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, amednews 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?

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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.

What researchers at the company did was remove DNA from a human egg cell and inject it with DNA from skin cells, "tricking" the egg into thinking it was fertilized and triggering cell multiplication. But they only multiplied into four- and six-cell clusters, and it's thought an egg will need to multiply into at least 100 cells before stem cells are created.

Some have denounced this research because they believe it will lead to the cloning of human beings, while others -- such as President Bush -- have characterized cloning embryos to harvest stem cells as growing life to destroy it. Dr. Matz ridiculed this view in a letter published in The New York Times.

"Once again, we hear the scratching of the quills of the members of the Flat Earth Society in Congress and the White House as they try to legislate scientific knowledge," he wrote.

"Trying to legislate science is never a good idea," Dr. Matz told AMNews. "If we don't allow it in the United States, it will be done elsewhere, and we will lose our scientific edge in the world."

Speaking as an individual and not for CEJA or the AMA, Dr. Riddick agreed that a ban on all cloning research was not a good idea. "I think it's anti-intellectual to try to ban all aspects of any scientific inquiry -- especially if it holds potential to alleviate human disease and suffering."

Dr. Riddick cited AMA policy that states: "The medical profession should not undertake human cloning at this time and pursue alternative approaches that raise fewer ethical concerns." Nevertheless, he said creation of tissue remains a "possible appropriate use" of cloning technology. "Our current policy doesn't really prohibit this type of experimentation," he said. "It needs a lot more dialogue before we develop a firm ethical policy on it."

According to ACT Vice President Robert P. Lanza, MD, his company's controversial experiments have medically ethical objectives. "This is totally consistent with the ethical goals of medicine: healing, prevention of disease, and research to help the sick and suffering."

Dr. Lanza explained that therapeutic cloning would be used to "reboot" a patient's immune system and had the potential to treat any condition caused by tissue disorder or loss.

For examples, he cited miniature cloned kidneys that already had been implanted in cows and were able to function, and an injection of stem cells that had been used to cure arthritis in mice. Yet despite this promise, he acknowledged that cloning has powerful opponents.

"Almost anything we do in this area will be controversial, but it doesn't help when the pope himself fights you and says what you're doing is morally unacceptable," said Dr. Lanza. Yet, while the anti-cloning forces have considerable strength, he added that "patient advocacy groups are mobilizing" to take up the cause.

Many opponents view the debate as an academic argument, but "when you start to see a loved one fall apart in front of you," Dr. Lanza said, people become more accepting of using embryonic stem cells and cloning because of the potential for successful treatment those technologies offer.