From:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk:80/et?ac=000271261842766&rtmo=f33Vwavs&atmo=ggggg3qK&P4_FOLLOW_ON=/98/12/8/nclon08.html&pg=/et/98/12/8/nclon08.html
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Tuesday 8 December 1998
Cloned embryo research to be recommended
THE cloning of human embryos for research into treatments that could transform medicine in the next century will be recommended by government advisers today.
In a controversial move, they say that while cloning humans should be banned, the same rule should not apply to the use of embryos a few days old for research to develop treatments based on cloned tissue and organs.
This may cause concern, not just in anti-abortion and religious groups but among the general public. A recent survey for the Wellcome Trust found that people expressed reservations about cloning to create tissue and organs for medical treatments because it involved the destruction of human embryos.
The decision comes in a joint report from the Human Genetics Advisory Commission (HGAC) and the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA). In January, the HGAC said that human embryos could be cloned to help provide treatments for injury and disease within a matter of years.
Scientists forecast a day when brain cells are harvested to replace those lost through degenerative disorders such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease, and muscle tissue - and perhaps whole organs - are grown from scratch. The use of tissue cloned from a patient's cells would avoid the usual transplant problems of rejection.
Under the 1990 Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act, embryos less than 14 days old may already be used for research for defined purposes. These include promoting advances in the treatment of fertility, increasing knowledge about the causes of congenital disease and developing methods for detecting gene abnormalities.
But it does not cover research aimed at developing new forms of replacement tissue treatment. Sir Colin Campbell, chairman of the HGAC, said: "Cell nucleus replacement techniques might be helpful with research into and eventually treatment of conditions such as Parkinson's, Huntingdon's, Alzheimer's and various types of cancer.
"Treatments might also be developed for diseased or damaged tissue. This would entail growing cells or tissue in culture and not involve human reproductive cloning. Although such applications are still some years away, we believe that it would not be right at this stage to rule out limited research using such techniques, which could be of great benefit to seriously-ill people."
The joint HGAC/HFEA Cloning Working Group report advises the Government to introduce legislation banning human reproductive cloning in line with the consultation exercise. This would effectively separate the issue of reproductive cloning from cloning as part of the search for new therapies, so called therapeutic cloning.
The report also recommends that Frank Dobson, the Health Secretary, considers changing the regulations so that the HFEA can issue licences for the "development of therapeutic treatments for diseased or damaged tissues or organs". It said the issues should be examined again in five years to take into account scientific developments and the public attitudes towards them.
The report followed an analysis by experts of responses to a consultation exercise held between January and April this year.
Sir Colin said at the time that the HGAC wanted "to stop the wild and irresponsible notion of cloning whole human beings but allow procedures that may in four to five to eight years' time lead to the curing of diseases".
Yesterday, he said: "It is quite clear that human reproductive cloning
is unacceptable to a substantial majority of the population. A total ban
on its use for any purpose is the obvious and straightforward way of recognising
this."
dan@southeast.net
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