• The Catholic Church has always held that stem-cell research and therapies are morally acceptable, as long as they don't involve the creation and destruction of human embryos. (archstl.org)
  • A year ago, we showed that you could do it with cells from embryos," says Wilmut. (newscientist.com)
  • Particularly valuable animals could be cloned from adult cells without the uncertainties of crossing them with other animals or tinkering with embryos. (newscientist.com)
  • More importantly, biotechnologists will for the first time be able to manipulate the genes of cells from farm animals directly before growing them into embryos. (newscientist.com)
  • But scientists have not managed to isolate such cells from farm animals, and must rely instead on injecting genes randomly into early embryos. (newscientist.com)
  • The recent desperation to clone human embryos may be seriously undermining accepted ethical principles of medical research, with potentially profound wider consequences. (lifeissues.net)
  • The somatic cell and the oocyte is then fused (f) and the embryos is allowed to develop to a blastocyst in vitro (g). (biomedcentral.com)
  • Currently, the efficiency for nuclear transfer is between 0-10%, i.e., 0-10 live births after transfer of 100 cloned embryos. (biomedcentral.com)
  • Some prohibit only cloning for reproductive purposes and allow the creation of cloned human embryos for research, whereas others prohibit the creation of cloned embryos for any purpose. (who.int)
  • In particular, scientific developments in areas such as iPS cells open new possibilities of research and, at mid term, of therapeutic applications, but they also bring new ethical challenges and problems requiring further reflection and debate. (lifeissues.net)
  • 5. In 2001, France and Germany requested the United Nations General Assembly to develop international conventions on human reproductive cloning, therapeutic cloning and research on stem cells. (who.int)
  • Otherwise, such a treaty would not recognize the inherent human nature of the early human embryo or fetus until after birth , and thus cloning them and using them for research - both "therapeutic" and "reproductive" -- would not be banned, and women undergoing "infertility treatments" could surely be put in danger. (lifeissues.net)
  • Finally, and inexorably, a true professional scientist poses clearly challenging questions to his research colleagues, and to the scientific enterprise in general, about the dubious "scientific" justification for the current rush to clone human beings - for both "therapeutic" and for "reproductive" purposes. (lifeissues.net)
  • But he is equally concerned about the unethical aspects inherent in the rush to perform " therapeutic " human cloning research, including the abuses to all vulnerable human patients who would be required to participate in clinical trials. (lifeissues.net)
  • In therapeutic cloning, the blastocyst is not transferred to a womb. (eurostemcell.org)
  • Another long-term hope for therapeutic cloning is that it could be used to generate cells that are genetically identical to a patient. (eurostemcell.org)
  • To date, no human embryonic stem cell lines have been derived using therapeutic cloning, so both these possibilities remain very much in the future. (eurostemcell.org)
  • We tested whether the cloned dogs were genetically identical by microsatellite analysis of genomic DNA from the donor Afghan, the cloned dogs and the surrogates (see supplementary information ). (nature.com)
  • Analysis of eight canine-specific microsatellite loci confirmed that the cloned dogs were genetically identical to their donor dog. (nature.com)
  • Somatic cell cloning (cloning or nuclear transfer) is a technique in which the nucleus (DNA) of a somatic cell is transferred into an enucleated metaphase-II oocyte for the generation of a new individual, genetically identical to the somatic cell donor (Figure 1 ). (biomedcentral.com)
  • Thus, the clone would be genetically identical to the nucleus donor only if the egg came from the same donor or from her maternal line. (who.int)
  • Beyond this scientific interest, the commercial concern in animal cloning focuses on replicating large numbers of genetically identical animals, especially those derived from a progenitor that has been modified genetically. (who.int)
  • It became a hot topic in 1996 when Dolly the sheep was cloned via a process called somatic cell nuclear transfer. (archstl.org)
  • The difference with Dolly is that all her DNA originated in a cell from the udder of an adult sheep. (newscientist.com)
  • Dolly was the only lamb born from 277 fusions of oocytes with udder cells. (newscientist.com)
  • Cloning, or somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), is the technique used to produce Dolly the sheep, the first animal to be produced as a genetic copy of another adult. (eurostemcell.org)
  • To produce Dolly, the cloned blastocyst was transferred into the womb of a recipient ewe, where it developed and when born quickly became the world's most famous lamb. (eurostemcell.org)
  • Although many species produce clonal offspring in this fashion, Dolly, the lamb born in 1996 at a research institute in Scotland, was the first asexually produced mammalian clone. (who.int)
  • Somatic-cell nuclear transfer, the technique by which Dolly was created, was first used 40 years ago in research with tadpoles and frogs. (who.int)
  • Successful somatic-cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) depends on the quality, availability and maturation of the animal's unfertilized oocytes. (nature.com)
  • Figure 1: Dog cloned by somatic-cell nuclear transfer. (nature.com)
  • Because cattle are a species widely used for nuclear transfer studies, and more laboratories have succeeded in cloning cattle than any other specie, this review will be focused on somatic cell cloning of cattle. (biomedcentral.com)
  • The nucleus of an adult somatic cell (such as a skin cell) is removed and transferred to an enucleated egg, which is then stimulated with electric current or chemicals to activate cell division. (who.int)
  • if it implants and the pregnancy goes to term, the resulting individual will carry the same nuclear genetic material as the donor of the adult somatic cell. (who.int)
  • Scientists were initially interested in somatic-cell nuclear transfer as a means of determining whether genes remain functional even after most of them have been switched off as the cells in a developing organism assume their specialized functions as blood cells, muscle cells, and so forth. (who.int)
  • After growing and dividing for a week or so in a laboratory culture dish, the fused cell forms an early embryo called a blastocyst, which Wilmut's team implants into a surrogate mother. (newscientist.com)
  • After many divisions in culture, this single cell forms a blastocyst (an early stage embryo with about 100 cells) with almost identical DNA to the original donor who provided the adult cell - a genetic clone. (eurostemcell.org)
  • The blastocyst can then be transferred to a recipient (h) and cloned animals are born after completion of gestation (i). (biomedcentral.com)
  • Cloning by nuclear transfer using mammalian somatic cells has enormous potential application. (biomedcentral.com)
  • Though functionally well-characterised in vitro and utilizing the mammalian cell fashions, much less is thought in regards to the molecular mechanisms of its involvement within the signaling and metabolic pathways, which mediate its mobile features. (rbprotein.com)
  • The researchers wanted to see whether "mature" cells that have differentiated to fulfil a specialised role (such as that of an udder cell or a fetal cell) could be returned to a primitive state from which they could grow into entire organisms. (newscientist.com)
  • To take human organ generation via BC and transplantation to the next step, we reviewed current emerging organ generation technologies and the associated efficiency of chimera formation in human cells from the standpoint of developmental biology. (frontiersin.org)
  • Here we describe the cloning and characterization of the developmental expression pattern of two mouse cdc25 homologs. (biologists.com)
  • These developmental defects have been attributed to incomplete reprogramming of the somatic nuclei by the cloning process. (biomedcentral.com)
  • Developmental defects, including abnormalities in cloned fetuses and placentas, in addition to high rates of pregnancy loss and neonatal death have been encountered by every research team studying somatic cloning. (biomedcentral.com)
  • Mammary glands are rich in these cells, which are more adaptable than other tissue. (newscientist.com)
  • In Dolly's case, the cell came from the mammary gland of an adult ewe. (eurostemcell.org)
  • For SCNT, the chromosomes of the unfertilized canine oocytes were removed by micromanipulation, and a single donor cell was transferred into each enucleated oocyte. (nature.com)
  • Again, Saunders is referring to SCNT as "THE" cloning procedure, when there are many other ways to clone a human being as well, and he is scientifically mis-defining the product of SCNT (i.e., the cloned human embryo). (lifeissues.net)
  • New techniques in cloning frozen mammals may allow scientists to bring back the mammoth. (singularityhub.com)
  • More than a decade after their first attempt, a team of Japanese scientists have announced that they will aim to clone a woolly mammoth in the next five years. (singularityhub.com)
  • As we recently discussed , scientists have been pursuing cloning endangered and extinct species with middling success. (singularityhub.com)
  • Earlier this month, the press trumpeted the possibility of resurrecting the long-dead hairy beast after scientists cloned mice from tissue that had been sitting in a freezer for 16 years. (blogspot.com)
  • On the other hand, a chimera is defined as an organism in which cells from two or more different organisms have contributed. (frontiersin.org)
  • A clone is an organism that is a genetic copy of an existing one. (who.int)
  • These stem cells are genetically matched to the donor organism, holding promise for studying genetic disease. (eurostemcell.org)
  • Dr. Irving, whose Ph.D. included a doctoral concentration in secular bioethics at the world's foremost bioethics institute, noted that the bill was poorly prepared using faulty science and lacking basic definitions necessary to have the law actually ban cloning as it claims it does. (lifesitenews.com)
  • Last year they used the same reproductive technology to create the world's first cloned lambs (Nature, vol 380, p 64). (newscientist.com)
  • Characterization of the human and mouse HEY1, HEY2, and HEYL genes: cloning, mapping, and mutation screening of a new bHLH gene family. (jax.org)
  • But what is not getting such wide reporting is the use of pluripotent stem cells (as well as many other types of cells and genetic engineering techniques) for reproductive purposes . (lifeissues.net)
  • If the same could be achieved in humans, it would mean that each of us could have clones of ourselves made from our own tissue. (newscientist.com)
  • But if, as seems likely, the Roslin team has succeeded in making an entire animal from adult tissue, it might be possible to do the same for humans. (newscientist.com)
  • Review of Critical Article: Cobbe, 'Why the apparent haste to clone humans? (lifeissues.net)
  • See Neville Cobbe, "Why the apparent haste to clone humans? (lifeissues.net)
  • In most countries, it is illegal to attempt reproductive cloning in humans. (eurostemcell.org)
  • Its illustrious colleagues include humans, mice, the honeybee, the fruit fly and the absurd platypus, all for very worthy reasons. (blogspot.com)
  • That's why Father Pacholczyk, director of education at the National Catholic Bioethics Center in Philadelphia, said that the efforts to help people understand the immorality of embryo reserch, including human cloning, must focus on humanizing the issue and appreciating our own embryonic origins, not just on the desired results of embryonic or other types of stem-cell research. (archstl.org)
  • The subject of human cloning has been around for much of the 20th century and beyond. (archstl.org)
  • A decade later, cloning came to the forefront in Missouri with the narrow passage of Amendment 2, a ballot initiative in 2006 that constitutionally protects embryonic stem-cell research and human cloning. (archstl.org)
  • We determine a comprehensive map of lineage-specific lncRNAs in human dermal lymphatic and blood vascular endothelial cells (LECs and BECs), combining RNA-Seq and CAGE-Seq. (nature.com)
  • increased public sensitivity and awareness together with the development of national regulations of governance of human cloning and embryo research in general. (lifeissues.net)
  • 3. National regulations of governance of human cloning and embryo research in general adopted so far confirm the convergence of views of the refusal to adopt legislation or guidelines permitting reproductive cloning , while they still show variations on the legitimacy of human cloning carried out as part of research agendas. (lifeissues.net)
  • While it is banned in Britain, however, human cloning is legal elsewhere, including the US. (newscientist.com)
  • 2. Over the years, the international community has tried without success to build a consensus on an international convention against the reproductive cloning of human beings. (who.int)
  • WHA50.37 of 1997 argues that human cloning is ethically unacceptable and contrary to human integrity and morality. (who.int)
  • General Assembly the adoption of a declaration on human cloning by which Member States were called upon to prohibit all forms of human cloning inasmuch as they are incompatible with human dignity and the protection of human life. (who.int)
  • 3. Creating awareness among ministries of health in the African Region will provide them with critical and relevant information on the reproductive cloning of human beings and its implications to the health status of the general population. (who.int)
  • 7. The WHO Regional Committee for Africa is invited to review this document for information and guidance concerning reproductive cloning of human beings. (who.int)
  • 3. Media reports on nuclear transfer are usually about one form, reproductive nuclear transfer, also known as reproductive cloning of human beings . (who.int)
  • WHA50.37, which states "the use of cloning for the replication of human individuals is ethically unacceptable and contrary to human integrity and morality. (who.int)
  • Ramsey's statement could thus not apply to the issue of human cloning to begin with. (lifeissues.net)
  • b) But there is a more fundamental reason why Ramsey's statement might not apply to the issue of human cloning. (lifeissues.net)
  • But it is perhaps not auspicious to quote him for purposes of the scientific debates on human cloning, because Ramsey agreed with and supported the scientific myth of the "pre-embryo" 47 made famous by Jesuit Richard McCormick and frog embryologist Clifford Grobstein. (lifeissues.net)
  • Perhaps Ramsey would give other extraordinarily powerful arguments as to why human cloning is unethical, but he obviously would not be able to base it on his unscientific "pre-embryo" position. (lifeissues.net)
  • a) It would seem that Saunders uses the "potential" argument here quite appropriately, but it is critical that the term be understood properly in order to deflect any misunderstandings or misinterpretations - especially if the term were to be used in any U. N. treaty on human cloning. (lifeissues.net)
  • If the term "potential" were to be incorporated into a U. N. treaty on human cloning, it would be necessary to clarify its use as referring to an already existing human being/person. (lifeissues.net)
  • Comparative analysis of the human and mouse Hey1 promoter: Hey genes are new Notch target genes. (jax.org)
  • Ethically, since eventually all such "research" will be applied to people, he cautions against the abuse of women "egg" donors, and against the premature use of vulnerable sick human patients for testing supposedly "patient-specific" stem cells in supposed "therapies", pointing to the obvious violations of standard international research ethics guidelines such clinical trials would necessarily entail. (lifeissues.net)
  • Agreeing with the premise of an earlier article in the same journal, he agrees that we "must not let our debate get completely derailed by vested interests, whether politically or economically motivated", and that the failure to find global agreement on human cloning at the U.N. could result in "reproductive" human cloning [and all the abuses of women that would entail]. (lifeissues.net)
  • And he also agrees that if we don't find global agreement on human cloning, "we can probably expect dire consequences for the future of biomedical research and its impact on society at large. (lifeissues.net)
  • As he has questioned the HFEA before, would not the use of vulnerable human patients in clinical trials be premature, dangerous, and unethical given the already acquired knowledge in the research community that such supposed "patient-specific" stem cells would most probably cause serious immune rejection reactions in these patients? (lifeissues.net)
  • To date, some 35 countries have adopted laws forbidding human cloning. (who.int)
  • Elaboration of an international convention against reproductive cloning of human beings has been under consideration in the United Nations since December 2001 when the subject was included in the agenda of the fifty- sixth session as a supplementary agenda item at the request of France and Germany. (who.int)
  • Description: A sandwich ELISA for quantitative measurement of Human Alpha fetoprotein in samples from blood, plasma, serum, cell culture supernatant and other biological fluids. (rbprotein.com)
  • Wilmut and his colleagues fuse the empty oocyte with the donor cell by bringing them together and subjecting them to an electric current. (newscientist.com)
  • 2. Nuclear transfer is a technique used to duplicate genetic material by creating an embryo through the transfer and fusion of a diploid cell in an enucleated female oocyte.2 Cloning has a broader meaning than nuclear transfer as it also involves gene replication and natural or induced embryo splitting (see Annex 1). (who.int)
  • 7. "[footnote 16]: The cloning procedure supplies the oocyte with a complete set of chromosomes, all of which are contained in the nucleus which is transferred into the denucleated oocyte. (lifeissues.net)
  • A matured oocyte (c) is then enucleated (d) and a donor cell is transferred into the enucleated oocyte (e). (biomedcentral.com)
  • Here we describe the cloning of two Afghan hounds by nuclear transfer from adult skin cells into oocytes that had matured in vivo . (nature.com)
  • For example, stem cells could be generated using the nuclear transfer process described above, with the donor adult cell coming from a patient with diabetes or Alzheimer's. (eurostemcell.org)
  • Various strategies have been employed to modify donor cells and the nuclear transfer procedure in attempts to improve the efficiency of nuclear transfer. (biomedcentral.com)
  • Although the efficiency of nuclear transfer has been dramatically improved from the initial success rate of one live clone born from 277 embryo transfers [ 1 ], none of the aforementioned efforts abolished the common problems associated with nuclear transfer. (biomedcentral.com)
  • However, an animal created through this technique would not be a precise genetic copy of the source of its nuclear DNA because each clone derives a small amount of its DNA from the mitochondria of the egg (which lie outside the nucleus) rather than from the donor of cell nucleus. (who.int)
  • G) No sex difference in nuclear or soma size of PR+ VMHvl cells in PRPL mice. (cdc.gov)
  • However, somatic cloning has been inefficient in all species in which live clones have been produced. (biomedcentral.com)
  • Most natural cloning occurs in those species that produce their descendants asexually, that is, without combining the male and female genetic material. (who.int)
  • The term "clone", from the Greek word for twig, denotes a group of identical entities. (who.int)
  • In sexual reproduction, clones are created when a fertilized egg splits to produce identical (monozygous) twins with identical genomes. (who.int)
  • Wilmut says there were so many failures because it is difficult to ensure that the empty oocyst and the donor cell are at the same stage of the cell division cycle. (newscientist.com)
  • In this procedure, the nucleus of an egg cell is removed and replaced by the nucleus of a cell from another adult. (eurostemcell.org)
  • After being inserted into the egg, the adult cell nucleus is reprogrammed by the host cell. (eurostemcell.org)
  • 1. Cloning is an umbrella term traditionally used to describe different processes for duplicating biological material. (who.int)
  • Cells are collected from donor (a) and cultured in vitro (b). (biomedcentral.com)
  • Six parasites ont montré une résistance in vitro au stibogluconate de sodium en utilisant le test de détection des amastigotes dans les macrophages J774 murins. (who.int)
  • No Aortic Coarctation or Deficiency, but Fatal Cardiac Defects in Hey2 -/- Mice. (jax.org)
  • Tetralogy of fallot and other congenital heart defects in hey2 mutant mice. (jax.org)
  • As our successes with cloning continue to mount, the chances for any of these teams to reproduce an extinct or endangered mammal will improve. (singularityhub.com)
  • A region of the brain called the subventricular zone contains both neural stem cells and neural progenitor cells, and is one of only two regions of the brain where neural stem cells are found in adult mammals. (elifesciences.org)
  • In this fashion, mice or other laboratory animals that exhibit particular traits can be created for specialized studies, or herds of farm animals (such as goats, sheep or cows) can be created that produce pharmaceutically useful proteins in their milk. (who.int)
  • Fortunately, mice exist that artificially harbour elephant ovarian tissue, so we can bypass that rather invasive procedure, albeit temporarily. (blogspot.com)
  • Activation of the VEGFA/VEGFR2 signaling and expression of blood vascular endothelial cell (BEC) markers, such as NRP1 and EphrinB2, further differentiate these precursor cells into BECs, which then form the hierarchical network of blood vessels 4 . (nature.com)
  • The basic helix-loop-helix genes Hesr1/Hey1 and Hesr2/Hey2 regulate maintenance of neural precursor cells in the brain. (jax.org)
  • The latest experiments have also produced three lambs from the cells of a sheep fetus aborted after 26 days, and four from a nine-day-old embryo. (newscientist.com)
  • First, they extract immature, unfertilised egg cells called oocytes from the ovaries of ewes. (newscientist.com)
  • Assuming a few years to find suitable mammoth DNA and adapt Wakayama's techniques for this experiment, and 600 days of gestation once the clone is implanted in an adult African elephant, we could have a mammoth birth in five years or so. (singularityhub.com)
  • Consequently, neural stem and progenitor cells have usually been studied retrospectively, based on their ability to form colonies in laboratory cell cultures. (elifesciences.org)
  • The stem cells could be studied in the laboratory to help researchers understand what goes wrong in diseases like these. (eurostemcell.org)
  • have used a technique called flow cytometry to identify and isolate neural stem cells and neurosphere-forming cells directly from the subventricular zone. (elifesciences.org)
  • term pre-GEPCOT cells (based on an acronym of the markers used to isolate the cells), were long-lived and quiescent, but they lacked the ability to form colonies in culture. (elifesciences.org)
  • The identification of undifferentiated pre-GEPCOT and GEPCOT cells will make it possible to directly study the properties of these cells inside the mouse brain, and to isolate live cells to test how they function. (elifesciences.org)
  • She is the first mammal ever created from the non-reproductive tissue of an adult animal. (newscientist.com)
  • Unlike some other tissues, it has not been possible to identify or purify neural stem cells directly from the tissue. (elifesciences.org)
  • And Jonathan Slack, an embryologist at the University of Bath, says that it is dangerous to base big ideas on a single case of a lamb raised from an adult ewe cell. (newscientist.com)
  • The Church also supports research and therapies using adult stem cells, which are cells that come from any person who has been born - including umbilical cord blood, bone marrow, skin and other organs. (archstl.org)
  • The petition recognizes that many "Canadians suffer from debilitating illnesses and diseases" and that the petitioners "support ethical stem cell research that has already shown encouraging potential to provide cures and therapies for these illnesses and diseases. (lifesitenews.com)
  • The use of various types of stem cells for research purposes to make disease "models" in the lab for regenerative medicine and for "therapies" to cure sick patients for diseases is constantly in the news. (lifeissues.net)
  • Neurons that arise in the adult nervous system originate from neural stem cells and neural progenitor cells. (elifesciences.org)
  • Neural stem cells can also give rise to neural progenitor cells, which proliferate rapidly during their short lives and then 'differentiate' into neurons or glia. (elifesciences.org)
  • Neurosphere formation is commonly used as a surrogate for neural stem cell (NSC) function but the relationship between neurosphere-initiating cells (NICs) and NSCs remains unclear. (elifesciences.org)
  • When the cloning process is used in this way, to produce a living duplicate of an existing animal, it is commonly called reproductive cloning. (eurostemcell.org)
  • Clone RB6-8C5 binds with high affinity to mouse Ly-6G molecules and to a lower extent to Ly-6C 15 . (biolegend.com)
  • The term applies not only to entire organisms but also to copies of molecules (such as DNA) and cells. (who.int)
  • General Assembly the following year,3 and the World Medical Association's Resolution on Cloning, endorsed in 1997, have confronted the issue but lack binding legal force. (who.int)
  • The present report gives an overview of the terms and methods used in cloning and summarizes the debates in the General Assembly. (who.int)
  • During development, the blood vascular system arises from endothelial cell progenitors that differentiate from mesodermal cells, mostly through the expression of the transcription factor (TF) ETV2. (nature.com)
  • Since neurosphere-forming cells can self-renew and differentiate into neurons and glia, the ability of cells to form neurospheres has generally been taken as evidence that they are stem cells. (elifesciences.org)
  • What is cloning, and what does it have to do with stem cell research? (eurostemcell.org)
  • This form of cloning is unrelated to stem cell research. (eurostemcell.org)
  • Immunotherapy is the new promising research avenue for cancer therapeutics, and involves harnessing the body's immune system to attack cancer cells. (cbhd.org)
  • In addition, Dolly's DNA may have come from a stem cell that had not yet matured into an udder cell. (newscientist.com)
  • Pre-GEPCOT cells could not form neurospheres but expressed the stem cell markers Slc1a3-CreER T , GFAP-CreER T2 , Sox2 CreERT2 , and Gli1 CreERT2 and were long-lived in vivo. (elifesciences.org)
  • Again this is no mean feat. An elephant's ovaries are some 7ft from any, erm, access point, and adult females ovulate infrequently. (blogspot.com)
  • Note that data from WT females shown here are from the same mice shown in Figure 1 C, D. (cdc.gov)
  • Adult PRCre and control females were injected with AAV-flex-taCasp3-TEVp targeted to the VMHvl and tested in different assays. (cdc.gov)
  • If the insertion is successful, the eggs will be placed in an adult elephant and brought to term. (singularityhub.com)
  • However, though BC is emerging as a potential organ transplant option, challenges regarding organ size scalability, immune system incompatibilities, long-term maintenance, potential evolutionary distance, or unveiled mechanisms between donor and host cells remain. (frontiersin.org)
  • Since the term "born" has been used as an essential part of the definition of " reproductive cloning " used by Weissman, the National Academy of Sciences, etc., then it is critical to use the accurate term with the proper meaning. (lifeissues.net)
  • The new sequence is far from perfect - they rarely are - and needs much refining before being accurate enough to avoid horrific effects on any potential clone. (blogspot.com)
  • Ventricular septal defect and cardiomyopathy in mice lacking the transcription factor CHF1/Hey2. (jax.org)