Application from the Newcastle Fertility Centre at Life to make human embryonic stem cells

The Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority (HFEA) is currently considering a licence application from the Newcastle Fertility Centre at Life to make human embryonic stem cells using cell nuclear transfer - a technique also known as therapeutic cloning.

As soon as a decision has been reached the HFEA will make an announcement.

Cloning is the process of creating an identical copy of an original. A clone in the biological sense, therefore, is a multi-cellular organism that is genetically identical to another living organism. Sometimes this can refer to "natural" clones made either when an organism reproduces asexually or when two genetically identical individuals are produced by accident (as with identical twins), but in common parlance the clone is an identical copy by some conscious design.

The term clone is derived from klôn, the Greek word for "twig". In horticulture, the spelling clon was used until the twentieth century; the final e came into use to indicate the vowel is a "long o" instead of a "short o". Since the term entered the popular lexicon in a more general context, the spelling clone has been used exclusively.

Portions of this article are licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Cloning".

Information on the application can be found on our website, please look at:
http://www.hfea.gov.uk/Research/Researchapplications/NewcastleFertilityCentreatLife

Background information on how the HFEA assesses research applications can be found on our website, please look at:
http://www.hfea.gov.uk/PressOffice/Backgroundpapers/Humanembryoresearch

Background information on stem cell research can be found on our website, please look at: http://www.hfea.gov.uk/PressOffice/Backgroundpapers/Stemcellresearch