Scientists Make Human Embryo Clones

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NEW YORK - Scientists in California say they have produced embryos that are clones of two men, a potential step toward developing scientifically valuable stem cells. The new report documents embryos made with ordinary skin cells. But it's not the first time human cloned embryos have been made. In 2005, for example, scientists in Britain reported using embryonic stem cells to produce a cloned embryo. It matured enough to produce stem cells, but none were extracted.

Stem cells weren't produced by the new embryos either, and because of that, experts reacted coolly to the research.

"I found it difficult to determine what was substantially new," said Doug Melton of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. He said the "next big advance will be to create a human embryonic stem cell line" from cloned embryos. "This has yet to be achieved."

Dr. George Daley of the Harvard institute and Children's Hospital Boston called the new report interesting but agreed that "the real splash" will be when somebody creates stem cell lines from cloned human embryos.

"It's only a matter of time before some group succeeds," Daley said.

Korean scientist Hwang Woo-suk claimed a few years ago that he'd created such cell lines, but that turned out to be a fraud.

Dr. Samuel Wood, a co-author of the new paper and chief executive of Stemagen Corp. of La Jolla, Calif., said he and his colleagues are now attempting to produce stem cell lines from the embryos.

The work was published online Thursday by the journal Stem Cells.

Scientists say stem cells from cloned embryos could provide a valuable tool for studying diseases, screening drugs and, perhaps someday, creating transplant material to treat conditions like diabetes and Parkinson's disease.

But critics raise objections. The process "involves creating human lives in the laboratory solely to destroy them for alleged benefit to others," said Richard Doerflinger, spokesman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Citing the earlier work in Britain, he also said that as a scientific advancement, the new work was "very limited."

Other objections to cloning include concerns about health risks and exploitation if large numbers of women are asked to provide eggs.

Those objections are one reason that an alternative route to stem cells made headlines last November. Scientists reported a relatively simple way to turn skin cells directly into stem cells. This direct reprogramming carries a theoretical risk of cancer for the recipients of tissue from these cells, however, and many scientists have urged that work continue on the cloning technique as well.

The cloning approach involves inserting DNA from a person into an egg, and then growing the egg into an embryo about five days old before extracting the stem cells. At that stage, the embryo is a sphere of about 150 cells.

In the new work, researchers took skin cells from Wood and another volunteer and produced three embryos with DNA matching the men's. Further DNA testing on one of these embryos strengthened the case that it was a clone, researchers said.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080118/ap_on_sc/cloned_embryos;_ylt=AsWP9hoJ9Vbt1UmXLoNQPgys0NUE
 
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What the Hell??? I thought human cloning was ILLEGAL, at even the most BASIC level!!! They can't get away with this!!! Creating and harvesting embryos for slaughter? Copying and creating human beings simply to be destroyed for their ingredients??? Bringing SOULS into being, only to banish them back by the hundreds???

This is worst than abortion...This is a worst atrocity than ANYTHING these stem cell bastards have tried to pull!!!
 

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it's not really cloning a person as much as it clones another embryo filled with stem cells to be used in medicine and stuff, I don't see how bad this is. they're just making blobs of stem cells, big whoop.
 
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it's not really cloning a person as much as it clones another embryo filled with stem cells to be used in medicine and stuff, I don't see how bad this is. they're just making blobs of stem cells, big whoop.
An embryo is a budding human life. This isn't just murder, it's depravity.
 
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If humans are able to create life without an 'act of God' which is apparently impregnating a woman.

Then would God cease to exist, as we've made his methods obsolete?
 
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If humans are able to create life without an 'act of God' which is apparently impregnating a woman.

Then would God cease to exist, as we've made his methods obsolete?
Quit babbling man, this is a serious crime against humanity and God we're dealing with here!
 
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Speaking as an atheist, J-Dude, I find it hard to take your arguments seriously..

Considering the sort of advances they hope to make through stem cell research I really don't see what everyone's problem is..

I mean, okay, let's say God is real. God creates man in his own image; all mini-creators. And then says.. 'Hey, don't do that! I never meant you to use the brains you were given!'
 
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Speaking as an atheist, J-Dude, I find it hard to take your arguments seriously..

Considering the sort of advances they hope to make through stem cell research I really don't see what everyone's problem is..

I mean, okay, let's say God is real. God creates man in his own image; all mini-creators. And then says.. 'Hey, don't do that! I never meant you to use the brains you were given!'
Using your brain doesn't mean condoning murder, which is what this is. I'm okay with stem cell research, but they need to stay the Hell away from embryos. They can get that stuff from the umbillical cord. They don't need to kill babies to get it.
 
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So, you don't think religion tried to adapt to science when it applied this 'new age' adaptation of Creatonism?
 
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So, you don't think religion tried to adapt to science when it applied this 'new age' adaptation of Creatonism?
Huh? Rephrase please...
 
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The point is... anytime man creates something on his own... religion tries to label it as heresy.
 
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I know the christian belief states different, but for me an embryo that is 5 days old isn't a human live.
It's a clump of (undifferentiated) cells. For me 'life' starts when the nervous system develops.
 
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Christianity has a built-in defense system: Anything that questions a belief, no matter how logical the argument is, is the work of Satan by the very fact that it makes you question a belief. It's a very interesting defense mechanism and the only way to get by it – and believe me, I was raised Southern Baptist – is to take massive amounts of mushrooms, sit in a field and just go, "Show me."
Bill Hicks on religion. :O

Here is my actual theory … beyond the huge, hilarious jokes I have. Here's my real theory, though: If you're so pro-life and you're so pro-child, then adopt one that's already here, that's very unwanted and very alone and needs someone to take care of it to get it out of a horrible situation. Okay? People say, "Why don't you do that?" And I say, "Because I hate ****ing kids and couldn't care less." Couldn't give a ****. Don't care at all about abortion. It's your choice, case closed, the end, bottom line. And by the way, that 3 month old kid in your belly is not a ****ing human being, okay? It's a bunch of little congregated cells. You're not a human … till you're in my phone book.
Bill Hicks on cloning, abortion and whatnot. :O

The man has a point.
 
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What the Hell??? I thought human cloning was ILLEGAL, at even the most BASIC level!!! They can't get away with this!!! Creating and harvesting embryos for slaughter? Copying and creating human beings simply to be destroyed for their ingredients??? Bringing SOULS into being, only to banish them back by the hundreds???

This is worst than abortion...This is a worst atrocity than ANYTHING these stem cell bastards have tried to pull!!!
Alright, J-Dude. I've gotta prove something to you right now. There is no such thing as a soul. Why isn't there one? Well look, as you know, our brain is responsible for all of our bodily functions, inculding thinking and feeling. Feelings are nothing but chemicals within the brain. Thoughts are simply information processed by the brain. Yet, when a person dies, so to speak, christians claim that his 'soul' goes to either heaven or hell.

This 'soul' is supposed to have all of our feelings and thoughts inside it, even though science had proven that they are functions of the brain. So if the soul is indeed responsible for us thinking, feeling and generally being conscious, why do we need a brain?

The only way this absurd theory would work is if the soul was some kind of backup of our emotions and thoughts, and generally everything the brain is capable of. But, when you remove a person's brain, his body stops functioning entirely. Why should that happen if he has a soul?

As for the rest of your reply, isn't cloning the birth of a new life? Even if that life is a copy of someone else's life, it's still a life. After all, when your soul goes to heaven, it isn't you, it's a mere copy of you. A copy of your emotions and thoughts which were originally in the brain. With your logic, shouldn't God be the biggest sinner of us all? How many people die daily, J-Dude? How much has he slaughtered by creating copies of us, just like these scientists are doing now?
 
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this isnt supposed to be a complete religious discussion.

i dont really get it, WHY is an embryo considered human life? an embryo is just a collection of cells, right?
 
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