Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Dolly the Sheep's Doctor Quitting Human Cloning

So, let's get this straight. Not only does a new scientific breakthrough make human cloning unnecessary (in addition to being unproven and unethical) ... the scientist who made the first big cloning "breakthrough' by cloning Dolly the Sheep is now packing up his bags and "turning his back" on human cloning?

It seems to me the fight to protect human cloning may be drawing to an end - and a prohibition on human cloning is seeming more and more likely and sensical.

Regarding Dolly the Sheep - you heard it correctly. Dr. Ian Wilmut - the scientist who cloned Dolly - is giving up human cloning. Following is an excerpt from a recent story in The Telegraph:
Prof Wilmut, who works at Edinburgh University, believes a rival method pioneered in Japan has better potential for making human embryonic cells which can be used to grow a patient's own cells and tissues for a vast range of treatments, from treating strokes to heart attacks and Parkinson's, and will be less controversial than the Dolly method, known as "nuclear transfer."

His announcement could mark the beginning of the end for therapeutic cloning, on which tens of millions of pounds have been spent worldwide over the past decade.

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