IT DIDN鈥橳 take long after Dolly the sheep was cloned in 1996 for maverick scientists to start talking about cloning humans.
One, Severino Antinori, attracted global condemnation when he announced plans to use cloning to help infertile couples. Critics of the idea argued that vital questions had to be answered first: about the health of the progeny, their identity and, for those so inclined, the spiritual dimensions.
Those clones never arrived: the technology was not up to it. But now comes news that biologists have turned mature animal cells into something resembling 鈥渢otipotent鈥� stem cells 鈥� and are trying to do the same with human cells (see 鈥�Stem cell power unleashed after 30 minute dip in acid鈥�).
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Totipotent cells are the most versatile of all stem cells; a single one can develop into an embryo with a placenta, and hence give rise to a fully formed animal 鈥� in other words, a clone. The researchers do not use the word 鈥渢otipotent鈥� and have no stated intention of cloning a human. But the research seems to have reopened the possibility 鈥� and the questions that go with it.
First, though, let鈥檚 rewind a little. Does the claim to have made the cells even stand up? The technique is astonishingly simple, and combined with the chequered history of stem cell research, this lends the story a distinctly 鈥渢oo good to be true鈥� feel.
But it has been published in the prestigious journal Nature, where New 杏吧原创 understands that it was subjected to tighter-than-normal scrutiny.
The research will now be subject to yet more scrutiny as other teams try to replicate it. Cracks may yet appear. But right now it looks like that rarity: an actual breakthrough.
If so, the implications are huge. First and foremost, it promises an almost ridiculously simple route to regenerative medicine. There is a lot of work still to do, and many potential pitfalls before it could be applied to human patients, but in principle almost any illness caused by damaged or ageing tissue 鈥� heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer鈥檚 and dozens of others 鈥� could be fixed this way.
That鈥檚 an exciting prospect, but as so often with stem cells, ethical concerns are lurking.
Regardless of whether the technique can or cannot be used for cloning, its apparent simplicity makes it likely that mavericks will again emerge with publicity-seeking plans to clone a human 鈥� or even with a baby that is claimed to be a clone.
聯The technique鈥檚 simplicity makes it likely mavericks will emerge with plans to clone humans聰
Such antics would poison the promise of this advance before it even begins. This is an area where passions run high, and consensus will be hard to find. So the time is ripe for renewed discussion of the uses of stem cell technologies. We should make a clear-eyed start on it now.
This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淐lone wars鈥�
