Human cloning breakthrough

23 May 2005

Scientists have unveiled the world's first cloned human embryos that are tailor-made to treat patients in need of stem-cell therapy. The embryos were created using DNA from the patient's own skin cells to ensure a perfect match.

Antenna investigates...

RBM Online

Two teams of scientists from opposite sides of the world have made a major breakthrough in human cloning. They've created cloned human embryos containing stem cells that will be used to treat previously incurable conditions.

Alison Murdoch, stem cell expert, Newcastle University

Image: North News and Pictures

In Britain, scientists have created their first cloned human embryo. They've also tested how to harvest stem cells from embryos to help treat patients.

Woo Suk Hwang, stem cell expert, Seoul University

Image: Seoul University

But scientists in South Korea are already one step ahead. The embryos they've just made use DNA from a patient's own skin cells. Putting these embryonic stem cells back into the person shouldn't cause trouble - they contain the patient's own DNA, so they'll be a perfect match.
The Korean team are well on their way to setting up a stem-cell production line that can make stem cells tailored to individual patients. They've streamlined the process to improve its success rate and proved that the cloned embryos are the real deal. The genetic fingerprint of each one matches the patient the original skin cell came from.
'It is a major breakthrough. This time last year there was a possibility it would work but no one was sure it could happen. We've shown that it will work in humans. So it is now a realistic option that we will have treatments in the not too distant future.'
Alison Murdoch, stem cell expert, Newcastle University
The embryos created in Korea and the UK only exist for a few days and are simply used as a source of cells. These scientists are not letting the embryos grow into cloned human babies.
'Reproductive cloning - which is making a new baby - is illegal and not what we are doing. Reproductive cloning is banned almost worldwide. Our work is about creating cells that are specific for certain diseases so we can have treatments for specific individuals.'
Alison Murdoch
Scientists are taking part in a stem-cell revolution - creating cloned human embryos from patients with spinal-cord injuries, immune disease or even diabetes. Here's how the clones were grown...
Extract an egg from a willing woman donor. Tear a slit in the side of the egg and squeeze out its DNA. Insert a skin cell from your patient into the egg and zap with electricity to fuse the two cells together.

Image: RBM Online

Let the cloned embryo develop for a few days as if it were a newly fertilised egg. Put the embryo - now called a blastocyst - onto a layer of human cells growing in a dish.
Sit back and watch as colonies of embryonic stem cells from the cloned embryo grow. These cells have the capacity to patch up any human tissue and are a perfect match for your patient because they all contain the patient's DNA.
Although these cells already exist, scientists aren't rushing to put them back into the patients who need them...
'This is a major development but there is still a huge amount to do before it becomes a therapy. But if you've got a child with diabetes who is 10 years old, then I think we are realistically looking at something which will help them in the future.
'There are still things we need to do. We need to check the procedures are of the quality appropriate for therapeutic products. You can't just grow cells in a lab in any chemicals and then put them back into the patient. We need to make sure the products are safe.' Alison Murdoch, stem cell expert

Image: North News and Pictures

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