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PETBioNewsNewsHFEA gives go-ahead for cloned embryo cells

BioNews

HFEA gives go-ahead for cloned embryo cells

Published 9 June 2009 posted in News and appears in BioNews 271

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BioNews

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).

The UK's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has given a Newcastle team permission to create human embryos that are clones of patients. The team, which applied for the licence in June, is licensed use the embryos to make embryonic stem cells for research purposes. They plan to investigate diabetes...

The UK's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has given a Newcastle team permission to create human embryos that are clones of patients. The team, which applied for the licence in June, is licensed use the embryos to make embryonic stem cells for research purposes. They plan to investigate diabetes, though their work could be relevant to diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.


The team will use a process known as CNR (cell nuclear replacement), which involves replacing the DNA of a human embryo with the DNA from a human skin cell. CNR was used to make Dolly the sheep, but the crucial difference is that embryos created by the Newcastle team will not be implanted in a womb. Such reproductive cloning is illegal in the UK, and punishable with up to ten years in jail and unlimited fineInstead, the team will work on embryonic stem cells derived from the embryos. It is thought these cells have great potential in treating disease by replacing damaged tissue. Unlike an organ transplant, stem cells are not expected to be rejected as the CNR process ensures they have the same DNA as the patient.


This is the first licence for CNR in humans that the HFEA has issued. The chair of the HFEA, Suzi Leather, said, 'After careful consideration of all the scientific, ethical, legal and medical aspects of the project, the HFEA Licence Committee agreed to grant an initial one year research licence to the Newcastle Centre for Life. This is an important area of research and a responsible use of technology. The HFEA is there to make sure any research involving human embryos is scrutinised and properly regulated'.


Since South Korean scientists announced the first use of this technology on human cells in February, there has been growing support for its use in the UK. Professor Alison Murdoch, who will lead the research, said, 'since we submitted our application we have had overwhelming support from senior scientists and clinicians from all over the world and many letters from patients who may benefit from the research'.


However, the announcement has triggered outrage amongst pro-life groups such as Comment on Reproductive Ethics (Core), who say that human embryos should not be used as a commodity. Core, along with other allied pressure groups, is reported to be considering a legal challenge to the HFEA's decision to allow the Newcastle research to go ahead. Meanwhile, in Germany, the president of the German Medical Association, Jorg-Dietrich Hoppe, has called for a Europe-wide ban on all forms of cloning.

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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

Clone embryos to avoid disease, says Dolly scientist

by Dr Jess Buxton

The UK scientist who lead the team responsible for creating Dolly the sheep has suggested using cloning technology to eradicate disease genes in early human embryos. In a new book, currently being serialised in the Daily Telegraph newspaper, Professor Ian Wilmut says that it would be...

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

EU stem cell laws could inhibit research

by BioNews

European scientists who want to work on human embryonic stem (ES) cells may feel inhibited by laws in their own countries that ban such research, even if they are working elsewhere. The problems arising from the diverse range of regulations governing stem cell research in Europe were raised in a...

Image by Sílvia Ferreira, Cristina Lopo and Eileen Gentleman via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a single human stem cell embedded within a porous hydrogel matrix (false colour).
CC BY 4.0
Image by Sílvia Ferreira, Cristina Lopo and Eileen Gentleman via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a single human stem cell embedded within a porous hydrogel matrix (false-coloured cryogenic scanning electron micrograph).
News
9 June 2009 • 2 minutes read

Second cloning licence issued in UK

by BioNews

The scientist who cloned Dolly the sheep has been given permission to use the same technique to clone human embryos for medical research into stem cells. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has granted a licence to the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh to use the cell nucleus replacement (CNR...

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

Legal challenge to first UK cloning licence

by BioNews

Opponents of research cloning have served an application for a judicial review on the UK's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), over its decision to issue the first licence granting permission to create cloned human embryos. The HFEA issued the licence in August 2004, to Newcastle University researchers working on...

Image by Sílvia Ferreira, Cristina Lopo and Eileen Gentleman via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a single human stem cell embedded within a porous hydrogel matrix (false colour).
CC BY 4.0
Image by Sílvia Ferreira, Cristina Lopo and Eileen Gentleman via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a single human stem cell embedded within a porous hydrogel matrix (false-coloured cryogenic scanning electron micrograph).
News
9 June 2009 • 1 minute read

Roslin team applies for human cloning licence

by BioNews

Professor Ian Wilmut, the scientist who lead the team that cloned Dolly the sheep, has applied for a licence to clone human embryos. He and his team, based at the Roslin Institute outside of Edinburgh, hope to use the cloned embryos in the study of, and to work towards a...

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