Jun 7 2006
Scientists at Harvard University in the United States, in direct defiance of President Bush's wish to ban such research, have begun efforts to clone human embryos.
The esteemed university will bypass President Bush's moratorium on state funding of embryonic stem cell research and has made the decision to go it alone and fund the research with money from private donors.
Teams at Harvard will use millions of dollars of private donations from foundations, hospitals, institutions and individuals to fund academic projects to make new lines.
They hope to eventually be able to harvest stem cells to treat diabetes, neurodegenerative diseases, and blood disorders.
Embryonic stem cells are the "master" cells that divide and specialise into every type in the adult body and scientists have already shown in research in animals that they have enormous potential for repairing damaged and diseased tissues.
In 2001 George Bush banned the use of government money for research on human embryonic stem cells other than old lines already in use which have since been deemed useless because of contamination.
Harvard's ethics review boards considered the research proposals for a two year period before making the decision.
The research is justified by Harvard's desire to become a world leader in the field of stem cell research and the university which is one of the richest in the world plans build a science complex to house the Harvard Stem Cell Institute.
Stem cell research is a controversial matter and pro-life campaigners repeatedly argue that the process, which involves disposing of the used embryo, amounts to taking a human life.
But Harvard believes the potential benefits of the programme far outweigh such concerns.
University President Lawrence Summers says while the university understands and respects the beliefs of those who oppose such research, they believe that the life-and-death medical needs of countless suffering children and adults justifies moving forward with this research.
The scientists aim is to remove nuclei from human egg cells, and replace them with the DNA of a sick patient.
Stem cells can then be grown that match identically those in the patient and they should not be rejected when transplanted.
According to Dr. George Daley, one of the leaders of the project at Boston Children's Hospital, the long-term goal is to create embryonic stem cells from a patient's tissues, correct the genetic defects, and get the repaired cells back into the patients.
The future of the science was temporarily shaken when South Korea's reputation as a world leader was recently tarnished after its top scientist admitted faking results and is now facing charges of fraud.
As well as blocking federal funding, the U.S. president said in his state of the union speech in January that legislation would be drawn up to prevent "the most egregious abuses of medical research - human cloning in all its forms".
The Senate is due to vote on a bill, already passed by the House of Representatives, which could override Bush's decision against funding research.
Study sheds light on how cells repair damaged DNA