Dr. Yorgos Nikas/Photo Researchers, Inc.
The ability to derive embryonic stem cells from cloned human embryos and to control their differentiation into different cell types provides revolutionary new opportunities in biology and medicine. These methods make it possible to study human genetic diseases in entirely new ways and, in the longer term, such cells may be used in the treatment of human disease. Certainly this approach will provide opportunities that are not otherwise available.
Last year, Professor Woo-Suk Hwang in Korea made a significant step forward when he derived stem cells from a cloned human embryo,1 demonstrating for the first time both that it was possible to clone human cells, and that it was possible to obtain embryonic stem cells from the resulting clone.
A few months ago I, along with Christopher Shaw at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, applied to the British government for a license to ...
