submitted to a National Health and Medical...

Two teams of Australian scientists have applied for a licence to use eggs left over from fertility treatment to create cloned human embryos, Australian newspapers report. The application, which is the first to be made in the country, has been submitted to a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) panel meeting in Canberra for consideration.


The research teams from Monash University in Melbourne and the Australian Stem Cell Centre have applied for $1 million worth of grants under a joint stem cell research project between Victoria and New South Wales. Victoria was the first state in Australia to allow scientists to conduct 'therapeutic cloning', after passing legislation last year that was identical to that introduced by the Federal Parliament in December 2006. New South Wales soon followed suit becoming the second state to permit the technique.


The scientists hope to use SCNT (somatic cell nuclear transfer), also known as 'therapeutic cloning', to create cloned human embryos to help further research into diseases and disorders such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and diabetes. The technique requires the use of unfertilised human eggs, from which the genetic material is replaced with that taken from the patient. It is believed that stem cells can be extracted from the cloned embryos which will be an identical genetic match to a patient, eliminating the risk of rejection.


The teams have joined up with Sydney IVF to perform the proposed research. Research director at Sydney IVF, Thomas Stojanov, was confident the licence would be approved saying that 'if we did this, we'd be the first in the world.' Professor Richard Boyd, of Monash University, explained the potential of creating stem cells using a patient's own genetic material: 'Éwe are cloning a part of the patient's skin or the disease so the purpose is to understand what has gone wrong in the disease process in that patient and ultimately to try and create new therapies for that specific disease,' he said. 'This is the sort of technology we need to bring Australia in line with the rest of the world for a start, and hopefully push us to the very forefront', he added.

Related Articles

Image by Bill Sanderson via the Wellcome Collection, © Wellcome Trust Ltd 1990. Depicts Laocoön and his family (from Greek and Roman mythology) entwined in coils of DNA.
Image by Bill Sanderson via the Wellcome Collection, © Wellcome Trust Ltd 1990. Depicts Laocoön and his family entwined in coils of DNA (based on the figure of Laocoön from Greek and Roman mythology).
News
9 June 2009 • 1 minute read

Second Australian state to permit therapeutic cloning?

by Dr Antony Starza-Allen

The Lower House in New South Wales, Australia, voted last week to overturn a ban on therapeutic cloning by 65 votes to 26. If the measure is passed by the Upper House later this month it will bring New South Wales' cloning legislation in line with federal...

Image by Bill Sanderson via the Wellcome Collection, © Wellcome Trust Ltd 1990. Depicts Laocoön and his family (from Greek and Roman mythology) entwined in coils of DNA.
Image by Bill Sanderson via the Wellcome Collection, © Wellcome Trust Ltd 1990. Depicts Laocoön and his family entwined in coils of DNA (based on the figure of Laocoön from Greek and Roman mythology).
News
9 June 2009 • 2 minutes read

First Australian state allows therapeutic cloning

by Dr Antony Starza-Allen

The Upper House in Victoria, Australia, has approved an amendment to their Infertility Treatment Act permitting 'therapeutic cloning', to enable the creation of embryos for use in stem cell research. The legislation, passed by 23 votes to 16, brings Victorian laws in line with federal regulation. Therapeutic...

Image by Bill Sanderson via the Wellcome Collection, © Wellcome Trust Ltd 1990. Depicts Laocoön and his family (from Greek and Roman mythology) entwined in coils of DNA.
Image by Bill Sanderson via the Wellcome Collection, © Wellcome Trust Ltd 1990. Depicts Laocoön and his family entwined in coils of DNA (based on the figure of Laocoön from Greek and Roman mythology).
News
9 June 2009 • 2 minutes read

Australia's House of Representatives approves cloning bill

by Dr Antony Starza-Allen

Australia's House of Representatives has approved legislation that permits therapeutic cloning for embryonic stem (ES) cell research by 82 votes to 62. The Senate already passed the bill in early November by a slight margin of 34 votes to 32. MPs in the House of Representatives were...

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