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Cloned stem cells to fight disease

Scientists at Newcastle University have cloned stem cells for the first time in Britain, which will eventually lead to successful treatments for degenerative diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

The scientists announced their important advance as South Korean researchers revealed landmark stem cell research that they claim has brought revolutionary treatments for some of the most devastating illnesses a "giant step" closer.

The Korean work opens new avenues to investigate diseases such as diabetes and Alzheimer's - and the possibility of treating conditions and rebuilding organs without problems of rejection.

Fellow scientists have hailed the research as a triumph, but they also stressed that practical stem cell treatments were still many years away.

The Korean-led team announced they had created the first embryonic stem cells, genetically tailored to match a group of patients.

Professor Woo Suk Hwang, from Seoul National University, who led the team, said at a news conference in London yesterday:

"This report brings science a giant step forward towards the day when some of human-kind's most devastating diseases and injuries can be effectively treated through the use of therapeutic stem cells."

Scientists hope to use them to provide replacement cells as treatments for a host of diseases and conditions, many of which are incurable today.

Degenerative brain diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, insulin-dependent diabetes, and spinal cord injuries are just some examples.

Controversial

But the research is controversial - not least because it involves the cloning of human embryos.

In Korea, where the new research was based, reproductive cloning is banned by law, as it is in the UK, where a breach can result in a 10-year prison sentence.

The Newcastle team congratulated the Korean achievement as they announced they had successfully produced a blastocyst - a tiny, early-stage embryo consisting of a hollow ball of cells - cloned from a human cell using nuclear transfer.

Although a long way behind the Korean research, it was the first time a human cloned embryo had been created in Britain.

Last year Professor Hwang's team announced the creation of the first line of embryonic stem cells derived from the therapeutic cloning of embryos.

The "nuclear transfer" technique employed was the same as that used to produce Dolly, the first mammal cloned from an adult cell.

This time the team succeeded in obtaining stem cell lines from embryos created by bringing together unrelated donor cells and eggs.

In every case, the genetic fingerprint of the cell line matched the original donor.

Skin cells from 11 men and women were used to provide the donor DNA. Among them were nine individuals with spinal cord injuries, one who had juvenile diabetes, and one with a genetic immune condition that increases the risk of infections.

A key discovery was that the age of the women providing the eggs made a crucial difference, with those from the younger women much more successful.

Also important was the fact that only freshly harvested eggs were used, not those left over from fertility treatments.

Professor Ian Wilmut, from the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh, who led the team which created Dolly the Sheep, is also working on therapeutic cloning.

He said: "Dr Hwang and his collaborators are to be congratulated for this research because these new observations make a very significant and important step forward toward the use of cells from cloned human embryos for research and therapy."

Cell therapy

Dr Anne McLaren, from the Centre for Medical Genetics and Policy at Cambridge University, said: "These exciting new cloned cell lines, if validated, will allow research on quantities of cells from patients suffering from juvenile diabetes, a disease with complex genetic as well as non-genetic causation. But cell therapy is still a long way off."

Pro-life charity Life said the research brought reproductive cloning a step closer.

A spokesman said: "This news from South Korea makes reproductive cloning a clear and present global danger.

"If, as they claim, these South Korean scientists can reliably produce cloned embryos healthy enough to survive to the blastocyst stage for cell harvesting, we can assume that they can reliably produce embryos healthy enough to try implanting them in women.

"This Frankenstein science should be banned in every civilised country."

Ethics expert Julian Savulescu, from Oxford University, dismissed the objections, arguing that it was immoral not to pursue therapeutic cloning and stem cell research.

"By holding back cloning research we may be responsible for the deaths of many people," he said.

"It is now thoroughly immoral and irresponsible not to do more with this life-saving research."