Biotechnology company Advanced Cell Technology indicated on Thursday that they may have already cloned human 鈥渆mbryo-like entities鈥� in order to harvest stem cells from them. But the company will not confirm what stage the research has reached.
In 1998 快猫短视频 learned that ACT had removed a nucleus from a cow鈥檚 egg and inserted human DNA. The aim was to grow a hybrid embryo that could produce human embryonic stem cells, but did not have the ultimate potential to make a baby (快猫短视频 July 11, 1998 p4).
Embryonic stem cells can differentiate into any type of cell and, if produced by cloning a patient鈥檚 cell, could be used to grow perfectly-matched transplant tissue.
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Now ACT may have grown embryos past the point reached by South Korean scientists from Kyunghee University, Seoul in 1998. The Korean team claimed to have grown an embryo to the point where it was four cells large before aborting their effort.
Advanced Cell Technology鈥檚 CEO Michael West would not say whether the companies鈥� scientists had successfully cloned human embryos or not. 鈥淪cientific results should be published in scientific journals,鈥� he told 快猫短视频.
The speculation will raise tensions in Washington DC where US lawmakers are arguing how best to draft legislation to regulate human cloning. In 2000 the UK government passed a law that would allow the type of research ACT is engaged in because it permits cloning human embryos of up to 14 days old for therapeutic purposes.