Los Angeles, Calif., Apr 15, 2008 / 02:47 am
The same newly-developed technique that ethically produces stem cells for research can also be used to lower the technical barriers to human cloning, the Independent is reporting.
With the new technique, cloning procedures are now so simple and efficient that some fear maverick researchers will soon attempt to clone humans.
Last year, researchers announced that they had genetically reprogrammed adult skin cells to return the cells to an embryonic-like state. The reprogrammed cells, called induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells), are believed to have great potential for health treatments. The technique by which iPS cells are created is thought to sidestep ethical and practical issues surrounding human embryonic stem cell research, in which human embryos are created and destroyed.
Scientists have now used the same iPS cell creation procedure to create baby mice from the skin cells of adult animals. Adult mouse skin cells, reprogrammed to become iPS cells, were inserted into early embryos produced by in-vitro fertilization (IVF). Some of the offspring were partial clones, known as chimeras, sharing the genetic material of both the original embryo and the inserted iPS cells. Other offspring were full clones, like Dolly the Sheep, completely matching the genetic make-up of the donor cell.