Latest embryonic cloning action seen as a baby step

Despite political opposition, research into therapeutic uses for cloning technology may be off the ground. How far it will fly remains to be seen.

By Andis Robeznieks, AMNews staff. Dec. 24/31, 2001.

When the Wright Brothers flew their propeller plane for the first time, the flight lasted all of 12 seconds and the plane traveled only 120 feet. Yet that humble beginning turned out to be one of the greatest moments in American history.

Will the same transition from humble beginnings to pivotal moment be made by the announcement last month by Advanced Cell Technology Inc. that it had cloned a human embryo?

The Worcester, Mass.-based biotech company manipulated a human egg cell to multiply into a six-cell cluster and created a global controversy, but whether ACT initiated the greatest scientific breakthrough of its time or merely reached new heights in public relations and marketing depends largely on the point of view.

"You're at the very beginnings of frontier science," said Robert Matz, MD, a professor of endocrinology at New York's Mount Sinai School of Medicine. "If it pans out, it has the potential to revolutionize the way we treat patients."

Others, like Frank A. Riddick Jr., MD, a New Orleans endocrinologist who also heads the AMA Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs, were not so enthused. "I wouldn't think, at this stage, it's comparable to the Wright Brothers' first flight. It was more like getting the propeller to turn around a couple times but not moving the airplane forward. The equivalent of taking off would be the creation of stem cells."

Creating stem cells and then using those cells to grow organs or tissues that a patient's body won't reject is a goal of ACT's research. [...]