Two Harvard University teams plan to produce cloned human embryos, the Boston Globe reported earlier this week. Doug Melton and Kevin Eggan are seeking permission from Harvard's stem cell research committee to make embryos carrying the genetic material of patients with type 1 diabetes, Parkinson's, and Alzheimer's, while George Daley and Leonard Zon are planning similar experiments to study immune deficiency and other disorders of the bone marrow, but have not yet formally sought permission.
The Harvard efforts represent the first potential attempt to clone human embryos at a US institution since a failed effort by University of California at San Francisco researchers in 2001. This February in Science, a South Korean team reported that they had produced cloned human embryos, fueling fears among US stem cell researchers and advocates that the country is losing its edge in stem cell research due to Bush administration restrictions on federal funding. In ...
